Calling 999

[mibiuk]

Hi there,

Does anyone know if it is acceptable to call 999 if your waters break or do you have to make your own way in?? Its just that a friend of mine said that alot of Taxi drivers are so anti taking women if there waters have gone.

My husband works and does not drive so even he would take 20mins to get home if he ran like the wind so I would be on me own with my son who's only 28 months old and dont want to freak him out.

Sorry for such a dumb ass question but just wanted to know if anyone been in this situation?

Take care
Kathy x

 

[mary70]

if your waters break hun it will be unusual if you need to get to the hospital in that much of a hurry, they dont like you phoning ambulances for labour but if you thought it was an emergency where baby was going to arrive quickly then i think it would be ok

 

[Steelgoddess]

You freaked me out then!!! lol!

No, she is supposed to call the midwife at the labour ward of her choosen hospital, the number should be in her notes.

xxx

 

[daftscotslass]

if your waters break hun it will be unusual if you need to get to the hospital in that much of a hurry, they dont like you phoning ambulances for labour but if you thought it was an emergency where baby was going to arrive quickly then i think it would be ok

Ditto to this. We were told the hospital will NOT send an ambulance for a woman in labour (unless of course like Mary says there is a real emergency like baby arriving or bleeding) so you have to have some form of transport organised. I would contact your local taxi companies and ask them so that you don't have to panic about it at the last minute or while in labour!

For what it's worth we drove to the hospital when my waters had gone (then home again, then back again for induction) and the car was spotless on both occasions!

 

[mibiuk]

Thanks for that ladies..

Sharne sorry for giving you a heart attack just want to be prepared...

I would personally get on the bus it wouldn't bother me.. or will scream hysterically in the middle of the road someone help me!!

I will call around taxi firms today and find one for the day time .. we have family on standby for the nightshift so to speak and my husband will be here with me anyway.

I think I am going to do me phone list today as well and get that printed off and put by the phone as well!

Thanks again
Kathy x

 

[mandspice]

Apparently it costs £400 each time you call an ambulance out but if you do call them they have to come by law.....so they would come but they wouldn't be very happy! We don't drive either so have about 10 taxi numbers by the phone....at this rate I'll be getting induced Monday so hopefully it won't be a mad dash but I'd planned to just ring the taxi company and not tell them I was in labour....hopefully once they're here they won't refuse to take you!

 

[Chrissy1]

My MW told me that if my waters go I should call the hospital and they will decide if it's urgent enough to send an ambulance to me if I needed one and not to ring 999 unless it was an emergency like baby was coming or bleeding etc etc.

Luckily both me and DH drive and I'm planning a home birth anyway so this shouldn't be something I have to worry too much about.

 

[kerryp]

i work in an a&e dept & the amount of unnecessary people that come in by ambulance is unreal.... so dont be ashamed if you call one out because you are worried or panicking. HOWEVER, i would do as the others say & phone the midwfie/labour ward of the hospital & they will advise you what would be best to do. Your waters could break a while before labours truely sets in so there would be no need for a mad dash (or so our midwife said)

 

[aramintalovegrove]

when I had DS we didnt have transport and I started to bleed post coitally, we called the labour unit and an ambulance was sent to pick me up. Maybe worth checking with your MW what happens in your area.

 

[Neev]

I am not sure if the advice being given area to area is different but I only met my MW yesterday and we have some hectic roadworks going on at the moment on the way to our hospital. There are queues as long as a mile at off peak and peak - well lets just forget it and this is going to carry on till my due date I believe

My question to her was - if this happens and I am being driven to hospital by my DH, can we have our emergency lights on and jump the queue with a big sign on the dashboard "MAD COW IN LABOUR, GET OUT OF THE WAY"... - obviously we would be doing this with utmost care to other drivers and not just drive irrationally. Her response to us was - If it is peak hour, between 6am - 9am and between 3pm-7pm, dont even bother driving. Ring 999, get the ambulance and ask your husband to meet you at the hospital ..ie follow the ambulance but not go in the car with him.

So it might be one of those things with the circumstances also. If your waters break and you dont feel you are upto getting yourself to the hospital, no transport and taxis are not being cooperative then ring for the ambulance. You are bringing a new life into this world, it has to happen in the safest way possible.

 

[Redshoes]

Having got a taxi to hospital in labour at 7cm dilated myself, and having worked in the taxi industry for years when I was younger, I can assure you as long as you pay taxi drivers don't mind

999 is for emergencies only, labour and childbirth is perfectly normal, and not ordinarily an emergency

 

[lea m]

Yeh I agree! Unless I was bleeding or in some other kind of trouble I really couldnt ring 999! I would ring the hospital and they will tell you what to do! If they call the ambulance out that is different as they know if its really needed or not!

 

[Tangerinedream]

My waters went and 33 hours later Jake was born, so it isnt always an emergency (well it isnt in most cases). My friend went shopping to Asda to do her weekly shop while she was in labour because she knew she wouldnt have time after the birth

 

[Sherlock]

Ditto what many others have said tbh.

In most cases waters breaking isn't an emergency and will not require any action other than giving maternity unit/MW call to inform them and have them advise you.

If you are in latent labour or first stage labour they advise you to stay and labour at home as long as possible before going in to hospital. Otherwise you may find they only send you home again as you are still nowhere near dilated enough and it could be hours or the next day before you reach the needing to be in hospital point.

Your waters can break well before labour really starts also. Again that is not an emergency and you'd be fine to call MW etc and follow their instruction.

I'd invest in a few bed pads for car travel and some maternity pads and you should be fine to go in a car if your waters have gone. Its not like you'll be flooding the car with it.