childcare during birth/while in labour

[ptitemaud]

hi
i am 32 weeks pregnant and i am starting to worry a lot about childcare during birth
My toddler is 18 months old and i have no family in England
my friends have kids and are busy
i don't know anyone i could ask to babysit for 39 hours or more ( some labours last ages)
my usual babysitter works in daytime and has children
I want my partner to be with me for the birth
i am thinking of getting a doula to babysit my son
are there mums in the same situation?
what did you arrange?
how did it work?

Why not ask your friends? I have 3 DC and am busy but feel honoured when a friend feels they can trust me to look after their little ones. I would always help out if I could and often an extra one isn't that much extra work! If you're worried about the labour going on for a long time, you could always ask two friends and they could share it between them.

I had the exact same worries during my pregnancy. I had a homebirth, and as it worked out for me ... my toddler, whom is always up in the night ... slept through the entire thing! I could not believe it has there were people coming and going and talking loudly. He got up the next morning to discover his new brother in mummy's bedroom

I agree that its worth asking a couple of friends, if you can call on them to babysit. My other back-up plan was my neighbours, whom would have happily helped out ... though maybe not at 3am!

I asked my friends. They agreed that between them they could probably sort something out even though they all have jobs and kids. I took all their details and made up a list of their numbers and adresses and partners names, stuff like that, and gave the list to each one of them so if something happened they could be in touch with each other and my DH to sort things out. I was also lucky in that we had a babysitter who also works at DS1's nursery.

Neighbours also a good idea. Although I dont know them very well, I mentioned it to them in passing and they all offered to help if we were desperate, at least until another friend could get there.

In the end I was admitted to hospital for a suspected blood clot and went into labour there at 6am. DH took DS to the babysitter for an hour then she took him to nursery. DS2 was born before 10am so all worked out fine!

i will ask my neighbours and some friends
it is always better to ask isn't it?
it is just annoying to depend on people when you are already stressed