How do you know when to go into hospital?

[Monty]

I'm 34 weeks pregnant and confused about whether I'll know the right time to go into hospital. Everyone seems to be telling me not to go in too early, but I'm sure I'll panic as soon as anything starts happening. I don't want to leave things too late. What signs did you follow? and did anyone arrive too early/leave it too late???

Monty, with ds (no. 1 child) my waters broke at the start of labour so I went in straight away (as the hospital had recommended). With dd (2nd baby, and waters broke right at the end of labour) I hung on at home as long as I could stand the pain (I think that some people recommend going in when the contractions are down to a certain no. of minutes apart, but with both my labours my contractions have been 4 minutes apart right from the start). When I got to hospital I was 2cm dilated, and they suggested I go home again. I refused (I had a feeling about how things were going). Within an hour I was 7cm, and dd was born 30 mins after that. If I'd gone home I wouldn't have got back - dd would probably have been born on the side of the road somewhere!

My advice would be to be wherever you feel happiest. If you're a worried first-timer (I presume this is your first?) then going to hospital early is better than panicking! At our local maternity hospital you phone before you go in, and they advise you on whether they think you should come in or not.

I'd second Azzie - ring the hospital, describe what is going on and they will adise. They usually prefer a warning you are coming anyway. Course that begs the question when to phone..... If you are comfortable and not in much "discomfort" and are happy at home then fine. If its a bit much and you'd just feel safer then go on in. I suppose it also depends on how far you are from the hospital and so on. Just go with your instincts on the night and I'm sure it will be fine

Monty, with my first baby I went in far too early and was back and forth between home and the hospital for the next 48 hours before dd was born. So with my second, I resolved to leave it until the last minute. I was sat at home having contractions, thinking "oh that wasn't too bad, probably braxton hicks". Eventually my then dh insisted on going to the hospital - and ds was born an hour later!

If it's your first baby, you're bound to feel anxious - as Azzie says, better to be safe than sorry and get to the hospital early.

The time to go to the hospital depends hao far away you live to some extent. If it doesn't take to long to get there i would suggest waiting till the contractions are regular - about 10 mins apart. You might feel regular contractions but not experience any discomfort. Try and ignore them. As your contractions get stronger they will make you stop what you are doing to breathe through them. You do not need to go in if you have a 'show' and nothing else. Show is sticky/mucousy and cah be red/brown. If you had any bleeding on it's own with/without contractions you should go in. If your waters break, with no contractions, most hospitals advise you to go in.
Many women go in with false alarms but that is not a problem. If you need reassurance then you can go in. It is better to avoid going in too early if you can - pottering about at home is much better.
Always telephone for advice.

Agree with Mears and others Monty. Don't even think about it - just tell yourself you will go in if you are worrying and anxious - the hospital get many, many, many 'false alarms', and would rather put your mind at rest for a few hrs than have you panicking at home - as Mears said, you can always phone for advice.
Certainly ring if your waters break (or if you think they MAY have broken), especially if they are not a clear/pinky colour (sometimes they look browny/green in which case you should go in and be checked over straight away). The usual advice beyond this is if you are experiencing pains every five minutes, lasting 30 - 40 seconds. These pains should take your breath away - if they don't, and you're still thinking 'should I/shouldn't I', you're probably OK at home awhile longer - but do ring and ask.
Of course anything out of the ordinary (blood loss/ reduced movements etc) should be checked out

I seem to remember a friend saying that if you can talk lucidly on the phone to the hospital through a contraction then it's probably too early to go in.

I went in when I thought they were getting to the point I could no longer cope.

Good luck!

Monty, the best thing you can do is not worry about it. The signs vary so much from woman to woman (and pregnancy to pregnancy) that it's hard to follow anyone else's guidelines. First time around I waiting to go in until I was having contractions 3-5 minutes apart and in screaming pain and as it turned out I hadn't even efaced and didn't have the baby for another 30 hours. Second time around I had the baby several hours after my contractions were 3 - 5 minutes apart. And my neighbor had her 1st baby 2 1/2 hours after she felt her very first contraction. They never got to the point where they took her breath away and she almost didn't get to the hospital in time. None of this is meant to scare you, just to say go to the hospital when you find that you are no longer comfortable (mentally) with being at home. This was the advice given to me by the midwife 2nd time around and she gave out lots of very wise advice. Also, as a few others have mentioned, take into account how long it takes you to get to hospital as having painful contractions in a car isn't a lot of fun.

