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?

I got an ambulance with DC2, I had a very very long labour with number 1 so expected the same with number 2. Went into labour very quickly, husband phoned the labour ward who asked if it was me moaning in the background (I was upstairs him downstairs). They said there was no way I would make it and to call an ambulance (my husband had tried to call the community midwife before this point). Ambulance, paramedic (bike) arrived and then the midwife, I was 10cm by that point (3 hours after first contraction). I gave birth on the way to hospital about 10minutes into the journey. I don't feel bad, I would not have made it in a taxi as hospital was 45mins away.

Totally unreasonable and why the ambulance service is on its knees…..I’m an A&E dr. I took a 25 minute train ride and walked 15 minutes on the other side when I was in labour.
Ambulances are for life threatening emergencies or situations where people physically can’t move because of injury. Labour is a normal physiological process.

I needed to get an ambulance, twice. It turned out I went to second stage very quickly (but I didn't understand that at the time) . I just knew there was no way I could get in a car, let alone sit in it for 30 mins for the drive to the hospital. Anyone who didn't know how quickly afterwards the DC were born might think I was being a bit of a diva. Thank goodness for the lovely paramedics, who were so kind and reassuring. I didn't have either DC in the ambulance but it was very close ( born within minutes of getting to the hospital for both DS1 &2).
I'm surprised at how judgey some of the responses are on here. There's no crystal ball, we mostly don't know how long labour will take, or how imminent a birth is. I don't think most people would call an ambulance if they didn't need to.

No drip feed, the story is exactly as written.

To answer PP's asking how i know the details, the baby was my DSS

I'm 37+ weeks with our second and was discussing hypothetical situations with DH as to what I'd do if I went into labour before my scheduled section and couldn't get hold of him to take me.

He said just ring an ambulance.

I said I can't do that, that's taking liberties.

He said well that's what DSC mum did when her labour started. Textbook pregnancy, no complications. DSS1 was in bed asleep and nobody could get over to watch him, they weren't going to wake him and she didn't want to get a taxi or bus so they decided to call an ambulance - yes the ambulance did take her.

I was and said they're taking the piss surely, he said absolutely not.

Suffice to say I won't be calling an ambulance.

Plenty of time to prepare for this with family and friends or call a taxi

This is easier said that done sometimes. DH can’t drive due to a medical condition, and the taxi companies I called weren’t very helpful. We did have friends and family, but they wouldn’t have been able to come at any time, they wouldn’t have been able to leave work for example.
We ended up going for a home birth for partly this reason (although the home birth was initially suggested by my midwife because I was so low risk). I haemorrhaged after giving birth so needed an ambulance anyway.

I’m pregnant again and will need to go to hospital this time due to the PPH last time. Thankfully MIL is retired so she’ll come anytime, but if she wasn’t I would be very stressed over trying to find a solution.

For the record before I get pounced on, I'm calling him equally as unreasonable!

Totally ridiculous. To be fair l don’t even know how they would take to come. There are more pressing people to assist e.g. someone having a heart attack

Not everyone has a partner or family - I didn't. And for some people who do have family, those family members may not drive, or be unreliable or unwilling to assist.

When I went into labour on a weekday morning, my only option other than family or partner was friends, but all my friends were at work.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who's ever been in that position.

@Hugoslavia

So, I'm guessing that this post isn't about you, but someone else? In which case, it's better not to be too judgemental as it's not really your business.

Agree. It must be great to own such a wonderful judgy pants!

My only option with DC7 was to drive myself (37 miles - we were rural).

I'd asked for a home birth precisely because I knew it would be a problem but the midwives refused because too high risk - #7 with a history of major PPHs. So - had to drive myself. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

Lots of ticks for judgyness. You will win a prize

Agree. It must be great to own such a wonderful judgy pants

Some people deserve to be judged. If everyone behaved like this then there wouldn't be enough ambulances for really sick people.

And for the record, the OP is clearly not talking about people with genuine medical conditions like pre-eclampsia or PPH, so bringing those stories up is irrelevant.

