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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

248 replies

Where4l · 11/10/2021 20:04

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?

OP posts:
TractorAndHeadphones · 11/10/2021 21:21

@BunnytheFriendlyDragon

But….. how does a woman, in active labour (not high risk) get to hospital to receive much needed pain relief, when they have no transport and the local taxi service won’t take them?

The same way they would get anywhere else I suppose. They would need to plan for it. Get a friend of relative to help. If partner doesn't drive then they've fit nine months to learn.

What if nobody else WAS around and the taxi wouldn't take you? So many people on here saying 'call a taxi' making it seem normal but many taxis wouldn't take the risk. I have had to help someone get to hospital after being rejected by a taxi!
HotPenguin · 11/10/2021 21:22

Not enough info here. But clearly you can't catch the bus when you're in labour. Also if you are alone I think you need to call on someone else to take you - if there is noone to hand then yes I personally would call an ambulance. No fucking way am I going by taxi on my own with a total stranger while in labour.

PjsOn · 11/10/2021 21:27

Unless you are crowning, yes unreasonable. Like others have pointed out you've had 9 months to organise how to get there, just being in labour isn't an emergency.

apalledandshocked · 11/10/2021 21:28

@Poppitt58

I became seriously unwell, so my predicament was solved.

But….. how does a woman, in active labour (not high risk) get to hospital to receive much needed pain relief, when they have no transport and the local taxi service won’t take them?

Do they need to request the midwife to come to them until it becomes an emergency at which point they get the ambulance?

To be honest.... I think I would double up on maternity pads and lie to the taxi driver that it was Braxton Hicks/not proper labour. If my waters did burst/leak in the taxi or the baby ended up coming then (extremely unlikely except in movies) then I guess you would pay for the clean up the same way people do if they vomit everywhere etc. And I know lyings not on really, but its better than calling an ambulance unnecessarily/giving birth at home when there's genuinely no other option. Although when I had mine, the taxi driver didn't have a problem taking us anyway.
apalledandshocked · 11/10/2021 21:29

But also, I don't understand why taxi drivers wouldnt accept you if you put down plastic and towels first. Yes I know the smell of amniotic fluid can linger but there are ways of protecting the seats surely.

ASeagullShatInMyEye · 11/10/2021 21:30

@MordredsOrrery

Since this wasn't you, are you quite certain you have all the details before asking AIBU to pass judgement?
I was about to say precisely this.

YABU if you were the ambulance-cadger.

YAAlsoBU if you don't know the full story (and I'm not sure you can, if it's not your experience).

But assuming you somehow know for dead certain that these are the facts, with no mitigating circumstances at all, and you're not saying it because it's your ex husband's new wife who did it, or some such, then YANBU.

2pinkginsplease · 11/10/2021 21:32

Ask yourself Is it an accident or an emergency then make your decision,

Personally I would get a taxi.

Maassi · 11/10/2021 21:32

YABU

An emergency ambulance is not a bloody taxi!!!

Call your midwife and hear the air turn blue when you tell her thats what your planning!

Ophicleide · 11/10/2021 21:33

@VaccineSticker

A home birthing friend told me that she had an ambulance on standby in case anything goes wrong. How is this okay then?
My first DC's birth was supposed to be a home birth. Once it became clear that it was not going to be straightforward, the midwife did have an ambulance on standby in case things took a turn for the worse. They did, and the ambulance arrived very quickly. It wasn't on standby until things had started to go wrong, though.
TrainforSpeed · 11/10/2021 21:35

Would your average minicab take a labouring woman?

chuffoff · 11/10/2021 21:41

DS2 was born 24 mins after first contraction. I was on the phone to delivery suite who could hear how rapid my contractions were getting and they told me to put phone down and call an ambulance. Paramedic on loud speaker guided DP with the delivery. Ambulance arrived 15 mins later and we were both whisked to hospital as I had retained placenta.

AutumnLeaves21 · 11/10/2021 21:41

@Ophicleide in that case, the ambulance was not on standby, they were attending an obstetric emergency. Totally different.

Kuachui · 11/10/2021 21:42

Seeing as calling out an ambulance could cost someones life.. Yabu

Alpacinoshoohaa · 11/10/2021 21:44

So..

Actually I don't think it's unreasonable to call an ambulance because when you call one, they don't just say OK its coming.

There is a triage service and if they think it's meccesary they will call one, if they don't they won't.
They are the experts it's not unreasonable to let them decide.

Bimblybomeyelash · 11/10/2021 21:44

I’m assuming this isn’t about you OP?

GreyhoundG1rl · 11/10/2021 21:45

It wasn't on standby until things had started to go wrong, though.
Don't be daft, it wasn't "on standby". The ambulance service doesn't have enough manpower to stand idly by just in case they're needed.

