Is it U to call an ambulance for labour if there is no immediate danger?

[Where4l]

Not first baby.

5-10 minute ride by taxi to the hospital or 15 mins (ish) by bus. No complications and not a high risk pregnancy. Plenty of time to get there by either of the above, as in baby not imminent, early labour but calls an ambulance to get to the hospital.

Unreasonable or not?

@grannieali

Second child at age 35. Husband at work . Waters broke and phoned hospital to say I would drive myself stopping to buy some nightwear en route. Shocked nurse said I must have an ambulance at oncd and sent one. Baby weighing under six pounds ( now 6 foot two ) born four hours later, just about in time to get me through the admission procedure. Be warned. There may not be all that much time. Recently, that baby, grown to a man, had to deliver his second son in the family car on the way to hospital because that enormous child (9 pounds) would not wait. Going by bus sounds dodgy to me

If you felt well enough to go shopping while in labour you really didn't need an ambulance.

I think this is a harsh thread. It's not something I contemplated, but I'm lucky and have several options. I know it's a very common part of life, but for a woman, her pregnancy, baby and childbirth are hugely important, and can be very daunting. So whilst in most cases, it's a poor use of resources, I wouldn't be too harsh on any woman who did this.

@Cruiser123

My sister did this 😂 I don't think she was high risk. She lives about one hour away from the hospital and her boyfriend doesn't drive, so didn't have a car. I think she just didn't want to spend the money on a taxi. 😂

@Cruiser123

Uh huh, hilarious......

Let's hope nobody died when you're sister was using up the emergency services because she's too stingy to fork out for a taxi, eh?

I voted YANBU because I've never been im the situation but I may have called an ambulance when I went in to labour as a first time mum if I'd not already been admitted to hospital for the umpteenth time ! As it happens, I was induced at 34 weeks so thankfully didn't have the worry of getting to hospital .

I had to get a taxi when my placenta ruptured because an ambulance would take too long. I put a towel down on the seat but there was so much blood it still soaked through. I think having to take a taxi in these circumstances was pretty unreasonable! Agree your partner’s ex shouldn’t have got an ambulance when people like me having an actual emergency couldn’t!

Totally unreasonable. Ambulances are for emergencies only. Only a really selfish person would use an ambulance in this way.

I rang the hospital at 2 in the morning to say I was in labour.
Asked how long between contractions? - 5 mins.
Asked if it was my first baby? No, 3rd.
Asked my location? - Cornwall, 30 miles from the Plymouth hospital
Told to get husband to drive me immediately to hospital ! - No mention of an ambulance and we did not even consider it.

Maternity taxis..... Now that's a business idea.

1st child, textbook pregnancy. At 34 weeks I had immense pain, was throwing up. Thought I was in early labour and I was on my own late afternoon. Ambulance called, took ages. My mum got there quicker.
Got to hospital, baby had died. And I had a serious complication as a result.
I get the 'it's not an ambulance' sentiment.
I wasn't high risk at the time
But it ended in the worst way.
So I don't think I'd judge anyone from panicking. I have no idea if my situation would've turned out differently

@Sloelydoesit

1st child, textbook pregnancy. At 34 weeks I had immense pain, was throwing up. Thought I was in early labour and I was on my own late afternoon. Ambulance called, took ages. My mum got there quicker. Got to hospital, baby had died. And I had a serious complication as a result. I get the 'it's not an ambulance' sentiment. I wasn't high risk at the time But it ended in the worst way. So I don't think I'd judge anyone from panicking. I have no idea if my situation would've turned out differently

How awful. I'm sorry

Women are entitled to pain relief and reassurance... Just because it's a natural process doesn't mean that women don't deserve care and a portion of the ambulance budget. Stand in any A&E and you'll see at least four men come in by ambulance with indigestion.

I was totally agreeing with OP on this thread but this is a good point. No it's still not right to call an ambulance but it's far from the only wasteful thing people call ambulances for.

And of all the wasteful things people call for, labour is probably the most painful and at least it's something that actually requires a visit to hospital.

Like pp upthread complaining how her neighbour had to wait for an ambulance when she "thought" she broke her arm. Thought she did... ie, she didn't! So in other words she called an ambulance when she was totally fine and never even needed to visit hospital.

Wow no wonder the nhs is fucked if people need to ask this

I think that he core idea of this-calling an ambulance because you didn't want to wake a sleeping child to take them with you is outrageous.

It really is hard to imagine that there is no one at all to call on, or perhaps people just won't do it anymore?

Totally unreasonable. 15 mins would not make much of a difference in early labour, but could mean life or death to a heart attack patient who had to wait whilst she was transported.
Before anyone says that the heart attack would be prioritised, if the woman in labour was already in transit then they won't throw her out .

