when to go to hospital

[Ozziehoffy]

OR - you could just stay home... :P

I have been contemplating this cos I don't want to leave Oskar anywhere but with us!! lol. I'd have to call an ambo though cos we don't have a midwife cos of the expense, so it's prob not the smartest idea... very tempting though!!

We went to hossy when I think contracts were about 4ish mins apart?? They were regular enough that once we were in the car I zoned out into my own world for most of the trip there.

[AmandaJ]

This last time I went to hospital when I knew in myself if I didn't go know, then I would be having the baby at home. When I got there I was 10cm and waters bulging, I had him 10 mins later .

hugs xoxo

[Tobily]

If you're a short run to the hospital leave it as long as you can....go by how you feel rather than how far apart your contractions are because that can be really unreliable in some women.

If you have a one hour drive across town in peak hour it pays to plan a bit I think....I've done a few long hospital drives with women in heavy labour and it's not really optimal. Aside from the car not being a great place to labour comfort wise it literally drags you out of your zone too and out of that nice rhythm that most women get into labouring at home.

[LuluHB]

I have to agree with Fionas. My pre-labour had been pretty intense since about 33 weeks and lasted for hours and hours so I was constantly wondering if I was in labour. It ended up being the joke that I would be sitting in a pool of amniotic fluid before I would concede I was actually REALLY in labour. I thought things were maybe changing just before 2am so I called my Mum to come and look after DD1 and then headed in (hospital 5 minutes away). Its lucky I didn't wait for my waters to break because DD2 was on my chest 10 minutes after they did! I went from 4cm dilated to birth in 15 minutes.

Not saying that to scare you - just that all labours are different. My first was a 36 hour long induction and my second, well it was reeeeeaaaallly fast!

[Cyathea]

Yep, as late as humanly possible! Less chance of unnecessary intervention then

And if your waters break, it is actually pretty safe to just wait it out for up to 72 hours (according to NICE guidelines) if you take the usual precautions to prevent any infection:
Don't put anything into your vagina, don't immerse yourself in water (bath or spa) if not in active labour, keep an eye on your temp, and dose up on garlic, vit C to help boost your immune system.

[satya]

My hospital said to go in when contractions were 3 mins apart. Can't remember how far apart they were when I went in but they weren't that close & I was 6cms when I got there after a short car trip. The middys had kept telling me I was only in pre labour as the pain was too low - only just above the pubic bone, but labour it was. I knew that I had to go in when I got the uncontrollable shakes with each and every contraction.