Can I drive home after C section if baby discharged today?

[Agrette0]

Hi, probably a daft question but I’m really not sure what to do and I don’t want to get in trouble.

I had my baby girl on Friday morning by C section, she came a bit early while we were up visiting family in Preston. We actually live in Great Barr (Birmingham area) and were only meant to be staying the weekend but my waters went suddenly on Thursday night.

Baby’s doing well and they’re saying we can be discharged later today. The problem is we’re quite far from home and I don’t really have anyone who can come get us. My partner can’t drive (we usually use my car) and my mum doesn’t drive either. Everyone’s saying wait a few days but we’re stuck in hospital and I just want to get baby home and settled.

I feel ok in myself apart from being a bit sore when I get up or twist, but I can move around fine and it’s an automatic car. It’s about a 2 hour drive mostly motorway (M6).

I know they say not to drive for 6 weeks after a section but is that like an actual rule or just what they recommend? I’d obviously take it slow and stop if needed.

Has anyone here driven sooner and been ok? I’m desperate to get home now and baby’s not sleeping well here at all.

Thanks x

Your car insurance is going to be the problem. You need to speak to them to find out when they’d be happy for you to drive. It’s usually six weeks.

A long drive so soon after a section is a terrible idea either way.

I drove after about 10 days but my GP had agreed I was ok. I don’t think your insurers would be happy with you driving this soon and I also think it could be risky if you had to do an emergency stop for example.

Please don't drive. Insurance problems and it could be catastrophic if you had even a smallish accident

Honestly - no. The main reason being that you had major surgery 3 days ago when all of the layers of your stomach muscle were cut through and so you won't be able to do an emergency stop and drive safely. You can not drive from Birmingham to Preston. Please don't even try.

I realise this presents you with other problems but it is not a good idea, and there's no way the Dr's will alow it.

Don't drive yet. The journey would probably be at least an hour longer too because you would need to stop every half an hour to give the baby a break from the car seat.

Can you do an emergency stop comfortably and without tearing yourself open?

If you can't do an emergency stop them you're not safe to drive. A taxi would be a better bet.

Your car insurance is very unlikely to cover you if you drive.

personally I think it’s a terrible idea. I understand how desperate you are to get home but you should wait a bit longer and then you’ll have to use public transport.

I can’t imagine any dr signing you off to drive for at least a couple of weeks.

No, most definitely not.
You need to heal. If you had to do an emergency stop you'd be in excruciating pain.

Having had 3 sections I’d say absolutely not. Stay in hospital as long as you can, or stay with family or get a hotel. You really shouldn’t drive for a few weeks. It’s way too early, if you had to make an emergency stop you’d be in agony or break your stitches. It’s also too long for a newborn to be in a car seat without multiple breaks.

You won't be covered under your insurance.

No.

I remember trying to work out if I could legally drive after 3 weeks because I needed to. The insurance people said it was up to the GP to decide if I could do an emergency stop the GP said it depended on how I felt about it and I said I felt fine. So presumably I was covered but it did feel a bit worrying like the insurance could easily say I wasn’t covered as it wasn’t 6 weeks.

however, after a few days, you definitely couldn’t safely emergency stop. It would be agony. I absolutely would not be chancing it. You will need to get a taxi I would think

It's very likely that your car insurance will cover you if your doctor has agreed it is safe for you to drive (https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-12404983/Are-new-mothers-uninsured-drive-Caesarean-section.html). However, if you were to be in an incident, it is likely that the insurance companies involved would establish whether your doctor has agreed you are fit to drive. Therefore, you have to discuss it with your care team. Noone on here can answer the question for you.....

No. Get an Airbnb near by and take a taxi there, this will be more cosy than staying in the hospital and you can enjoy some peaceful days with your baby.

Your doctor has to sign you off as fit to drive. Without that your insurance is invalid.

Couple of things. You haven't actually been discharged yet. In my experience that won't happen until your baby is feeding well, you appear to be healing ok with no signs of infection. So 2-4 days in hospital assuming your baby passes all the medical checks. They will also need to arrange to have your care transferred back to the post natal team so that once you are home you will get the right checks and your baby will be checked over. It's probably in your interests to either get home as soon as possible or stay put for a few weeks especially if the baby was early and a bit small? I was readmitted to hospital as my slightly pre term baby developed jaundice and dropped a shed load of weight. Had it been in a hospital miles away it's likely that only the baby would have been admitted to the NICU so you do want to make sure everyone is doing well.

Is it not a good idea to be spoiled by your mum for a few days or is she not the type?

You can hire drivers to take your car home for you. Stick "https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=can+you+pay+someone+to+drive+your+car+somewhere&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8" into google and there are umpteen companies.

Is there a reasonable simple train route and taxi you could take in a week or so if the car gets back with someone else?

Not ideal but your partner could head back, leave you with your mum and take his paternity leave later if his employer is amenable? That way he can do a proper handover if the baby has come earlier than expected and the two of you can have some time together in a week or two leaving you in the hopefully good care of your mum / doting grandmother.

Are you able to go by train/ public transport, with your partner helping you? I can understand why you’d want to be at home, in your environment, with the baby’s stuff and I wouldn’t personally want to stay with relatives at this point. But driving really doesn’t seem safe.

I’m sorry but how can anyone be this dense 🙈 you’ve had major surgery OP. Think about it….

No is the short answer

Thanks everyone, I didn’t realise about the insurance side of things. I just assumed if I felt ok to drive then it would be fine but sounds like not 😬

I can move about fine and have been walking up and down the ward but I guess an emergency stop would be another story. I definitely don’t want to risk hurting myself or the baby.

I’ve not been discharged yet, they said likely later this afternoon as all baby’s checks have been fine and they’re happy with my scar. She’s small but feeding well now so I was hoping we could just get home and get settled.

Partner’s here with me but he doesn’t drive at all and none of the family nearby have cars either. We’ve looked at trains but I honestly don’t think I could manage all the changes and carrying everything.

Might see if there’s a driver thing like someone said who can take my car for me, or maybe just stay one more night and work something out tomorrow.

Didn’t expect her to come early so hadn’t planned any of this properly. I just want to be home now!

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the advice x

This100%☝️

nothing to do with an automatic car its about doing emergency stops-my sister drove after 3 weeks as doctor was said was fine and she practised doing a stop in a an empty car park

Tough for you to always do the driving. Is there a medical reason why your partner has never learned?

No - you can’t drive a few days after major abdominal surgery

Do you have roadside recovery like the AA? Some policies cover taking the car home if the driver is injured or unwell. Then you could go home by train.

Congratulations op!! That’s a memorable birth story for sure. I’m glad you and little one and doing well and will be discharged soon :) I understand, I was desperate to be at home too after my births.

Who else could drive you?:
sibling
other family member
good friend
taxi - there will be drivers who do longer distances like that
National Express??? Would be hell but presumably better than train

Ask the Hospital Transport Service is they have a list of volunteer drivers who might be able to help? This is a service available in my area (although they normally use their own cars) but you might be able to ask/persuade someone to drive you and your car back home if you them pay for their return train journey, or something like that.