Obviously this isn't as cut and drybas a simple yes or no, as it greatly depends on the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy. If the pregnancy is high risk or there have been complications that may mean labour itself could be very seriously complicated, then I don't think anyone would begrudge you an ambulance.

when I was pregnant with my first son I was booked in for c-section as he was an awkward baby and turned round which we found out after a scan cause I couldn't feel him move, and had just started with symptoms of preeclampsia and they told me if I went into labour I was to ring for an ambulance. With my second son again I was told if I went into labour I was to ring an ambulance although there was some concern due to previous c-section that may have problems with the birth. They even tried convincing me to have a termination at 20 weeks which I wouldn't do. But I did manage to get a lift in luckily, but to be honest if I couldn't my choice would be to get a bus or ring an ambulance. I would have got a stern telling off I think if I got a bus. Plus my second was a Christmas baby and I don't know if anyone has ever tried getting a taxi for an emergency at Christmas, I had to beg them to send an ambulance because my new born son was struggling to breath and no taxi drivers available even after me saying it was an emergency and that my baby was struggling to breath.

@Holskey

I think this is a harsh thread. It's not something I contemplated, but I'm lucky and have several options. I know it's a very common part of life, but for a woman, her pregnancy, baby and childbirth are hugely important, and can be very daunting. So whilst in most cases, it's a poor use of resources, I wouldn't be too harsh on any woman who did this.

Totally agree with this. My first baby almost died during childbirth because of an unforseen complication. The pregnancy itself had been deemed low risk, even though my waters had leaked at seven months and I'd had to have an overnight stay on hospital with various medication. With my other babies, I always had someone a phonecard away and a way to get to hospital in the event of needing to get there quickly. However if this hadn't been the case, and because of my experience with my first birth, I think I would have been tempted to call an ambulance if I'd gone into labour, and especially if it had been early.

Totally agree with this.
My first baby almost died during childbirth because of an unforseen complication. The pregnancy itself had been deemed low risk, even though my waters had leaked at seven months and I'd had to have an overnight stay on hospital with various medication. With my other babies, I always had someone a phonecard away and a way to get to hospital in the event of needing to get there quickly. However if this hadn't been the case, and because of my experience with my first birth, I think I would have been tempted to call an ambulance if I'd gone into labour, and especially if it had been early.

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But if your pregnancy was low risk and you couldn't have reasonably foreseen, does that mean every woman in labour should call an ambulance just in case? Because ghetto aren't enough ambulances and frankly, your outcome is worse waiting 5hrs for paramedics vs just getting there yourself

Cruiser123.

You think it was hilarious that your sister called an ambulance instead of paying for a taxi. My daughters patient nearly died last week because of blood loss and cardiac arrest. Having to beg and plead for an Ambulance to come sooner than the 90 mins she had been told it would take to come. Doesnt matter anyway as he is already terminally ill..................enjoy your little laugh.

Of course if its an emergency phone for an ambulance like my daughter did.

We were told at my NHS ante natal class that if we were in full on pushing type labour with major pain noises that it would be better to call an ambulance than risk distracting DH into crashing. We didn't do this as DH is used to driving to "emergencies" and has delivered many mammals. As it turned out I was at 7 cm on arrival and 10cm less than 30 minutes later although 2 hours after that I needed a ventouse to extract DC...

It would be VERY UNREASONABLE, ambulances are not taxis

There are obviously times when an ambulance is absolutely justified in pregnancy/labour. Frequently if this is the case and you have spoken to triage we will actually ring one for you. Likewise in an emergency at a homebirth or mlu delivery, they aren't on standby but the clinical need and urgency is taken seriously.

In 14 years of midwifery, I have seen far more ambulance admissions that didn't warrant it than those that did. And sadly that leads to people who should have rang an ambulance but didn't.

I get it that some who live far away with no-one nearby that it seems a reasonable action. But you have weeks and weeks to plan and save for this journey. By taking resources that you don't need, you take away from someone that does.

Miraculously, I have also seen many admitted via ambulance that are triaged and assessed as being fit for home. Never had anyone who couldn't source transport home in this instance. Obviously a better option than a night in the waiting room.

Some are inherently selfish and feel it's their given right to get an ambulance. Some don't know differently and think it's the right thing to do.

Funnily enough was similar when I was a nurse in emergency medicine. Folk honestly thought an ambulance would get them in and through a&e quickly. Then other's wouldn't ring (when they absolutely should have) so as to not make a fuss.

@Tyrantosaurus

*Totally agree with this. My first baby almost died during childbirth because of an unforseen complication. The pregnancy itself had been deemed low risk, even though my waters had leaked at seven months and I'd had to have an overnight stay on hospital with various medication. With my other babies, I always had someone a phonecard away and a way to get to hospital in the event of needing to get there quickly. However if this hadn't been the case, and because of my experience with my first birth, I think I would have been tempted to call an ambulance if I'd gone into labour, and especially if it had been early.*

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But if your pregnancy was low risk and you couldn't have reasonably foreseen, does that mean every woman in labour should call an ambulance just in case? Because ghetto aren't enough ambulances and frankly, your outcome is worse waiting 5hrs for paramedics vs just getting there yourself

What I said was, that based on my first experience, I might have been tempted to call an ambulance, rather than take a risk. If you've already almost lost a baby or actually lost one (or more, as in the case of a friend of my sister who lost twins,) what I'm saying is that I can see how you might then call an ambulance rather than taking a risk with your baby's life. That's just natural, and totally understandable, and no one really has the right to judge. I know that a friend of mine called one recently as she was bleeding quite heavily in a high risk pregnancy and it certainly did not take five hours for the ambulance to arrive and get her to hospital. Incidentally, I've had taxis turn up very late in the past, so you could be waiting a long time for one of those too.