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Original poster

Taking a taxi to hospital to give birth

28 replies

VoilaAnotherGimlet · 18/05/2010 11:22

Does anyone have any experience of getting to hospital in a taxi?

I'd prefer to do this than for DH to drive since we've already been warned there's very limited parking around the hospital (London). I was just wondering whether taxi firms dislike having amniotic fluid sloshing about on their seats etc...!

I have also wondered on the wisdom of booking in advance v springing it on the firm in one's hour of need and hoping they won't turn me away!

(Apols if this is a silly question!)

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Jacksmybaby · 18/05/2010 11:24

Just posted re this on the ambulance thread...

ABatInBunkFive · 18/05/2010 11:27

I got a taxi make sure you have a towel to sit on.

You can't book in advance, what with not knowing when you will be in labour.

I wouldn't bother to say i was in labour unless they were uhming and awing.

Jacksmybaby · 18/05/2010 11:30

This was what I posted on the other thread...

I was refused a taxi in labour - turned up in person to the cab firm, they took one look at me and said sorry love, we've got nothing! Not that I'm saying that's a good enough reason to call an ambulance (I did not, btw).

Original poster

VoilaAnotherGimlet · 18/05/2010 11:30

Jacksmybaby - I can't believe they turned you away! That is awful! What did you do?

ABat - yep I was thinking towels....and good point about not being able to book in advance! Guess I was thinking more of finding a firm willing to do it than actually booking a time & date.

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ktwiltshire · 18/05/2010 11:32

i think maybe call a few of your nearest taxi firms in advance, ask how receptive they would be if you called when the time came, etc that way you can narrow down your calls to 1 or 2, and aswell as your hospital bags, keep a few old towels next to your front door so you or DH can grab them on your way out

JamInMyWellies · 18/05/2010 11:36

We just used our local cab firm called them when it was time. Driver laughed when I got in the cab with my 5 thousand bags and pillows then proceded to take us over every hump and bump in the road.

Most can firms would be fine with this especially London ones.

Jacksmybaby · 18/05/2010 11:38

I drove myself to the hospital. DH was at work 1.5hr journey away. Tried to get on the tube (we were living in London at the time) but it was rush hour on a weekday morning and the queue for the tube was out onto the street (the dreaded Northern Line!). Guess I could have phoned around other cab companies but I was panicking (premature labour) and driving seemed like the best idea at the time!

hopingforanother · 18/05/2010 11:39

I'm in London too. Rang a couple of local companies at about 35 weeks to find out who would be willing to take us, they all said yes except one.

When the time came I actually stayed at home until the last moment and it wasn't until my waters had broken and my contractions were long and close together that I decided it was time to go to hospital. My DH had no trouble getting a taxi with one of the firms we had already checked out and the driver actually asked if I wanted to 'get there as quick as poss, or go slow and take care over bumps' which I thought was pretty considerate! As it turned out, had we left it any later I would have given birth in the taxi

TaurielTest · 18/05/2010 11:43

This came up the other week:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbirth/958537-Taxi-in-labour
Won't repeat myself, but I found black cab was very happy to take me - there's a linky on there to a really good washable waterproof pad too if you're worried about waters breaking...

Original poster

VoilaAnotherGimlet · 18/05/2010 11:49

This is all excellent advice - thanks very much!

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KerryMumbles · 18/05/2010 11:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

VoilaAnotherGimlet · 18/05/2010 11:55

Jacks - blimey, I would have been in bits I think. I salute you!

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toja555 · 18/05/2010 13:27

I took a regular local cab, did not see any probs in it but also my waters weren't broken, so no probs for cab as well.

MumNWLondon · 18/05/2010 13:40

If you can't get a taxi within reasonable time frame and are in labour and no access to a car for someone to drive you that is grounds enough to call an ambulance.

If you are in advanced labour I don't think you even need to get a taxi on your own if your partner is at work and making his own way there. Although in early labour I think reasonable to get taxi on your own.

re: leaking in taxi - I bought huggies bed mats just in case but in the end DH drove as it was in the middle of the night at the weekend hence no problem parking.

