Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect to be able to park at the hospital when in labour?

295 replies

Therareotherbooks · 07/03/2019 15:09

Last few antenatal appointments there hasn’t been a single car parking space on hospital site. The nearest on street spot I managed to find was 1/4 mile away and I had to call a taxi from the road side to drive me to the hospital doors.

I am now terrified about what will happen when I’m in labour. Obviously my DH will be with me so can drop me off but if he then has to go and park miles away I could be on my own for ages.

AIBU to expect there to be some designated car parking for women in labour?!

OP posts:
Espressomartin · 07/03/2019 20:47

It’s a good point Superworm but women in labour can easily be dropped off as close to the building as they’d park. And at what point should the parked car be moved to make way for another incoming mum to be?

NameChangeNugget · 07/03/2019 20:49

AIBU to expect there to be some designated car parking for women in labour?!

Yes you are having a bubble.

People in their having operations aren’t in there, having a jolly

NameChangeNugget · 07/03/2019 20:49

There

OwlBeThere · 07/03/2019 20:52

@whenzogatesuperworm (great name btw!) I’m sure people think you’re exaggerating when you say these things, 1/4 mile might as well have been 100 to me by the end of my second trimester. If I had a quid for every ‘oh just take it slow’ or ‘it’s not far’ I’d be loaded. Frustrating as hell!

PCohle · 07/03/2019 20:53

How is it practical to have allocated parking for absolutely everyone attending a hospital who might have "greater need"?

How bad does your cancer have to be exactly before you get priority for the oncology department? How serious is your surgery before you get a space? Is A&E going to allocate spaces for people with "really really bad accidents and emergencies"?

Where do you park before you go to your department to get the ticket that allows you to park in their allocated special spaces?

SnuggyBuggy · 07/03/2019 20:54

Hospital parking isn't really fit for purpose

OMGithurts · 07/03/2019 20:54

I do wonder if there should be a separate car park for appointments and emergency attendees. I drove myself to a&e along.with my 2 small DC (DH at work, no help) while I had hideous appendicitis. The nearest car park space was some way from the hospital in an off site multi storey. NOT a fun walk.

On the plus side the council didn't give me a parking ticket despite my car being there.for a few days when I paid for 6 hours.

Sirzy · 07/03/2019 20:55

But many other hospital attendees have scheduled appointments, they can make sure they arrive in plenty of time to find parking

You mean like your ante natal appointments where you couldn’t manage it?

Parking is shit for everyone at most hospitals. You being in labour doesn’t make your partner some sort of special case.

WhenZogateSuperworm · 07/03/2019 20:55

@OwlBeThere frustrating isn’t it! It has actually made me appreciate how difficult life must be for some people with physical disabilities. The frustration of wanting to do something simple like pop to the shops and then the frustration of other people not understanding why you can’t do that.

JRMisOdious · 07/03/2019 20:57

Sorry, but yes really. Parking priority should be for medical emergencies, which most labours aren’t. If you’re really worried about it, ask a relative or friend to be on standby around dd to drop you both off, if you can’t book a taxi at short notice.
Hope it all goes well for you.

OwlBeThere · 07/03/2019 20:57

I don’t think allocated parking for women in labour would work necessarily. I chose home birth for my last 3, in part because we were a good 25 minute drive on a good day from the hospital and over an hour at rush hour, and it’s a good job it turns out because despite a fairly long 18 hour labour with no1 inc a 2 hour pushing phase, the last 3 labours were 3, 5 and 1 hour respectively with the longest pushing stage being 5 mins, it was recorded as 1 min with no2 and 4 but really it wasn’t even that long.

OwlBeThere · 07/03/2019 20:59

@zog I have never fully recovered from my SPD and still use crutches to walk any distance and it’s really difficult at times.

whitehalleve · 07/03/2019 21:00

I can't get het up about this. We just paid and displayed on the street.

TitsAndTomatoes · 07/03/2019 21:08

Taxi taxi taxi! Or Uber...
Keep a 20 quid note at the top of your hospital bag. He can go pick up the car before you come home.

OwlBeThere · 07/03/2019 21:10

@tits, she lives 30 miles from the hospital, Uber ain’t gonna do that trip for £20!