Totally unreasonable, sorry! They have so many life threatening or important things to do and they aren't a taxi service! I had to get an ambulance with my first born because the hospital sent me away and she was coming like right there and then - if I jumped in a car or taxi I wouldn't have made it to hospital and even then I felt like an a*shole. Please only use them if it really is an emergency and its completely unavoidable!

Righttt so it’s a story you’ve got second hand from your husband.. about his EX WIFE. I’m sure he’s been totally unbiased and factual in his retelling..🙄

I am appalled by many of the comments on this thread.

Yes, it was a 'tad ableist' - people with disabilities can raise children well without necessarily being able to learn to drive!

People with not enough money to buy driving lessons and then buy and insure a car can also raise children well. And so on through all the other assumptions put forward as definite solutions on the thread (and splitting hairs rather, the woman might go into labour at significantly sooner than full term, so the partner wouldn't have had 9 months to learn, get and pass a test then, would they?)

There will be many mothers in labour who may need, for a wide variety of circumstances, to call an ambulance. And some who probably don't need to but call it anyway and will be triaged appropriately by the call handlers. So I agree, if you are pregnant reading this and feel YOU need to call an ambulance, err on the side of caution, call and then they will decide whether/who to send to you and how quickly. Where I live, we have many paramedics who work singly with a car or motorbike, so you might well get one of those first, depending, and they will assess.

If only this country (I'm in England) had the necessary number of midwives available to attend for home births and in early labour to give assistance and advice, like we used to, then we wouldn't have this problem to the same extent, would we? (Not knocking midwives - there's a chronic shortage which means that the way maternity care has to be delivered to get the best outcomes for the most people is less than ideal.)

I think it's ridiculous and unpleasant to lump labouring mothers - who at the very least have a genuine need for some medical attention in the relatively near future (and especially as first timers, can't always make the "obvious" (not obvious) "correct" judgements about how urgent it is) - in with timewasters of all the other flavours who clog up the system.

I'm in the camp that says it's impossible to say if it's unreasonable unless you are the woman or were otherwise intimately involved in the whole thing and actually understand the circumstances fully, which isn't that likely because you'd have to be a very intimate confidante of the woman concerned to be SURE you have the full picture (mentally, emotionally, physically and practically).

Totally unreasonable unless an actual clinical reason.

Lack of cash is not an excuse.

I read it as he seemed to think it’s perfectly ok to ring an ambulance, not that he was having a dig at his ex, presumably he rang the ambulance. And no an ambulance should not have been called.

@Sweettea1 I only said that as someone upthread mentioned they weren't allowed to get one. I'm glad to hear most taxi drivers would be happy to do this.

@Regularsizedrudy

Righttt so it’s a story you’ve got second hand from your husband.. about his EX WIFE. I’m sure he’s been totally unbiased and factual in his retelling..🙄

Oh give over. He's not twisting anything. He doesn't see the issue!

@Theluggage15

I read it as he seemed to think it’s perfectly ok to ring an ambulance, not that he was having a dig at his ex, presumably he rang the ambulance. And no an ambulance should not have been called.

Yes exactly this.

He feels it's perfectly reasonable to call for an ambulance, I said it absolutely isn't.

Nobody is digging at his ex here.

This is about him thinking it's an acceptable method of transport/triage during labour.

Looking at various ambulance service websites including the London ambulance service, they state very clearly that you should not be calling an ambulance as normal labour is not an emergency, call the labour ward, midwife etc. instead. And there’s info on when you should call which would only be on rare occasions.

I don't think it is reasonable to expect a woman in labor to take a bus. So if she doesn't have friends or family with a car or money for a taxi I think an ambulance is reasonable. I think it is unreasonable to judge someone by your standards and abilities.

Now, if you have the means to pay for a taxi or you have friends or family with a car that are willing to help you then I think it is reasonable to expect you make your own way to the hospital.

I suspect those who say it is unreasonable to take a taxi would not be ok taking two buses and a wait between them at 6am while in labor and probably have the means to go by car or taxi.

I went into labour 1week after Ifound out I was pregnant. We called ambulance. They took me to A&E and then maternity. The midwife told me
I was wasting her time but the ambulance crew persuaded her to put the band on my belly:!my daughter born 20 mins laterb

A bus? While in labour? And have the waters break over the bus seat? No.