Quick question - your other children when you go into labour

[redblue]

I guess this is a stupid question but I just want to check. What happens if you have a baby / young child and you are due to have your second in a few weeks but you don't have childcare or any support or someone who will look after your existing child. Am I right that it is a case of waking the first baby up and taking them to hospital with you (the person in question genuinely cannot afford a babysitter although she has made enquiries but the "being on call" rate she has been quoted by a few people is beyond her budget. I am away at the time she is due to give birth and she keeps refusing the financial help I have offered her). Thanks

We had no childcare for DD1 when I was expecting DD2......the nearest possible babysitter was my mum who lives a 2 hour drive away (and my first labour was 6 hours so we were expecting things to happen pretty fast second time round).

I had originally planned a home birth for that very reason, but then couldn't have one because my blood pressure went up and I had an expected big baby. I didn't want DD1 present at the birth (she was only 23 months and I'm not sure the hospital would have allowed it anyway) so was all prepared to have to go off to hospital on my own.

As it was I phoned my mum at 2.30am when my waters broke and she jumped in the car. I had to go off to hospital on my own in a taxi, and DH made it for the birth with 20 mins to spare after taking delivery of my mother!

I guess your friends options are to either try for a home birth (in which case the MW's would expect someone else to be there for child care anyway) or to ask a friend or relative to help........does she have an OH?

A friend of mine in this situation was told her child could be temporarily taken into emergency foster care when she went into labour. I don't know if they were just trying to frighten her or give her a genuinely helpful alternative but I know it all turned out ok in the end ( something about an au pair...)

I was told children not allowed in delivery rooms, and if they came with then DH would have to look after them in the family room.

I ended up having to pay £10 an hour for a babysitter who was on call for me - I had to call her at 3am and she came straight round. If I had gone into labour during the day I would have called one of DSs or DDs friends from school parents (and this wouldn't have cost anything) but I did not feel comfortable with this at 3am especially as I didn't want to wake them up to take them to someone else's house.

TBH I would rather have gone into hospital and laboured on my own than have had to woken up DD (6) and DS (3) and taken them with. They'd have been in a terrible mood and it would have been awful. I am not sure what would happen if you couldn't afford help.

Thanks all for your replies, i am looking into cancelling my holiday, it just seems so horrible to me to be stranded like that although there must be women who have had to go through it before. Anyway thanks for you replies. Home birth was not an option as her first child was c section