Designated hospital 40 minutes away...
Have any of you 2nd+ time moms delivered at a hospital that was far from you? We live exactly 40 minutes away (w/o traffic) from our assigned L&D, according to Google Maps. It makes me a little nervous because the hospital is deep into Tampa, and a few of the highway sections that we have to take to get there are notorious for having serious traffic no matter what time of day. I know I am worrying a little early on here, but I am afraid that because of the distance, my OB will take that as an opportunity to induce me, and I do NOT want pitocin if I don't need it. But we are too far for me to hang out at home very long after my water breaks...I've already decided that we'll leave when my contractions are 7 minutes apart, and if we get there quicker than anticipated I can just walk around until I'm 5 minutes apart. I just really want to start labor naturally, it's essentially the only 'natural' thing I want in this whole process, and because of that I'm really set on trying to have it happen.
I love my OB's office and I'm sad that this is the only hospital they deliver at. My main doctor is registered at other hospitals all over the place, but the office only delivers at this particular hospital 
I would even deliver at Tampa General because that's closer to us (it's really not even in Tampa), but they don't give any other options than their selected hospital. There's another well known hospital that's only 14 minutes from me. It's frustrating that I will essentially drive right by these two before I get to mine! If any of you are in the Tampa area, my hospital is literally like 2 miles from Tampa Int'l Airport...traffic is insane, insane, insane there.
WWYD? I don't want to switch offices, but the fact that their chosen hospital is 40 minutes away from me without traffic is a little intimidating.
Re: Designated hospital 40 minutes away...
You should make it in no time. But just err on the side of caution and head to the hospital early if you are having any doubts if you are in labor.
When I delivered DD, there was another woman in the hospital who didn't make it to her hospital of choice (she was visiting friends and ended up being too far away from her hospital to make it) and had to stop at my hospital. She arrived too late to get an epidural (I heard her screaming like the woman do on TV and I remember asking the nurse if everyone really screams like that). She & baby were healthy so no issues just a surprise in her birth plan, I suppose.
The nurses at the hospital said that rarely happens and most of time you plenty of time to get to the hospital if you leave right away. I spoke to the woman a few times during our stay (while meandering the halls and taking our Infant Classes together before we could get discharged) and she did admit that she and her hubby waited a while to leave for the hospital and spent extra time debating if they could make it to their hospital.
So my only advice would be "if in doubt, start driving!" just in case!!
WHY is that their chosen hospital? We're driving by two different branches to get to the OB's preferred hospital ourselves (with a roughly 30-40 minute drive that could easily be much longer if we hit rush hour at the wrong time.) It's got the best NICU in the city, and they said that if I delivered at any of the other hospitals and there were complications, they'd fly the baby to the other hospital, leaving me to recover at the original hospital.
If it helps, my mother has a history of *very* easy labors. In fact, I was induced because of her history (with a 10-20 minute drive to the hospital) and it was a good thing for that because I was born within 20 minutes of my mom receiving the meds. Even with her miraculous uterus, it still took 6 hours for her to deliver her oldest, and 3 hours to deliver her second. You're going to have plenty of time to get to the hospital.
Because it does have a very, very good reputation. A major con: it has the highest cesarean rate in the Tampa area, but that is because most high-risk mothers are referred there for delivery...I'm still a little leery of that. I would just prefer Tampa General because that's where I was born, but I can't argue that the one we're going to is a great hospital. I just wish it wasn't so far!
But thank you & the other ladies for reassuring me! I am just going to use the "when in doubt, drive!" option here and try not to panic if I realize I am in actual labor. It's probably better if I don't rush anyway, because then we might get there and be told to go home, lol!
I wouldn't worry so much. The hospital I delivered my son at is about 22 miles from my home, and about a 30 minute drive. I plan to deliver there again. My midwives only deliver at their birth center or at that hospital.
In my own case, I went into labor at home and my water broke there. I arrived at the hospital about 4 hours after my water broke and was about 9 cm. My husband drove fast, so maybe it was more like a 25 minute than 30 minute drive. It was another hour before I started pushing. It took another 45 minutes to push him out.
If you plan to leave the house shortly after your water breaks, you'll probably not have to worry about delivering a baby on the side of the road. (The only caveat being that I'd leave earlier if your mother or sisters have a history of short, intense labors that are under 3 hours.)
LOL - this is probably more likely to happen than not making it on time!
Your labor is most likely going to last for more than 40 minutes. It's just important that you don't wait around too long to start heading out to the hospital. If you are concerned though, maybe think about trying to find an OB at a hospital closer to you. Your stress is just going to get more and more when you get closer to your due date and that's not something you want to deal with. Also, sitting in the car in labor is not very comfortable at all. However if you have your heart set on your doctor, really, I think you are totally fine.
I know right now I'm starting to freak out being due Feb 8. I only live 2 miles from the hosptial, but I envision some major snow storm coming through and we won't be able to get there or have anyone available to take my current baby (who will only be 15 months old then). Crazy I know, but that sort of thing just starts driving you nuts!!!
My hospital is about 30-40 minutes away from me as well.. AND that includes a 20 minute ferry ride..
I live on an island
and the ferry runs once an hour.. i was pretty nervous about it..
BUT really you should have time to get there safely..
Try not to stress about it..
With traffic, my hospital I will deliver at is about an hour and 15 minutes away. This is based on my appointment last week that was at 8:00am so I got to see what rush hour was like. My doctor wasn't worried about it and neither am I. She said if I'm really progressing quickly over the last few days/weeks then we will discuss options but she wasn't worried at all. My first labor lasted 19 hours and that was with pitocin and my water broke at home, so it isn't like I have babies really fast. My cousin on the other hand is 15 minutes away from her hospital and she is on her 3rd baby - her first two came in 5 hours, then 3 hours, so she's prepared for a quick delivery if necessary.
My plan is if my water breaks or contractions start, I will try to time our departure to avoid rush hours. Say I notice labor beginning around 3 pm - we migth head in, just to avoid the 5 oclock rush. Same if it's 5am, we will head in right away probably, just in case. I'd try make the drive during rush hour to see what the true time will be. We also have a Garmin, and it will tell us ahead of time if there is traffic and will actually tell us alternate routes to take to avoid the traffic jam/wreck, etc. So that helped save us a TON of time last week.
My hospital, which is the closest one, is 40 minutes away w/o traffic. I wouldn't worry about it. Labor is very rarely what you see on TV (rushing to get to the hospital in time immediately after labor begins). Like other's have stated, it's typically a long, drawn out process of several hours.
I have already decided that if I go into labor before 36 weeks, we will be making a 2 hour drive to a different hospital. Last time, I had PTL and had to take a $25,000 helicopter ride there (my hospital does not handle preemies - no level III NICU). Not repeating that again! Besides, I have onstar and my leather seats should clean up easily
2012 Goal: working towards pre-pregnancy speed!
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