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

Don't you even have one friend that can pick you up? Even a neighbour? A work colleague? An acquaintance?

Any friends willing to come drive you home?

Yet another example of why adults not driving is an issue yet there’s hundreds of threads with people claiming not driving isn’t ever a problem.

Glad you’ve got a plan. I can’t get over the suggestion you stay in hospital purely because you can’t get a lift home, like it’s some kind of hotel.

Congratulations OP! Very glad to hear you’ve got something sorted and will be home soon. What a lovely volunteer 🩷

Have you ever thought of going into counselling?

Ouch, I am reliving that pain thinking of jumping!

No, it'd be like driving without insurance. I waited the 6 weeks but I was in a lot of pain for a while after the c sec and was uncomfortable with the seat belt on nvm capable of an emergency stop...

If you needed to do an emergency stop your insides will become outsides !!!! You would need to stop frequently for baby and you will be in absolute agony before your even halfway there you dont realise just what muscles you use until your in pain . I had to drive home 12 hours after a quick natural birth its only 15 minutes and that was not a comfortable drive .

Do you have breakdown cover? If you are medically unfit to drive, and you have inward travel cover on your breakdown insurance, they may cover providing a driver to get you home.

Even though you’ve got the volunteer driver lined up it might be worth checking as they may at least cover the cost for you.

If you don’t have cover like that in your situation with a partner who can’t drive I’d look into it. I’m the same. DH doesn’t drive. And so I’ve always made sure we have breakdown cover that provides an alternative driver if I am incapacitated

I have heard of mums driving themselves home from hospital after c-sections, but only in America, where they tend to keep you in slightly longer, and she'd probably be back at work the next week anyway.

I'm British but live in America. It's not true that women who have C-sections are back to work the next week. While there isn't any federally mandated paid maternity leave, which is awful, the vast majority of companies offer months of paid time off, more if you have a C-section, and many states also offer 80 percent of your full salary for a few months, like mine does. With company and/or state help, most mums receive far better maternity benefits than you get in Britain, which itself has terrible maternity benefits compared to many European nations.

Something not being federally mandated doesn't mean that it doesn't happen via other means.

The women who are really affected by the lack of federal paid leave are the poorest women. Which is truly awful, and paid leave SHOULD be federally mandated, but fortunately it doesn't describe the vast majority of women who give birth here.

As it happens even if he had started driving lessons when they found out OP was pregnant he probably would have been hard pushed to actually get a test date within the timeframe (less than 9 months) and obviously no guarantee of passing. It would of course have been helpful but since OP was happy to make the journey a few days ago it would appear she wasn’t that close to her due date.

Glad you are sorted @Agrette0 I can imagine I would just want to be home too. The driver will need to stop for giving the baby a break from the car seat but also potentially to feed or change a nappy so have everything you need to hand for that (and get your partner to do the nappy!). The journey home could be a bit longer but once you’re there settle in with your little one.

@McGregor33 that’s a bit mean of the hospital to keep your pathing charges accumulating in your circumstances.

The 6 week rule is a myth. Call your insurer and ask them what their terms are. Some have no minimum time!!

Agreed. I'm not in the UK but I cannot imagine a male not wanting to drive, it's unfathomable to me. It would give me the ick so bad I wouldn't want to sleep with him let alone breed with him. How embarrassing, and what a major turnoff.

Their terms are they aren't a doctor and you should only be driving if safe.

Weird

This thread is the new ‘cancel the cheque’.

The partner not driving is so selfish of them, I hope your partner is feeling very guilty and booking some driving lessons!

Congratulations 🐥

I’m glad you got it sorted.

please do make sure you stop the journey every half hour with baby that small - it is recommended every 30 minutes for under 4 weeks as their airways can’t really handle car seats for a long at this age. Especially if they were preterm. Not sure how early your baby was)

congratulations!

Not a CS but a hysterectomy and massive cyst removed - was told no driving for 6 weeks - when I questioned this the doctor asked me if I could physically do a hard emergency stop, and if I could then I could drive. So I did a couple of days later.

The 6 week rule is a myth. Rather, the insurer usually just needs you to be able to do an emergency stop (check with them).
HOWEVER, no you absolutely cannot drive 3 days after a section, that’s nuts. You’d struggle to even sit in that position as a passenger for that long. Every small bump in the road would make you wince.

Please do not do this. You have had major surgery and without a doctor’s agreement you will be driving without insurance, with a high risk of having an accident. Driving will not only be excruciating even the smallest accident will risk putting your insides on the outside, and you will be risking not only your own lives but also the lives of others on the road. If you don’t have an accident, the exhaustion will mean you will take much longer to recover and find it really really hard to look after your newborn. Book an Uber and take painkillers before you set off!

Are you in the AA - they may well cover getting you home, I’ve heard them doing similar for someone with a broken leg.

Don’t speak to your insurance that’s an awful idea. Speak to your consultant and get their advice. Explain your situation