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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

What happens if the delivery suite is full?

41 replies

FeminineRageTheMusical · 30/05/2025 21:01

Has anyone had any experience where the delivery suite where they planned to give birth is full when they go into labour?

I’ve been in for various triage things, and they always say they are super busy and I’m waiting in the corridor outside for 45 mins to an hour.

Went for a growth scan at 40+3 today, was coming up as accelerated growth but they said they wouldn’t do anything today anyway because the delivery suite is full and chaotic. The measurements were borderline so I’ve come home to wait for spontaneous labour, but now I’m concerned about what would happen if the delivery suite is full when I go into labour?

The hospital is 5-10 mins drive away, but the next nearest hospital is 1 hour, which makes all the difference as my last labour progressed very quickly, and second time round could be even quicker.

Any reassuring stories much appreciated thank you ❤️

OP posts:
Springadorable · 30/05/2025 21:04

If you're about to have a baby you'll be found a space. They just won't induce anyone if they are full.

Mrsttcno1 · 30/05/2025 21:08

It depends if they are busy or genuinely full.

If they are just busy then PP is right, they won’t induce anyone unless they absolutely need to because they keep the beds free as much as possible when they are limited to allow for spontaneous labours.

If they are genuinely full then you will be sent to the next closest hospital, they have to do that because if they cram you in when they are genuinely at full capacity & therefore they have inadequate staff & something goes wrong, they and you are really in trouble.

It never used to happen at my local hospital but due to another local one being closed recently all of those women transferred to our local meaning I do know of a few cases in the last few months who have been sent to the next closest which is about an hour away. It’s not ideal but the alternative is giving birth at home alone really, they can’t magic up beds or staff.

DelurkingAJ · 30/05/2025 21:10

Me! DS2. Went into labour (41 weeks), rang hospital and they were full. DH then had a conversation which he (sensibly) did not fully share with me at the time. He was offered a hospital at the other end of the same Trust, which he pointed out was over an hour away (we are closer to three other maternity units in other Trusts)…the lady said she’d call round but that he was to call 999 if I had the urge to push.

He tried not to fret for 20 minutes.

Lady called back and we drove the 30 minutes to a hospital we’d never been to before. Managed to find a parking space then got out and, just as DH was panicking about how he was going to get me to the maternity unit when he didn’t know where it was, a porter appeared who was coming off duty. Being an amazing gentleman he took one look at us, was given a slightly garbled explanation and had me in a wheelchair and heading to the maternity unit before we knew what was going on.

Everythibg after that was fab. It was actually a nicer birthing room than for DS1. They had a pool in each room. DS2 arrived about 90 minutes later and all was well.

CrispAppleStrudels · 30/05/2025 21:12

I was the last person admitted at the hospital i gave birth in on the weekend that I had DD1. It was so busy that the maternity unit was put "on divert". Anyone presenting in labour was told to go to another hospital. We are in South London so luckily, there are another 3 major hospitals within 30mins of us, but I know there were a lot of very unhappy and stressed women in labour who suddenly found themselves in a totally different location, different midwives etc. The consultant midwife who made the decision to go on divert was part of my team for DD2 and she told me it was one of the most difficult decisions she had to make, but she had to do it for patients safety.

obecalp12 · 30/05/2025 21:20

When the next 3 hospitals are also closed, they put you in the TV room, and then on an induction ward with 3 other people and no G&A, and then you get your labour room as you're pushing and have a baby 20 minutes later... ask me how I know 🙃

I'm sure things will work out for you though, they'll stop all non-emergent inductions/c-sections etc to make space.

Original poster
FeminineRageTheMusical · 30/05/2025 21:34

Thank you all for your replies, some more reassuring than others 😂

They all had a happy ending though!

I hope it is the case that they could find a space for a spontaneous labour, but just not do an induction. I completely get that they are overwhelmed and understaffed!

OP posts:
TheNightingalesStarling · 30/05/2025 21:34

When my now 12yo was born...

I rang. I could hear the panic... fortunately I was booked for homebirth, so community midwife was allocated to me

The nearest maternity unit with space was 90 minutes away, but might have been full by the time we got there! To make it more interesting, I was listed as homebirth or ambulance due to previous quick labour.

nmwx · 30/05/2025 21:45

When I was pregnant with my DD, I had an pre-term labour scare (luckily she decided to stay out until 37+6), but the midwife looking after me told me that the labour ward was full the night of the scare and if I had been in labour I would’ve been told to go to the next closest maternity unit to deliver.

