Can i go to any hospital?

[avariceandlatinos]

If i go into labour away from home can i just go to the nearest hospital, will they be able to call up my notes electronically? Or do i need the handheld ones?

Keep the handheld ones with you, though, if you've had an uncomplicated pregnancy, there's not really anything in them that will be much use during labour. They won't be able to call them up electronically.

No the notes arent electronic, def take hand held ones

Dependant on how far along you are they may send you to the hosp you booked in for

I carried mine around with me pretty much all the time - especially if I was out of the area.

Had to go to a family event at 37 weeks with DS2 and had a packed hospital bag in the boot of the car as well

Ah, i see. Are you booked into a particular hospital then dependant on postcode/midwife? I'm going to visit relatives over the weekend, on the otherside of the country! So i suppose they'll just have to admit me.

they won't turn you away if you are in labour (God bless the NHS )

You need the hand-held notes. We are a way off having an electronic solution. But if you go into labour you will be treated.

At the moment you will be booked in with whatever hospital the midwives you have been seeing are linked to - which would generally be the nearest hospital to you. You can express a preference if you wanted to go to a specific hospital but if you're talking about being away from home then you would be admitted elsewhere.

But it's not the case that they can't turn you away from an NHS hospital - I've heard stories at antenatal classes about our local hospital closing the doors to new admissions as they were too full. Not that I think this happens very often, and probably only for a couple of hours.

So yes, take your notes with you and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Can't they just ring the other hospital for my details :-( ? Lol, i'm worried i won't have my notes. Any tips for remembering to take them around with you? I can just imagine going into a labour in the middle of a field (parents live in the countryside)

P.s to that, I wonder how many women get faced with avariceandlatinos dilemma? I visit my parents every other weekend but i'm registered in my 'home' city! An electronic system would seem to make a lot of sense!

I went for a trip to the lakes at 38 weeks with first pregnancy - looked up the nearest maternity units for the phone numbers in case I needed them.

I think ideally you would ring first, before attending in labour, like you would if you were at home. Then if they did happen to be very busy they would advise you where to go instead.

I took labour/baby bag and notes with me, went about 9 days over of course

Keep them in your bag. You are the only one with a complete set of your notes, so you're responsible for them. But if you haven't had complications, then the antenatal notes aren't that relevant to the birth. ANd if you have, then you're much more likely to be hyper-cautious and remember to carry them around with you. If you're really worried, photocopy them so you have more than one set.