Driving Yourself to the Hospital while in labor?
Okay so my DH is a 3rd shift deputy....so if my water breaks at 2 am or I start contractions I'm home by myself. I can try to call my DH but there is no guarantee he will be able to answer let alone get off duty, get to our house (we live out in the country), and get me to the hospital in less than 2-3 hours.
So I tell DH how that makes me so nervous, especially since its their "busy season" and I'm due over the 4th of July weekend so the chance of me being able to get him to answer his cell is slim to none so I will be calling dispatch as it is and having him paged over the radio (Fingers crossed there is no shooting and the radio isn't cleared at the time!).
DH tells me well you will just have to drive yourself and I will meet you there as soon as I can........I told him I'm not sure I will be in any condition to drive myself, he seems to think its normal for women in labor to drive themselves to the hospital and looked at me like I had 4 heads when I said I would just call an ambulance. (We live 45 minutes from the Hospital we are delivering at...well actually any hospital for that matter is 45 minutes away).
So since this is my first time...will I be able to drive myself if I have to?
Also, my FIL does live fairly close however he is out of town a lot so that's not a guaranteed ride either!
Re: Driving Yourself to the Hospital while in labor?
In general I think this would be a really bad idea to try and drive yourself. Especially being a first time Mom you just don't know how your labor will start. Mine started with my water breaking and I would have been perfectly fine to drive myself. It took 11 hours for me to start feeling any discomfort but when that hit there's no way I could have been behind the wheel. I have other friends who's labor started with extremely painful contractions. Not safe for driving. Is there anyone else you could ask for a ride? If that is your only option I'd suggest calling your insurance just to ensure they cover it as well as the cost. I've had to take an ambulance once and my copay was something like $500.
I've never been in labor before, but I definitely don't think it's a smart idea to try to drive yourself!! If you're having contractions you can't even breathe through, then I don't think it's at all safe to be operating a vehicle.
I'd try to have a friend lined up, or at least a taxi...and last resort, 911 can always send an ambulance.
I am delivering 45min or so away (again) as well. There's no way I would've driven myself when my water broke with DD. It was pretty distracting to have water running down my leg and I had sporadic contractions that would make me brace myself or close my eyes.
Do you have a neighbor or friend you could call? My Dad lives nearby so if MH is OOT he's who gets to drive me.
DD1, Kathleen 9/15/2007
I'm the opposite...I told my DH I would drive myself and he could just meet me there. He looked at me like I had 4 heads. He wants me to call an ambulance and I feel uncomfortable having use such services if I am capable of getting myself to the hospital.
I am just hoping I will be able to locate someone when the time arises and then I won't have to worry about it. My hospital is out of town, but only 15 minutes away, so a taxi ride would be very expensive, plus knowing my luck I'd have to have them go to an ATM for me to get cash!
http://ckmwedding.googlepages.com (Bio)
Really bad idea if you are in active labor (contractions less than a few minutes apart and intense) but probably ok if you are in early labor. THere is no way I could have driven myself with #2 - she sort of snuck up on me) but for #1 wouldn't have been an issue.
FYI, it should probably be your back-up plan though! You just never know, some 1st labors are super speedy and painful from the very beginning (my 1st was not, but you never know)!
Don't have personal experience since I'm a FTM but I have a couple of friends who have driven themselves to the hospital. It was never with their first though. One friend drove herself both for her 3rd and 4th child through southern California traffic about 40 minutes on a good day (don't know how long it took in reality). Another friend drove herself over an hour to the hospital when having her second (she arrived at 4cm dilated and was told to go home! but instead walked up and down the steps in the parking lot until she got far enough along to be admitted).
Also .. you said DH wouldn't be able to make it in less than 2-3 hours? Unless you have a CRAZY fast labor, you'd probably be okay laboring at home for that long. Before deciding on a home birth I was planning on laboring at home until I was on the edge and then having DH or my mom drive me the 50 minutes to the hospital.
With my first one, from the time I felt my first "diarrhea pains" (That's what I thought they were, since I had a chili dog earlier....then realized these "pains" STARTED at 5 minutes apart) to delivery was 4 hours.
If you are able to drive yourself safely to the hospital, that probably means your labor isn't that intense and you should just stay at home longer anyway.
Most first time mothers don't labor that quickly. I would say call your husband when you start labor and if after a few hours he can't get to you, call an ambulance or a friend/family member.
it would be very dangerous to drive and be in labor!
Obviously there are always exceptions to the rule. And she could very well end up being one of those, but in that case she'd probably have no other choice than to call an ambulance. But, most first time labors don't go that fast.
I guess I'd also add that it depends on how she copes with early labor pains. If she's the type that likes to curl up and close her eyes, well that's not terribly conducive to safe driving. If she's more like my two friends I mentioned all they needed to do was stop talking and breathe more deeply, then she'd probably be okay so long as she wasn't far enough along for them to be overwhelmingly intense. Everyone's different.
My doctor's office practically threatened my life if I try to drive myself to the hospital. Totally bad idea. You might feel OK when you leave, but labor can change and progress way too fast.
My DH is a pilot and is gone every other week. I have a couple of back up drivers and a back up labor coach, just in case I go into labor and he can't make it home before I need to go to L&D.
My DH is a deputy sheriff and works nights and there is no way his department heads or dispatch would not be able to get a hold of him if I went into labor. And if there was some crazy reason why he couldn't be...another deputy would come get me and drive me himself!
That's just the way the guys are in his department, they are one big family. Have hope you will get a hold of him easily! Hopefully there are no problems getting a hold of your DH. I think driving yourself would be scary!!!