SoupDragon: that's exactly what a friend did. Hosp. said to hang on a bit longer if she could, and blimey, didn't she nearly birth the baby in the kitchen a few hours later. She had a TENS machine, though, which obviously worked quite well.

MW told me to wait until the pain starts to seem a bit "toe-curling". That was about the right point with both of mine.

Zebra - that's why I said "probably"!!

I guess without a CCTV camera up there to see how far along we are, there's no way of telling exactly when the right time is!

This reminds me of a story a colleague of mine told me about the birth of his first child.
For some reason (which I can't for the life of me remember) now, they wanted to leave it as late as possible before they went into hospital.
Needless to say, they left it a bit too late and the result was my colleague frantically driving at great speed to the hospital with his wife having v. close together contractions in the back seat.
Problem was, he forgot about the speed bumps in the hospital drive. It brings tears to my eyes to think about it.
I think they (just) managed to get into the hospital before their son was born.

gillymac, brings back memories! With Ds I went to a hospital about an hour away from home (long story - baby needing an operation). Obviously we didn't want to leave it too late. Labour started around 9pm, and by 3am I thought it was time to get moving. Into the car, up the motorway - contractions 3 minutes apart and we were about 1/2 way there! My poor Dad (who was driving) we made it to the hospital in 40 minutes (a record!). And over those b**y speed-bumps, arghhh! Of course, on reaching the hospital, contractions stopped and I spent all night alone in the maternity ward in sheer agony. Ds didn't arrive until 10.52 the next morning!

Second time round I phoned the hospital and told them I was coming in, they said I should stay at home and have a bath. Couldn't do as there was no hot water, but I hung on a bit longer. When I got in the midwife was all very casual, filling in forms and in no particular hurry. She suddenly thought perhaps she ought to examine me...dd was born about 1/2 hour later, an hour after arriving at hospital,without even the chance to change my clothes!

I wondered the same thing. After two nights of false labour, the midwife finally said to come in when I couldn't speak with the pain of the contraction. On the third night I had what I thought was false labour again, ie. contractions only mildly painful, not hurting a great deal and timing all over the place. I had a bath at midnight on advice from the hospital and at about 2.30am the contractions very suddenly took my breath away and were coming every 2-4 minutes. This is when we left for the hospital. The hospital were great and said we could have come in whenever for a check prior to the painful contractions as it was our first time and I was worried about making it to the hospital myself. Anyway, good luck!!!

Monty, I would second what everyone else is saying here re phoning the hospital if concerned, and even going in if you think you should. But as Mears says, it is much better to be at home for as long as you can stand it. With DS I went in as soon as I was contracting every 5 mins, and we were there for about 9 hrs which was fine, but with DD I decided to manage it at home for as long as poss. Finally rang in when I couldn't talk through a contraction - not much shuts me up either - and she was born after we'd been there about 2 and a half hrs which was fab. It's understandable that you panic with number 1, but it is nicer to walk around and watch TV etc at home for as long as you can. Tho do bear in mind how far away you are - we are only about 5 mins but if you are in the sticks you might want to go a bit earlier. Good luck!

My advice is to think about the journey to hospital. During my first labour, I had to drive into Central London in the middle of morning rush hour. Contractions were coming within every 2 minutes and I was on all fours on the back seat howling through the window. I did feel a little self-concious in the middle of a traffic jam. Couldn't believe it when, second time round, my contractions began again in the morning. Once again, they came on thick and fast and we had to go in pretty quickly. This time we took a different route, in an attempt to avoid heavy traffic but this meant I had to endure road after road of speed bumps - I don't know which was worse.

Yes Jona tme of day is also a factor. We had to go through the rush hour and I remember hanging onto overhead handle through a hefty contraction at some traffic lights. When I was first examined I was 9 cm so I guess I was fairly well on the way at that point.

Monty, if you haven't already, go on a tour of the hospital. It makes you feel much more secure about all the bits like where do you park, do you have to get a ticket to display, where do you check in, how far from there to the delivery suite etc - all of which you really don't want to be worrying about at the toe-curling moment.

I panicked about this too, but I definitely knew when it was time for us to set off.