When do you have to start making your way to the hospital?

[laetitia85]

I'm confused.

In most birth stories, the woman starts making her way to the hospital when the contractions are 2 to 3 minutes apart.

But in most books I read, it says "start making your way to the hospital as soon as you have contractions". My friend did that but she got sent home!



So when is the appropriate time to go to the hospital?

 

[Squiglet]

Usually you go to the hospital if...

a) your waters break even without contractions but you will probably be sent home in that case and requested to come back the next day to be induced if no contractions have started.

b) if you are bleeding (not to confuse your mucas plug as this)

c) you start contracting and you have either GD, OC or Strep B confirmed or any other serious medical condition that will require constant monitoring through labour encase there is a risk the baby will go into distress.

d) in normal instances when you are contacting to a point where you can't stand the pain any more and need some help.

If you turn up the minute you start contracting they will probably send you home. Tbh you are better staying at home until the last possible minute.... most womens labours progress better when they are comfortable and relaxed. The hospital I can assure you in a nasty sterile, clinical environment. You will be restricted where you can go and what you can do...

Plus you will get very stressed if you go all the way to the hospital only to be turned around and have to go home, then have to go back again shortly after....

 

[laetitia85]

I suppose i could wait til the very last minute...
but what if baby is on its way!????
i wouldn't want to give birth on my own at home!!!
and i can't check whether i'm fully dilated or not! so how can they send us home? i don't get it. have mercy on me

 

[sarah113]

I suppose i could wait til the very last minute...
but what if baby is on its way!????
i wouldn't want to give birth on my own at home!!!
and i can't check whether i'm fully dilated or not! so how can they send us home? i don't get it. have mercy on me

Dont wait till the last minute i did with my 3rd and nearly had him at home then nearly in the ambalance and after 5 mins of being at the hozzie my waters broke and baby come.

 

[Gem & Leland]

ive had dreams of getting stuck in traffic and having him in the car lol

being in london , our hospital can take anything from 20 mins ( in fab traffic with zero cars on the road) or 2 hours to get there !?? now how can i prepare for that ! if i go into labour durring school kick out time or rush hour im stuffed ! id have to go early and sit in car park if they sent me home lmao

 

[leckershell]

I just rang my hospital as soon as the contractions were becoming beyond uncomfortable and at about 5 mins apart. They told me to make my way in when they were 3 minutes apart. My waters hadn't broken by then. The journey to the hospital took 20 minutes or so, and when I got there I was told I was 4-5cm dilated and that I wasn't going home!!!

 

[Squiglet]

Don't worry... usually with your first one, it takes longer to pop the baby out... and when it starts getting to a point you think you might need some help with the pain you are usually not to far along...

I went in just four hours before Tia was born, because the pain got bad enough that I needed some help.. and I was only 2 cm's dialated and apparently not in "proper" labour ... They were going to send me home but went up there on the bus... (20 minutes) so it wasn't easy for me just to go home again... so instead they sent me for a bath.... after 20 minutes in the bath the pain got bad again... they took me out, gave me a long lecture about first time mums taking ages, but I was 3cm's by that point and able to have help...

Basically remember, if you can talk through the contractions, then you won't be very far dialated... when they start to take your breath away, and you have to concentrate on them, then you need to go to the hospital...

Obviously Sarah113 is talking about her third child popping out quickly and not to wait.... and well I would assume by your third your cervix dialates fully open like niagra falls... the babys just pop out when standing up from the sofa

Me personally, I am waiting until I really can't cope anymore before I set foot near a hospital... hospitals are not a place for pregnant women LOL...

 

[mummykay]

i rang up when i had my show and they made me come staright in - they had to break my waters for me

 

[sarah113]

my first was quite quick too but not as quick as 3rd, i was in labour 10 hours with my 1st didnt relise i was in labour till about 2 hours before i had her, when m/w examined me at home i was 9cm dilated but it did take me a good hour to get her out when i had fully dilated

 

[sarah113]

Obviously Sarah113 is talking about her third child popping out quickly and not to wait.... and well I would assume by your third your cervix dialates fully open like niagra falls... the babys just pop out when standing up from the sofa .

agree

 

[lisa&alex]

i think that its probable that you cant cope with the pain before you have the baby...the contractions need to be comming one after another and you feel a lot.. and i mean a lot of pressure in your bum before it starts comming through the birth canal. leave when you cant cope with the pain and contractions are less than 5 mins appart and lasting around 60 seconds..is a good indication.. depending how far away the hospital is.. and traffic etc...

 

[trixipaws]

I suppose i could wait til the very last minute...
but what if baby is on its way!????
i wouldn't want to give birth on my own at home!!!
and i can't check whether i'm fully dilated or not! so how can they send us home? i don't get it. have mercy on me

i think unless u hav a very high pain threshold u should hav plenty of time even if u do leave til the last minute.

i didnt go to hosp, but i left it til the last minute to call the MWs out, i couldnt speak with the pain and gasped to my boyf to call them for me.
when they arrived i was only 5cm and had 3 hours before pushing time so i wouldve had plenty of time to get to hospital.

 

[mayday]

I just want to say - go with your instincts on the day. I spent 24hrs at home and my waters broke while I was in bed, but the hospital didn't think my contractions were long enough. I went into hospital anyway - if I'd have waited for them to be long enough, I'd still be waiting I was 7cm dilated when I got there, but still had another 16 hours to go!

 

[Kylie1007]

I was told to phone MW when contractions were 5 mins apart lasting 1 minute. She would then come and check me to see if it was proper labour and we would make our way to the hospital.

Well best laid plans and all...never made it to hospital!!! I was too far gone to get there!

 

[kimmumof2]

i say go when you are struggling to cope with the pain or your contractions are 5 mins apart and last for about a minute. im still unsure of this aswell even after 2 births. my first i was induced so no need to make way to hospital as i was already there and the second time i had my waters broke for me as i was 14 days overdue. i dont know what i will do nxt time as my last labour was only 2hours from when contractions started lol so im glad i was already in hospital!. they will assess you each time you go into hospital and tell you if they feel you should stay or go etc. my friends first labour she was sent home 3 times until her waters broke about 12 hours later but then she was in hospital for another 8/9 hours after that so chances are it will be slow enough for you to make a decision. good luck hun

xxxx

 

[Lola's Mummy]

I went to the hospital when my contractions were about 2/3 mins apart and lasting 90 seconds and I could not speak through them anymore. I was 4cm when the midwife examined me and Lola didn't arrive for another 6 hours so I would have had plenty of time to get to the hospital.

I think I could have stayed at home for longer but as it was my first baby I didn't know what to expect, Next time I’m going to try and stay at home for as long as possible.

You’ll know when you need to start making your way to the hospital but if your unsure you could always ring the labour ward for advice.