AIBU to travel 1.5 hours for antenatal appointments

[kgap]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice on whether 1.5-2hr is a reasonable commute time for antenatal appointments/birth. Would you choose your nearest hospital (20 mins drive) or one that is better rated by CQC? My nearest is rated good but so far they have been haphazard at best. They were supposed to call me with my blood results and did not and only booked me in for fetal RhD test after prompting. Because of their negligence I have had to take Anti-D without knowing whether I actually needed it or not which was very distressing to me. A better hospital is an hour drive away and could be 1.5 hours or two hours away if traffic is bad. I am a low risk pregnancy, so I don’t know whether to stick with the convenient devil I know or switch to a better trust. I have been to this other trust and I have the money to stay nearby for a week or so closer to the birth if needed. What would you do? AIBU - stay with the nearby hospital. YANBU - go for the better but further one.

I live a 5 minute drive from my hospital and the journey there in labour was agony!!! I had a few admissions prior to delivery and lots of monitoring...............I'm so glad I didn't have to spend hours in the car travelling back and fore.
Better to stick with the hospital you have...............the other one may be no better!!!

I went to a hospital thirty miles away which took an hour to get to. I was having an elective section though, and it was a hospital I used to work at and had felt safe at in many ways. If I was expecting to go into labour I wouldn't choose one so far away.

@kgap

I think the idea of taking control is a great one, but as I have no experience I only get to know what was supposed to be done when I call the head midwife and ask. Is there an easier way? Does anyone know some sort of NICE document with the full pathway for the pregnancy (incl. tests and medications).

If you think reading the recommendations will help, then take a look at this from NICE.

Ultimately though, what matters most is that you trust your instincts and feel confident in understanding your options – when they exist – and then making decisions. Some antenatal classes, such as NCT, might help you with that

Also what is supposed to happen will vary. NICE will tell you the basics but some hospitals offer rhesus testing, some don’t, some offer a 36 week scan, some don’t. It isn’t easy when you actually do have a choice. But I still think it’s too far.