OhTheRoses · 07/03/2019 21:10

I had my first and second in London. Taxis both times. My third just outside. Again a taxi. Parking was so dire at Chelsea & Westminster I got a tube to Fulham Broadway and then hopped in a cab for ante natal appointments having missed the first due to the parking queue. I do recall being irked because the apt letter didn't have a warning.

Worst experience. MMC and ERPC at 12 weeks. I did have the car because I turned up for a scan happily in the first instance. At 8am next morning security expected me to pay a £30 fine or go back to the ward and get a letter when ward had said not to worry about it. That was particularly disgusting given the explanation.

Sparklybanana · 07/03/2019 21:17

I remember it being a bit of a worry but neither time was an issue. Dh missed ds birth not because of parking but because ‘induction takes ages, nothing will start for until at least tomorrow morning’, and ‘you don’t need an epidural yet, it’s still early, have a paracetamol’ followed 10 minutes later by ‘it’s a boy!’
When dh did arrive, parking wasn’t an issue!

user1471426142 · 07/03/2019 21:19

Parking is terrible at my hospital. Fortunately there is a supermarket nearby and for routine appointments I’ve managed to get in there. I’m a bit worried about what happens if I go into labour during rush hour (traffic is horrendous) or during visiting hours. With my first, they did say to park in the drop-off but and put a sign on the car and that would be ok.

I don’t think pregnant women should necessarily be prioritised though. When I’ve needed to take my little one to A&E it’s been a massive stress knowing that parking might be a problem.

7salmonswimming · 07/03/2019 21:23

There’s something to be said for scheduled C-Sections...

Bluemascara4 · 07/03/2019 21:32

This was one of my biggest stresses when pregnant too.
Our local hospital car park is constantly full with big queues waiting to get to the barrier.

Thankfully , we went in at 0400 and it was empty Grin

Betty777 · 07/03/2019 21:35

Geez, i'd forgotten how nasty people can be on Mumsnet......

OP is obviously stressed and trying to plan ahead. Her point is not entirely foolish (hospitals in places other than the UK DO often have dedicated parking for various departments for this reason)

But you aren't being ridiculous to worry - with my first we arrived at 3am so no parking issue but I wouldnt have wanted to spend even 10 mins without my DH as I needed him to help me even get to the unit as I was in a lot of pain, and relying on him to get them to take me seriously when I said the baby was coming.
My friend gave birth 7 minutes after arriving on the maternity ward. Another friend didn't make it in time and it happened on the pavement outside the hospital (on a busy London road no less, fortunately at night so few spectators...)
Not trying to freak you out further OP, just don't believe what everyone tells you about it taking forever on the first time - a taxi is the best option, as PP have said. You don't know whether you will be there a few hours or a couple of days.
Oh and i found the pack of jellybabies I had packed in my bag to be invaluable - the only thing of any use in fact :-)

Espressomartin · 07/03/2019 21:44

Not nasty Betty, just having a practical debate. You say the OP’s suggestion isn’t entirely foolish, meaning you must think it’s foolish to some degree. It’s a debate, that’s all

thedisorganisedmum · 07/03/2019 21:52

of course it's always a question that comes up when you can't find a parking space, if there should be parking for Patients - with or without appointment, and further away (or no specific parking at all) for visitors.

Not charging patients would be a good start too. They really should have priorities in hospitals! (provided the staff has reserved parking too)

but on the list of patient priorities, women in labour are far from the top of the list.

On another note, OP, not much you can do with an early baby, but couldn't your parents arrange to be with you around your due date instead of having to rush for a 90mn journey when you start going in labour? It doesn't sound like a great plan.

WhenZogateSuperworm · 07/03/2019 22:05

@thedisorganisedmum unfortunately not as they both work full time and can’t take annual leave for an unknown period of time. They will be able to leave work as soon as I phone them but can’t just sit in the house with me for what could be 4 weeks really if we anticipate baby arriving somewhere between 38-42 weeks. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best I can do. I am hoping it happens in an evening when DH is home from work. If it was escalating quickly DS would have to come to the hospital with us and my parents would collect him from there .

Imperfectsusan · 07/03/2019 22:20

There are some right harridans on here, actually. Or teenagers.

Who the hell calls a pregnant woman a drama lllama because she is worried about labour parking logistics? Or the 'ooh why can't you walk, so you have SPD or something' passive aggression. Really, so unpleasant.