So...what do you do if you're on your own when labour begins?

[EmilieFloge]

I mean, if you're on your own, possibly with some smallish children ahnging around, and no one is within quick driving distance to get you to the hospital - can you actually call an ambulance?

I've just started to think about this as though we live 5 minutes' walk from the local birthing centre, it's closing down and you're not allowed to have babies there any more. And the hospitals/MLU are 45 minutes away by car, and my family live around 20-30 minutes' drive away, (including time to get themselves ready if I ring up) and my last labour was around 3 and a half hours. That's if they are at home, which means basically evenings or weekends only.

So I'm worried that I'll go into labour during the day, and they will be at work, and I won't be able to drive myself anywhere, well not a 45 minute drive anyway - and the midwife has suggested a home birth for this reason but what if something should go wrong beforehand meaning I'm higher risk, I'll just be stuck here!

So if necessary, can you just dial 999 and ask for an ambulance? I would feel so guilty wasting their time, but I can't think of any other way to get to the hospital within a reasonable amount of time.

You can't win really because the daughter of a colleague decided to get her husband to drive her in and ended up delivering in a pub carpark. The midwives gave her a really hard time about it until she pointed out that it was actually her antenatal midwife who advised her against calling an ambulance.

It's not inappropriate given the OP has laboured quickly before. Chances are she will be contracting hard and should have medical assistance on hand. When I had dd1 there was a woman who gave birth in the carpark having driven herself to hospital! I think she should have had an ambulance.....
Yes it's inappropriate if you've got time to get there and have a partner and a car outside but the OP is talking about when she's alone and with a long journey to do. She needs to labour and give birth safely and if she needs an ambulance to do that then that's fine.

Op,

why cant you call your hospital etc and ask them.

I can imagine in some places this is a politcal issue and also it may be OK to call an ambulance in your area but one or two drivers will have thier " personal" opinion on it - which is irrelavant. A MW may also have a personal opinion on it but that may not be the actual hospital advice.

I would call them - speak to someone in charge and ask them thier policy and even speak to ambulance manager as well.

So many times I have been in diff situs like this - and often one moaning minnie has imposed "thier" personal thoughts on actual general policy....makes someone feel bad and like they are making a " fuss" then an accident happens. Then the place says - well why didnt you X Y Z.,....well becasue so and so said this - adn they say...well so and so is just a worker and has no right to cast opions on this.

Get to the heart of the matter. Your area may be strict about not using ambulances, you dont know. call and find out. You have two lives inside you - you need to know

When my waters went at 30 weeks with twins I phoned the maternity unit and they said they would get ready to dispatch an ambulance unless I could find someone to get me in. No taxi would have taken me as I was flooding the place!

In the end my builder took me in in his low loader .

With hindsight if there was an ambulance available I should have taken one as labour progressed very very quickly with me and I think if I'd arrived sooner there would have been more opportunity to look at attempting to delay it.

I think paramedics would rather b called out to labour then some teenager passed out throwing up on alcohol ! If your on your own or your plans didn't work out call them ! I only jus made it to hospital with my first because we waited for a lift as we didn't want to bother an ambulance I jus got into delivery room and the baby was born ! Too many women are being told not to come in and to wait etc it's ridiculous we are in the uk Ffs! Not s third world country!

Or maybe they expect us all to cross our legs until there is s bed free !

We called a few cab companies in advance to see who would be willing to take us.

I would do what Eliza suggests and call your hospital and ask. At my local hospital there are notices on the wall telling you that you can't call an ambulance for labour.