Can a newborn travel in a car?

[northerngirly]

For various reasons it looks like I will be giving birth in a hospital 2.5 hours from my home. It looks as though that will be the best option for my pregnancy.

What I’m confused about is can a newborn travel in a car for that long home? Obviously we will stop a lot but is it dangerous? What happens if I have no choice but to do that?

Can anyone give any advice?

Well it doesn’t appear to be the OP’s o closest hospital so it’s always a choice. I’m just highlighting that it’s not only the issue with the drive for the baby but the worst bit will probably be the 2.5 hour drive for the OP post c section.
As someone who has had 2 sections a drive that long and having to stop making it longer again would be hell on earth so there’s a balance for the benefits to this hospital vs the negatives due to the distance.

The OP has already said that she will be in for 3 nights for specific reasons. The same reasons that mean her baby needs to be born in that hospital.

For instance, my nephew has a kidney condition that they diagnosed before birth. After birth, he had to have some blood tests and a scan which is routine for that condition, so they knew that would take at least a day. So even in the best possible circumstances, they'd be in the postnatal ward for at least 24 hours after birth, probably 2 days. Turned out they came out when he was 5 days old due to the weekend.

It's not a choice if there are medical reasons for her having to deliver at that hospital. Sometimes quite literally in order to ensure a good outcome the mother has no choice about where to deliver her baby.

1. Your have no idea if it's a choice. The longer than average stay is also indicative of a specific reason why baby may need to be born there.

2. many (though not all, by a long shot) would be fine with that length journey post c section. Me being one of them. We travelled almost that long on day 5 because we fancied going to see some friends (an hour there, then a short trip to a cafe, then an hour back) and it was painless. It's not necessarily going to be hellish.

Your child will be fine in a car sear fit for age with breaks.
Don't overthink it or consult your midwife.

Get a lay flat car seat and sit in the back with your baby. I had a convertible pram that had the basinet for the car and used it shopping so I could see baby and as he got older could sit up, similar to the old fashioned prams it was lovely. I would get home asap don't stop. Baby will be fine. Good luck!

fair point I didn’t think about other issues I just thought they thought it would be 3 full days due to Csection. I just wanted to point out for a Csection it can be less.

Fair point I just was thinking if they thought it was guaranteed 3 days just for Csection.

You don't always have a choice. My last pregnancy was considered high risk.
We didn't a choice of hospitals. I was assigned one.

But!
New burns aren't made of glass. They can travel in baby car seats. It's takes a bit longer to travel but not the end of the world. I was lucky that my husband drove us home after an emergency caesarean section.
Otherwise I would have had to ask family/friends for help.
Public transport including transfers would have been possible but far less comfortable for me after a difficult birth.

My son had severe reflux and slept in his car seat !

And have people coughing and sneezing and possibly jostling the baby? No!

you don’t get free choice of the hospital you can give birth in

Not to mention delays and too many passengers.

This is a good reminder! When my first son was about 6-7 weeks old, we were hospitalised with RSV. At that point, he had not yet been diagnosed with reflux although it was obvious there was something not right as he could not be put down, didn't sleep at all. The first night in hospital, I was in bits with exhaustion and worry. Every time I lifted him out of the car seat to lie him down to sleep, he would wake up and howl. The car seat was the only place he would settle.

A lovely nurse came in and stopped me keeping lifting him. Reassured me that it was better for him, and me, that we both got some sleep instead of worrying about his positioning. It was the first night since birth that he went more than 20 minutes without waking.

I don't know if you're in the UK but pressure on maternity services, particularly where there are problems/risks, means that the nearest unit may not be the one you end up at.

No doubt the examples that turn up in the media are exceptional but people moving around the midlands or between Liverpool and Manchester are widely reported.

I’m not sure why people keep saying lie flat car seats aren’t actually completely flat? Maybe 5 years ago but now you can buy completely flat car seats.

www.argos.co.uk/product/3100945?_gl=1zjqa8g_upMQ.._gs*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhvK8BhDfARIsABsPy4i7XcWvZ90Y9pdbAEwmbh2t_KU1KnMzyABy0lOqJF_OgI-zyleGCacaAgh7EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&gbraid=0AAAAAD9II9k_FmlsYW1PLjAPZ0jnWtxwO

What does it matter how many? 348 died, if someone wants to make it 349 because they can’t be arsed to take their baby out of a seat enough times that’s up to them but I’d rather not risk my own child’s health when midwives and hospital now tell you to not leave them for more than 30 mins, they’ve not just brought those guidelines in for no reason……if someone else wants to risk their babies life that’s up to them but the fact a lot of people are arguing against it suggests to me they are not concerned if their child struggles breathing or not so maybe they should think about why they are even having children if stopping during long journeys is too much for them to undertake………

Wow!
What an amazing parent shaming post that was.

It matters because it shows the statistical risk of a choice.

People have died tripping over their own shoelaces but you don’t ban shoelaces based on a rare occurrence.

Besides, someone upthread appears to have looked into this study and it isn’t related to car seats specifically, so is statistically inaccurate anyway in this scenario.

In fact I just googled out of curiosity. Perhaps we SHOULD ban shoelaces!

My baby hated 20 minutes in the car on the way home. Illegally, I ended up taking them out as they were screaming.

Babies shouldn't be in a car seat longer than 39 mins at a time

Of course they can. As a diabetic my natal care was in a London hospital where I gave birth to ds1 and then ds2 and Dh had to drive us home, 30 miles, a good hour and a half.

I agree, I'd take the train.

Second option would be as @SJM1988 suggests, I'd sit in the back and be checking on baby regularly. Regularly stopping when needed and using a lie-flat car seat.