Fast labour..

[tholeon]

hi, am getting into a panic as my last labour -my first, and an induction - took two hours from start to finish. I seemed to go from nothing to feeling completely out of control in minutes. I am so worried about being alone with my two year old when it happens! Should I call an ambulance as soon as anything happens? Ask for another early induction even if I don't have the blood pressure problems I had last time? Camp out in the hospital until further notice?? I don't want a home birth, have various risk factors and too aware of stuff that can go wrong. Currently 32 weeks and getting into a bit of a state about this!

Have a similar issue with expecting dc3; dc2 was 45 minutes start to finish, not induced. Definitely precipitous, and I was certainly in shock for a day or so afterwards. What's been recommended to me is to call a midwife the moment I begin labour for an assessment, letting them know I'm prone to a precipitous labour and that someone needs to come immediately. Then the midwife is to determine whether or not I have time to get to the hospital or not. I believe it's safer to deliver at home than enroute, and even though I'm not keen on a home birth myself, the unpredictable nature of labour means I will need to be flexible, and will best serve myself and my baby by staying as calm as possible.

Have you spoken to your midwife or consultant about making a plan to address a fast labour? I'd imagine that since they want you and your baby to be safe, they'd make appropriate suggestions.

I've also talked to handfuls of people who previously unknown to me had delivered on their own, sometimes in front of other dc, and everything turned out just fine. So I now trust that my "worst case" delivery scenario is not the necessarily the end of the world.

Good luck!

What I did was to have meticulous plans in place for my labour and childcare. Do you have a neighbour or a local mum who could take care of your two-year-old at short notice? Could someone drive you to hospital? If not, is here a local cab company you could use? You should preferably have a few people lined up in case you can't get hold of one or more of them.

And if the worst happens and you can't reach anyone and you can feel that things are happening really fast, then yes, I would call an ambulance. That's what they're for - medical emergencies!

Youre not alone! I was induced with DD at 38 weeks and was in labour just under 2 hours start to finish. Im 30 weeks now and so scared, going to speak to my midwife about it next time i see her!