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Original poster

How to bring premature newborn home from hospital

37 replies

Lalla525 · 02/06/2020 19:26

Hi all,

Need some help here.

We live in london. I have been hospitalised for over 3 weeks and have planned c-section next week (36w). When baby is ready we will need to bring it home.

We live 1h drive from the hospital.

We do not have a car. We generally use zipcar but my dh struggles with the break etc and all that strong shaking is probably not v good for a premature newborn.

Public transport (which would have been the obvious choice) terrifies me because of covid.

We could ask a friend, but nobody is really isolating.

We could call a cab, but not sure they would really care about a newborn. Also, we would probably need breaks because baby cant stay in the car seat for an hour.

I really dont know what to do and I'm starting to panic. Do you have any suggestion?

OP posts:

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BertieBotts · 03/06/2020 19:09

What about those devices where you can measure the baby's oxygen saturation levels? Is that overkill or potty? That's the risk they are concerned about when they say no longer than 30 minutes in a car seat. If you were thinking of getting one anyway maybe it works for the car journey as well. I don't know that I'd buy one just for that though.

recreationalcalpol · 03/06/2020 19:16

I’ve always just kept my baby (when he was a baby) in the pram when in a black cab. I might not be a particularly vigilant parent though..

Xiphisternum · 03/06/2020 19:34

Taxi, car seat with newborn insert, break at 30 minutes as is recommended for newborns. Congratulations!

viques · 03/06/2020 19:51

And make sure you are comfortable too, bring in a bed pillow from home and have that across your lower belly with the seat belt over it. That's how I got home with an abdominal surgery scar.

TwistyHair · 04/06/2020 07:36

The cybex Aton is like flat and doesn’t need isofix. Just seatbelt. The new ones are very expensive but the 4 is almost exactly the same and much cheaper

SnuggyBuggy · 04/06/2020 07:46

In my experience most people ignore the 30 min thing when they don't drive with baby very often. It's not always practical

BertieBotts · 04/06/2020 07:56

The Cybex aton is not lie flat. The Cybex cloud is, but you can't use it lie flat in a car.

It might help to look at the actual study the 30 minute recommendation comes from. The car seat used in that study was an extremely old fashioned one without many of the ordinary newborn support and wedges you get in car seats today. I don't know whether that was intentional (use the oldest and most basic car seat so that results apply even if parents use one like that). The thirty minute recommendation also only applies to the first four weeks, if your baby is prem you might be in hospital longer than that. Though I don't know whether it refers to adjusted age. You could always discuss it with your midwife. She might know if you can have a car seat test done at the hospital, that's usual practice in the US, I don't know if uk hospitals do it for premature babies. In any case it's not overcautious to take the advice seriously with a prem baby, but you're also not going to be left alone. You'll have doctors and midwives to ask about this when you're in hospital.

mrsmummy111 · 04/06/2020 09:01

Firstly, congratulations.
Secondly - you do not need a break in a 60 minute car ride. You need to use common sense, if baby is sleeping (which they 90% will be!) and happy, there is no need to break and wake baby up. Of course be vigilant and check baby's breathing regularly and their temp etc, but other than that you will be fine. 36 weeks is not dangerously prem. DS was born at 37 weeks and was treated as though he was full term, just a little bit small. We went home the next day.
In terms of transport, a taxi will be fine. Safer than DH trying to drive a car that he isn't comfortable with. Take masks for you and DH for the car ride, and enjoy your new baby.

mrsmummy111 · 04/06/2020 09:08

Lol @rlol @recreationalcalpol now that's my style of parenting! Amen

Xiphisternum · 04/06/2020 14:31

@SnuggyBuggy
I live rurally, have to drive everywhere. I stopped every 30 mins for my prem baby to get him out and give him some time out of the car seat. He was tiny and hunched even with an insert - you could see it's not a position that's great for them to be in. Bigger babies maybe not so much and I wouldn't judge anyone else's choices but not everyone has a big robust 7 pounder. People should do whatever they thinks best but I just wanted to say not everyone ignores the advice and not all little babies fit well in car seats.

SnuggyBuggy · 04/06/2020 15:01

Surely if you live rurally and drive a lot a lie flat carseat is worth investing in. If you don't then it's not.

Xiphisternum · 04/06/2020 19:59

Well we weren't expecting a prem, or for our home to become uninhabitable in-between me being admitted to hospital and discharged with the baby. So rather than most of our trips being under half an hour I was discharged to my Mum's over 2 hours away. We stopped every half hour. We then had to drive the 2 hours back to our hometown quite regularly until we could move back into our house. We were both first time parents and didn't think of swapping our brand new car seat for a lie flat one while we were also looking after our surprise early baby in hospital but thanks for your suggestion.
My point was some people do stop every 30 mins, I was one of them.

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