Can I drive myself to the hospital in labour?

[AllThreeWays]

Last birth was 20yrs ago, so a very distant memory.
DP does not drive and hospital is only 5 minutes away. So has anyone driven themselves? DP is insisting it is dangerous, but I wasn't planning on driving if in the third stage or anything silly like that. If it came to it I would call an ambulance.
Am I living in fairy land thinking I can drive if contractions are around 5 minutes apart

Walk!

I wouldn't walk, either. Not if this isn't your first childbirth. You have no idea how fast this one will go, or what you'll feel like. I remember one starry-eyed couple at an antenatal class saying firmly that they only lived 10 mins walk from the local MLU so they'd walk there, and the class leader gently telling them that this was probably not going to happen...

If I'd tried to walk a 20 min walk at the 'right' stage in my second labour, I'd have given birth en route. Thank god for home births!

You wont be able to concentrate. Nevermind the speed propaganda "observation failure" is the most commonly cited contributing factor in police death reports. In plan english that means not being on the ball. The reason we police speed not observation is that we can measure it, but what most kills people is lack of focus. Please don't. A pregnant woman I know seriously injured a biker a couple of months ago turning right while thinking about her strong backache, she's under criminal investigation and he's lost his eye and wont walk again.

There's been more than one case of a woman in labour being involved in a serious accident. If you're having mild enough contractions to be safe to drive then you will probably not be in established labour and will be sent home again! Personally I think it would be deeply irresponsible to attempt to drive yourself whilst in labour.

Yikes, nope, probably not !

I feel guilty for driving while very pregnant in case I go into labour. I'm trying to stop completely. Honestly, it's not fair on other road users. If you killed my DH on your way to hospital having chosen to drive yourself for convenience I wouldn't be sympathetic.