EgonSpengler2020 · 11/10/2021 21:45

@Ophicleide
Complete rubbish, there is no such thing as "an ambulance on standby" for standard medical emergencies (which includes childbirth and cardiac arrest), you would be in the stack of jobs like everyone else. Birth imminent/body parts showing is a red call which is up there with a cardiac arrest, so higher priority than most things, but definitely no ambulances on standby and any midwife saying this is lying or does not know what they are talking about.

The only time in my career that I have been "on standby" is for an armed seige between police and an armed hostage taker, and at a massive barn fire where the fire fighters were felt to be at significant risk of injury or death but had to continue as there was a side annex to the barn with 50 tonnes of nitrogen based fertilizer that couldn't be allowed to get to hot, for obvious reasons.

AyeAyeMister · 11/10/2021 21:50

But the person calling will get triaged and unless there are any red flags it won't be sent out anytime soon. It's just not worth it for a free ride.
And I hate bloody tv shows / films that say "call an ambulance " when someone's waters break!

Ophicleide · 11/10/2021 21:52

[quote EgonSpengler2020]@Ophicleide
Complete rubbish, there is no such thing as "an ambulance on standby" for standard medical emergencies (which includes childbirth and cardiac arrest), you would be in the stack of jobs like everyone else. Birth imminent/body parts showing is a red call which is up there with a cardiac arrest, so higher priority than most things, but definitely no ambulances on standby and any midwife saying this is lying or does not know what they are talking about.

The only time in my career that I have been "on standby" is for an armed seige between police and an armed hostage taker, and at a massive barn fire where the fire fighters were felt to be at significant risk of injury or death but had to continue as there was a side annex to the barn with 50 tonnes of nitrogen based fertilizer that couldn't be allowed to get to hot, for obvious reasons.[/quote]
In that case I stand corrected. It was over 20 years ago, and I was merely recounting what the midwife said at the time. I note someone else pounced on me because they had an entirely different objection to my post (namely that mine was an obstetric emergency), so I guess I bagged a kind of BOGOF. I was just chipping in, not offering the Gospel Truth.

TirednWorried · 11/10/2021 21:52

I don't understand why taxi drivers wouldnt accept you if you put down plastic and towels first.
I would have thought the answer to that was pretty obvious

Flittingaboutagain · 11/10/2021 21:54

I've been told to call an ambulance as soon as labour starts next time because otherwise I'll be free birthing!

jumpbounce · 11/10/2021 21:54

[quote MyMabel]@AutumnLeaves21 when my DD was suspected meningitis, the wait time for an ambulance was 2 hours; the ambulance place? (HQ?, station?) rang me after being on the phone to 111 and asked if there was any way to get DD to hospital myself as they wouldn’t be happy leaving her to wait for 2 hours for an ambulance. - Whoch I thought was really sensible, I drive and albeit our hospital is 50 minutes away, that’s quicker than 2 hours and I do think they should be checking with people who are either ringing on behalf of someone or a child if there is another way of getting there. I didn’t immediately offer because I just thought being told to sit and wait for an ambulance meant one was coming regardless and I didn’t want them to turn up and me be gone. I think when people call 111 and are told an ambulance will be sent, that that’s just what we accept. I think it should be asked if there’s any other mode of transport they could take if it means getting there quicker than an ambulance could, this could take a light load off the ambulance service (probably not by much though!) and means that people who are in pain or need treatment aren’t waiting longer than they have to.

But then I’m not sure how unrealistic that is, I don’t work in the field and I don’t often have to ring 111/999 so I might just be living in an ‘ideal world’ state of mindGrin[/quote]
Agreed!
I have a DC with a medical condition which causes difficulties breathing. We have had an ambulance lots of times however in these times it has usually been from the GP surgery because they have already started treatment such as oxygen etc or needs blue lights and a few times from home when we have needed medical attention in the house in order to stabilise them to get them to hospital. Other than that we drive to the hospital which is an hour away from us and most times have walked in and been treated ahead of those arriving by ambulance because that's how triage works. People think an ambulance is quicker once you get to the hospital. An ambulance is only required if you need medical treatment before or during transporting!

Maassi · 11/10/2021 21:59

[quote AutumnLeaves21]@Ophicleide in that case, the ambulance was not on standby, they were attending an obstetric emergency. Totally different.[/quote]
Can't have an NHS ambulance on standby for a delivery. That's probably the word the midwife used to reassure and called it in as an Obstetric emergency when it actually became one.

For an actual standby, the only and very expensive way would be to pay a private ambulance provider to standby with a Paramedic on board outside your house. It's how the rich and famous do it Smile

GreyhoundG1rl · 11/10/2021 21:59

@Flittingaboutagain

I've been told to call an ambulance as soon as labour starts next time because otherwise I'll be free birthing!
Who told you you won't be able to get there under your own steam? Very odd.
AyeAyeMister · 11/10/2021 22:01

@Flittingaboutagain

I've been told to call an ambulance as soon as labour starts next time because otherwise I'll be free birthing!
Why?