11811B · 30/05/2025 21:50

I was put into whatever the pre labour ward is for both of mine because there was no room in the labour ward, with my first I was moved out of the birthing room to make space due to slow labour and it took another 36 hours for him to arrive (not fun) and I made it to the labour ward 3 hours before he was born. Second there was also no room when I was admitted so I ended up in the same place with the same midwife and they said if no space became available they could deliver there, thankfully made it to the labour ward 30 mins before arrival as there were complications and lots of help arrived very quickly! I think midwives are just expert jugglers and I suspect only start to divert when it gets really dire. We are london so there would have been other hospitals within taxi distance if needed.

Lovenpic · 30/05/2025 22:02

My cousin was sent from Kings to - dreadfully - Orpington while in labour as they were full.

Not only was it an awful drive, but it was a pain in the ass having to go back to the area to register their DD, and there was some admin issue which meant they kept being invited to postnatal appointment in the area.

TheNightingalesStarling · 30/05/2025 22:03

Lovenpic · 30/05/2025 22:02

My cousin was sent from Kings to - dreadfully - Orpington while in labour as they were full.

Not only was it an awful drive, but it was a pain in the ass having to go back to the area to register their DD, and there was some admin issue which meant they kept being invited to postnatal appointment in the area.

Kings and PRU (Orpington) are a joint trust... wonder if there was somewhere closer they ignored?

SabrinaThwaite · 30/05/2025 22:04

obecalp12 · 30/05/2025 21:20

When the next 3 hospitals are also closed, they put you in the TV room, and then on an induction ward with 3 other people and no G&A, and then you get your labour room as you're pushing and have a baby 20 minutes later... ask me how I know 🙃

I'm sure things will work out for you though, they'll stop all non-emergent inductions/c-sections etc to make space.

Edited

This was similar to my experience in the late 1990s. Exceptionally busy day (apparently),spent time on a ward with women in for complications, then got moved into a room with gas and air (hurrah) and a brilliant trainee midwife. TBF the nursing staff were excellent, they cleared out an unused nursery and got a bed moved in for me and found me a bathroom to use.

CrispAppleStrudels · 30/05/2025 22:12

TheNightingalesStarling · 30/05/2025 22:03

Kings and PRU (Orpington) are a joint trust... wonder if there was somewhere closer they ignored?

Edited
Show quote history

There are several closer - Chelsea & Westminster, St Georges, St Thomas', even probably Croydon. But they often try and send you to shared trust hospitals first. It relies on you knowing about other nearby hospitals and kicking up a fuss, which obviously isn't easy when you are in labour!

thejadefish · 30/05/2025 22:20

I was already in labour with waters already broken but the delivery rooms were full so I was put into a private post natal room (so no gas & air available because it was piped directly into the delivery rooms - just paracetamol offered) as they didn't have space anywhere else & I didn't want to go home to wait for labour to progress further (I was still a few cm off albeit within the x mins of contractions they said to come in for). Unfortunately labour stopped overnight but 26 hours after admission when a bed finally became free I was taken to a delivery suite and induced. This was 8 years ago though and I imagine it differs depending on where you are. Baby was born safely & healthy. Good luck OP

nchristie · 30/05/2025 22:24

November 2021, Whittington Hospital, London. First visit to the hospital at about 10am, they sent me home because I wasn't dilated enough. Second visit around 8pm. They had a midwife shortage so the midwife led unit wasn't available, I didn't realize the labour ward could reach capacity as well, but to had. They put me into a side room in triage for about 8 hours, I went from 4cm to 10cm and they started getting ready to deliver in that room when a space finally came available on the labour ward. Because I wasn't on the labour ward the only gas and air was in canisters, but they didn't have any which were full, so my partner was going back to the discard pile again and again to hook me up to other almost empty cannisters. I was in blinding pain, but they couldn't give me any better pain relief because I wasn't on the labour ward. If I'd known this could have happened I would have done things differently:

  1. I would have transferred to a hospital which wasn't experiencing midwife shortages
  2. If that hadn't been possible I would have refused to go home after the first visit at 10am

If I have another baby I might say I want a home birth so that I can have a midwife with me during labour as they have a home birthing team. I think I'd also pay for a doula if my savings allow

Lovenpic · 30/05/2025 22:31

TheNightingalesStarling · 30/05/2025 22:03

Kings and PRU (Orpington) are a joint trust... wonder if there was somewhere closer they ignored?