When I called up in labour and told hospital that I couldn't leave house until babysitter came (it was 3am) she suggested I call an ambulance and DH drive later. In the event we waited until the babysitter came.

Jacksmybaby · 18/05/2010 13:41

Actually feeling v reassured that my taxi experience seems to have been just very unlucky and not the norm - been worrying a bit re what happens this time if I go into prem labour again!

IlooklikeGrotbagstoday · 18/05/2010 13:44

DH rang a few cab companies to ask if they would take our names and put us at the front of the list if we rang. They all were fine with this. When the time came the cab arrived in minutes and i was still coming down the stairs. I just sat on a towel as my waters hadn't broken. We'll be using them again when i go into labour this time too.

OhBuggerandArse · 18/05/2010 13:46

We took a black cab with no problems, except that the driver had clearly been waiting for the whole of his career for someone to get in the back and say 'get my wife to hospital, she's having a baby', and insisted on going at dramatic full speed the 'quickest' way which was full of potholes and bumps, instead of nice and gently round the ring road.

It was incredibly uncomfortable. Labour stalled and the contractions never got properly going again till they insisted on getting all medical on me 22 hours later...

Jacksmybaby · 18/05/2010 14:01

BTW, we ran up a car parking bill of about £80 by the time DH was able to move the car many hours later...so taxi definitely preferable from a cost point of view!

Miffster · 18/05/2010 14:28

I am so glad about this thread, because we don't have a car.
Sorry to take thread off at a bit of a tangent but it's a related question: how do you get the baby home from a hospital, without a car, if they won't let you take it home without putting it in a car seat?

We weren't going to get a car seat, as we don't have a car and live in London ( so just walk/cab/bus/train it everywhere).

However, does the baby need to be in a car seat if it is going home with you in a taxi from the hospital? I am sure I read somewhere that they (the hospital) won't let you take it home unless it is in a carseat.

And don't you have to match the car seat to the car? In which case, not having a car ourselves, and as we'll be using different taxis as needed during baby's babyhood, wtf do we do?

IlooklikeGrotbagstoday · 18/05/2010 14:35

We took a taxi to the hospital but DH went home to pick up the car to collect us. I don't think you need car seats in taxis but not sure what the hospital would say. Maybe give them a call to check.

TaurielTest · 18/05/2010 14:36

Hi Miffster. Another non-car-seater here - took DS home on the tube in a sling.
A lot of protocols do seem to v dogmatically say "you will not be permitted off the premises unless baby is in a carseat", but if you gently point out you're not going in a car, they can't exactly stop you
FWIW it is legal (although you may not wish to do it) to take a baby "loose" in a taxi, they do not have to be in carseats at all. You can also fit a pushchair into a black cab.
You'd probably want to pick up a basic stage 0 carseat - the kind that just attach with 3 point seatbelt, not isofix - if you're planning on taking taxis a lot though. They will fit in pretty much any car.

Miffster · 18/05/2010 14:45

Aha, thanks for the info.

sanfair · 20/05/2010 18:02

We're in the same position regarding a carseat - want to take a taxi home but don't have a car and they're quite expensive for something we might only use once or twice.

I assumed (especially in London) that taxi firms might keep a spare one in case it's required but we asked the maternity unit for a list of their usual taxi firms and none of them did it.
It's probably best to try call around the firms before heand. Maybe you'll get lucky.
We managed to borrow one in the end.

japhrimel · 20/05/2010 18:19

COuld you borrow a carseat from someone as you'll onyl need it for one trip?

I'm pretty sure it would be illegal for the taxi driver to take you without a car seat.

champagnesupernova · 20/05/2010 18:35

i didnt even think about a towel to sit on
We got a black cab (London)
Cabbie was awesoem - his DW was due that week too
Hung around at the end to make sure we could find the night entrance
Went gingerly over speedbumps
Couldn't make the red lights green sadly

NB if you can, think about asking DH to collect carseat and get a cab home afterwards
We got a parking ticket while DH came to collect me and DS

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