Ambulance for emergency in labour?

4 weeks to go till bub is here (yay!) and feeling really worried now. My hospital is 40min-1.5hrs away (depending on traffic). DH works an hr away from home and I have no one else who I can call to take me to hospital/help me at home during early labour. What happens if something goes wrong or I'm in too much pain, bleeding etc.? Am I able to call an ambulance to take me to hospital? Would they take me to my hospital or the nearest one available? I'm a private patient in a private hospital (St V's) and live in the eastern suburbs. Help guys!

Yes you can call an ambulance (free if you have cover) but chances are they will take you to closest public hospital that has birthing services.

Thanks feeb. I was afraid hey would do that.

try not to worry to much, chances are you will have more then enough time - it is one area where the duration of labour will work in your favour. ;) - You could aways try calling a taxi rather then an ambulance and then meet your DH at the hospital.

OK my DH is a paramedic. He said that they will enevour to take you to the one that you are booked in to, but if delivery is iminent, they will take you to the closest hospital. They do not like being caught out on the road, as there are risks involved in deleving amongst traffic.
Good lick!

yeah, if it were a true emergency the ambos would just take you to the nearest public hossy equipped for neo-natals.

however, i was in a similar position where my DH was a 3 hour drive from home when my waters broke, it was a totally normal thing and not an emergency, but it threw me into a mild panic i must say LOL!. If anything can be learned from my experience i would just recommend to have a back-up plan in place (ie. a friend to drive you in or to call a taxi). if labour does start and you are on your own, call a friend that could be supportive or get on the phone to hossy and let the delivery midwives talk you through the first few moments where you get your head around the fact that the baby is on his/her way...i did this and it really helped to ground me.

Thanks guys for all your replies. It might have to be a taxi I guess. Most of my friends have babies or are working so will not be able to come and help :( I also don't have any family close by, so im in a bit of a pickle.

But it maybe good to ask a friend jic, I know I would drop anything to be able to drive someone to the hospital in labour!

so close belle- i'm still waiting to pop!!

what hosp you going to??

Hey LSK! Your little princess will soon be here :dance: I'm going to St Vincent's. I'm getting really scared at the thought of labour :(

Belle - have you been catching up with the Birth and Labour threads? Reading birth stories?

Please don't be afraid xoxoxo

Belle - labour is wonderful (yes, I know I am nuts :D) and nothing to be feared!! In most cases of natural labour commencement, the contractions actually start out quite mild and increase slowly. You (usually) have many hours before meeting your baby and each contraction brings you one step closer.

My labour with DS took me almost 3 hours to recognise I was in labour :doh: I had one contraction at midnight and 1am. At 2am I started to think this might be something :lol: They then moved to every 20 minutes, the every 7, then every 4. I was 4cm dilated at 6am, 7 cm at 8am.

With DD (third labour) - they were intense and rapid after 2-3 weeks of pre-labour (none with DS). She was posterior and contractions were close from the beginning. She was born 2.5 hours after being 2cm dilated (4 hour labour). The lead up to her labour resulted in me calling DH home from work 2 days before she was born - I was convinced she was going to arrive!!

Enjoy your last few days of pregnancy and the little person moving inside you. Be excited that labour means you will soon meet your little one - and that is an amazing thing :hug: Good luck!!

Thanks for sharing your experience Michelle. Trying to learn as much about labour as possible but feel really unprepared. Have GD so been told bub could arrive sooner than later. My ob is away for 2 weeks and I have so much to prepare!

I have been reading birth stories, Lulu. Trying to conquer my fear :rolleyes: My mum came from overseas for the birth but had to go away unexpectedly, so feeling alone and vulnerable. Oh well, I'll get there.

Many people go into labour at night (when your body is most relaxed) and so chances are your DH would be there.

I had GD for both of my earth babies too ;) You will be great - enjoy each minute. They fly by so very fast.

As Nelle said - you are more likely to go into labour at night (exactly what happened with DS, DD was a midday start but she always has been different :D) which means your DH will have the added joy of being jabbed in the ribs at some ungodly hour by you saying "I think it's time" :hug:

Most first labours take a little while to get going so it's very unlikely your partner wont be able to get to you in time.

I had a day of pre labour then 17 hours of labour - 9 of those were at hospital so I had hours and hours at home. It got fully going at night like often happens so my worries of my then partner not being around were all for nothing.

Once you go into labour you just sort of go with it - prepared or not - there is no turning back. I think a lot of women dont' feel prepared for labour, and lots that do feel prepared for it (like I did) suddenly don't feel prepared at all once it actually starts.

My one piece of advice for you is to understand what they mean by "do you feel ready to push yet?" I felt like an idiot (but a very relieved idiot) when I realised I'd been ready to push for ages, but the pressure was not where I expected it to be.

Wow, Satya -your DS is one already! Congrats little munchkin! :dance: Thanks for your good advise.