worried about not getting to hospital on time

[flipflopsonfifthavenue]

Am 19wks pg with DC2.

my first labour was very quick - first contraction 5pm, DS born 9pm. Midwife joked that "I'd better have a home birth next time as I won't get to hospital!"

Fast forward 2 years and now her words are haunting me. I've chosen the same hospital where I had DS which is about 20 mins drive from home (longer in traffic). This is an IVF pregnancy and so am looking at a delivery suite birth again as am classified as high risk. Am happy with a this, and don't have any desires for a home birth or anything more hands off.

However, I keep having these awful day dreams of giving birth on the kitchen floor at home, while DS look on - traumatised and screaming..!!

Also, my local hospital is grim, and I don't want to give birth there, and my other day dream is that I'll have to call an ambulancs as labour will come on so quickly, and that they'll just take me to that one, rather than the one I'm having my ante-natal care at.

Any other people had fast first labours and even faster second ones....but who got to hospital on time...? and if you didn't - what happened with your DC...? And finally - is it true that an ambulance would just take you to closest hospital or could you insist they take you to your hospital of choice?

Thanks - months yes, but the panic is setting in!

I was told to prepare for a precipitate labour with DC3. The MW thought I'd deliver within minutes of my waters breaking if it happened at home prior to my induction at 39 weeks (had polyhydramnios, waters were bulging, head well down and engaged)

The things I were told were:

• keep mobile phone on me
• tell DH to keep his phone on
• put the playpen up downstairs so I could throw DS in there if I went into labour downstairs (he would have gone into the cot upstairs)
• towels downstairs and upstairs
• put door on the latch at the same time as phoning the ambulance
• ideally labour in a room with a washable floor!

In the end, nothing happened, and even once my waters were broken, still nothing happened!

Yup - good advice dinosnores! I was told all that too. The midwives also said I may well have a 'normal' labour second time round even though my first was precipitate. As it turns out, I didn't, but I still got to hospital in good time (was only 7 cm dilated as opposed to 10cm and head visible first time) because I sort of knew what to expect. Don't be scared reading this. The most extreme case I heard was a colleague delivering his baby - 18 minutes from his wife's first twinge ! But the labour itself was very straightforward and the paramedics were coming through the door as the baby crowned. All totally fine and a very proud daddy (although, he didn't really have to do much). It's so unlikely that you won't be able to get to the hospital though. Honest!

Definitely listen to Dinosnores

I did not follow number one or number two and, as a result, DD3 was born whilst DH was out on the school run with all the others and I was on my own.

And do labour in a room with a washable floor - in my infinite wisdom I thought I would make it to the bathroom but ended up having her on our bedroom carpet. DH had to work like a demon to get all the blood stains out!

Zara if you come back to this thread - I was induced with DS1 with prostin only and had a very fast labour. Part of the reason that I never made it to hospital with DD3 (next baby after him) was that I thought I wasn't in ENOUGH pain for her to be close to arriving. So it was still fast but WAY less painful if that is any consolation to you!

Oooh, a less painful experience for number 3.... Now, that would be good. (I'm glossing over the fact that you have birth on your own over the bedroom carpet .)

Another obvious one that I forgot was to make sure that your and DH's phones are ALWAYS charged!