Edited
Show quote history

Yes totally - they were told that if they went to (much closer) St Thomases they would be turned away. Not sure if that was true.

I was later in Kings for three weeks (and had very good care!) and the MWs told me that they’re regularly full as lots of hospitals in the south bump their most serious cases to Kings, and (unofficially) have a lower threshold for doing so if they themselves are full. So if the maternity wards in - say - Tunbridge Wells and Brighton are full, King’s gets the knock on effect.

UncharteredWaters · 30/05/2025 22:40

nchristie · 30/05/2025 22:24

November 2021, Whittington Hospital, London. First visit to the hospital at about 10am, they sent me home because I wasn't dilated enough. Second visit around 8pm. They had a midwife shortage so the midwife led unit wasn't available, I didn't realize the labour ward could reach capacity as well, but to had. They put me into a side room in triage for about 8 hours, I went from 4cm to 10cm and they started getting ready to deliver in that room when a space finally came available on the labour ward. Because I wasn't on the labour ward the only gas and air was in canisters, but they didn't have any which were full, so my partner was going back to the discard pile again and again to hook me up to other almost empty cannisters. I was in blinding pain, but they couldn't give me any better pain relief because I wasn't on the labour ward. If I'd known this could have happened I would have done things differently:

  1. I would have transferred to a hospital which wasn't experiencing midwife shortages
  2. If that hadn't been possible I would have refused to go home after the first visit at 10am

If I have another baby I might say I want a home birth so that I can have a midwife with me during labour as they have a home birthing team. I think I'd also pay for a doula if my savings allow

Edited

please Don’t be hard on yourself for what it could have been/done.

had you stayed in you would have been moved for someone in more established labour anyway.

if the unit is short midwife’s and not space the home birth midwife gets pulled anyway.

might be worth asking how busy/re nearest hospital next time,

TheChosenTwo · 30/05/2025 22:56

Went to hospital expecting dc3, 11 days overdue, had the show and contractions were getting closer together. Went to the maternity ward and they tried to send me home but someone intervened after hooking me up to a monitor and realising dc3 was going to come fairly soon. Unfortunately 3 mothers had gone into spontaneous labour that evening and understandably a lot of resources were sent their way.
I was put in a side room for about an hour before my screaming (no drugs and no one came to check on me!) got too loud to ignore and they got me into a delivery room with 20 minutes to spare. Very fortunate that it was a straightforward birth really as I didn’t receive any care of note. There wasn’t even a pillow for me on the ward once I was moved on, had to sleep with my head on my bag!

3rdbabytime · 30/05/2025 23:14

I was stuck in triage and dilated very quickly. Luckily got a room just as I was ready to push but it meant I was too late for an epidural so had to give birth with just gas and air. This time round midwives have advised to call as contractions start and tell them that I labour quick so I can get that epidural.

nchristie · 31/05/2025 04:38

Just to add, my situation was what they call a failed code red. Code red means they divert women to nearby hospitals with capacity. Failed code red means no nearby hospitals had capacity.

Caspianberg · 31/05/2025 05:27

It was peak covid lockdown, and they decided every postnatal double bedroom could only be used by 1 person instead of 2.
So after Ds was born ( the delivery rooms were free), I was put on a non maternity ward they had commandeered ( I think it was gynaecology and they just cancelled all those at this smaller hospital)

I think they had 4 double rooms so should have fitted 8 mothers with babies, but could only fit 4 on the maternity, so took the 4 from other ward also. It’s standard to stay 1 week here still, I managed to leave after 3 days only due to room shortage. Luckily, as dh wasnt allowed in due to covid rules

user8636283901 · 31/05/2025 05:32

I nearly gave birth in a side room off the ward because delivery suite was full. They managed to usher someone out and I laboured for a couple of hours in delivery suite but they would have kept me in the side room - they told me women have given birth in the side room and even on the ward in the past. Bonkers!

Greycatclub · 31/05/2025 05:43

For my induction we were called at the last minute and told to go to a different hospital. I had a really bad experience there and in hindsight wish I’d researched other hospitals in advance (I would have requested to go elsewhere)

LHR2JFK · 31/05/2025 05:43

Sister was given choice of birthing in what was suddenly designated as a 2 bed delivery room or in the corridor.
This was in Dublin 15years ago.

Nat6999 · 31/05/2025 05:49

Can you plan for a home birth? Then if you need hospital chances are they would transfer you by ambulance to wherever there was a bed.