advice on laboring at home

dpraseutsinh

i'm an FTM and wanting a natural, calm birth (at least as much as i can take lol). i want to labor at home as much as possible. when am i supposed to actually go to the hospital to deliver? do i wait until i can't handle the pain anymore? i just want to labor comfortably at home since hospitals are cold and boring, but i have no intention of delivering my baby here! TIA!  

KateLouise

the timing of contractions being one minute long/five minutes apart/ for one hour is pretty standard advice for FTMs.

you could labour at home for longer. some advise contractions being 3 mins apart.

how far away from hospital are you?

Basically if you have a sense of being bored then it's too early to go to the hospital. 

dpraseutsinh

i'm literally only 5 mins away from the hospital.

KateLouise

In that case I'd definitely stay at home until contractions are more like 3minutes apart, and you feel like you can't handle it anymore.

Have you talked to your MW/ObGyn about their thoughts? Some MWs will come to your home and check you out at home to save the bother of going up to the hospital.

oliversmommy32912

I feel like you just kind of know. One minute I wanted to stay home, the next I felt like we should go NOW. I arrived at the hospital at 8 cm so it ended up being good timing, 

Temp76535187505890

See a post a couple below this one for a good link (in a reply to similar question) about emotional signposts and other physical signs beyond contractions. 

aylafsu88

I would wait until you emotionally cannot handle the contractions anymore.  For me my contractions never established a steady 4-1-1 or 5-1-1.  They would sort of stabilize and then I would get some that were 2 mins apart. I labored at home for @ 8 hours.  We left for the hospital when I was emotionally drained (@ 5-1-1 with some 2 min apart contractions in there).  The hospital was 10 mins away and my water broke as soon as I got check in and I was 6 cm dilated.  I completely dilated and had my LO in less than 2 hours!  So look for the emotional signs that will let you know it is time to shift to the hospital not just contraction times!

perplexed59

I think each case is different. Your doctor/midwife will give you a guide line but you will have to listen to your body. My contractions started at 1 min long with less than 30 secs in between. If I was going to the hospital I would have gone after my second contraction but I was having a home birth. My midwives seem to think I had plenty of time and I had to convince them to come sooner. I had my baby in under 4 hours and less than 2 hours after the midwives showed up.  

skyejo

For me, I knew when it was time to go.  I started to tell DH that I needed the epi (good thing I was at home and without that option!), the pain was very intense, and I was puking.  An hour after I arrived to the hospital I birthed DD. 

We didnt' call my MW until I had been laboring for 7 hours and I was to the point where the contractions were very hard for me to get through and coming every three minutes.  My MW talked to me and said based on my voice I should stay home longer.  By 5am when I went through transition we called the MW again and she told us it was time.  It was such a relief to have a MW who supported my decision to stay home and didn't rush me in getting to the hospital.

elinorc1

I'm a FTM too, so can't offer anything from experience, but I asked my OB this week what she recommended. She is on board with my plan to stay at home as long as possible and she suggested i call her after two hours of 'painful' contractions. That seemed novel to me, most of the things I've read have been 3-1-1 or something like that, but given how many people here say they didn't get a consistent pattern of contractions, maybe the pain and time guideline would help you too? My plan is to stick it out at home as long as possible, providing all seems to be well.... Good luck!

ridesbuttons

Pretty sure that 'labouring at home comfortably' is an oxymoron, lol.

I went to the hospital both times when I figured I would be no less uncomfortable there than at home, if that makes any sense.

1st time I was at the hospital 5 hours before babe was born.  2nd time I was at the hospital 30 minutes before babe was born.  Same level of discomfort when making the decision to leave.

bandwife

perplexed59:

I think each case is different. Your doctor/midwife will give you a guide line but you will have to listen to your body. My contractions started at 1 min long with less than 30 secs in between. If I was going to the hospital I would have gone after my second contraction but I was having a home birth. My midwives seem to think I had plenty of time and I had to convince them to come sooner. I had my baby in under 4 hours and less than 2 hours after the midwives showed up.  

My contractions were never much closer than 4-5 mins apart. My very experienced doula (20 yrs) said she wouldn't have told us to call the MWs to come until 6am - I had DS at 6:10am. *They were already there giving me a bag of IV antibiotics so it all worked out.

For sure ask your MW/OB for what their protocol is but remember that every woman, and every labor, is different.

mom2be0912

Love this thread. Very informative for me as I would like to labor at home as much as possible, although I actually love the birth center I'm delivering at and wouldn't mind laboring there for a while since it is such a calming atmosphere.

lovin life23

loving this thread..I would want to do the same..labor at home as long as possible..

 My question is thoug (cousin is a nurse at a hospital so maybe this is just her training...) but: do you have to do in as soon as your water breaks or starts to at least trickle? (she said you have to/should) but not sure what the protocol is as far as the water-breaking-when goes...?

APendola

In my prenatal class, they said when contractions are 4 minutes apart, for at least a minute and this has been going on for at least an hour.  Also, go right away if your water breaks, or if you are starting to feel really uncomfortable.

I laboured at home until my water broke and I was only in the hospital for about four hours before I had my baby.  My contractions were not too strong until I was in the hospital - they were just period like cramps

RockyMtnMama

APendola:

In my prenatal class, they said when contractions are 4 minutes apart, for at least a minute and this has been going on for at least an hour.  Also, go right away if your water breaks, or if you are starting to feel really uncomfortable.

I laboured at home until my water broke and I was only in the hospital for about four hours before I had my baby.  My contractions were not too strong until I was in the hospital - they were just period like cramps

Just as an aside...call your OB/midwife before you rush in if your water breaks.  With both my previous births, my water broke first - before I was in active labor, so it was 26+ hours between water breaking and the birth for the first (many of which I was not in active labor) and only 6 hours between my water breaking and the birth for my second. 

You sort-of just know when to go in.  And if your DH has taken classes, he too, can sort of help you figure it out.

 

overtonhayes

Ask your hospital/OB when they want you to go to the hospital, because it can vary greatly. My OB wanted me to call them - not come in, call - when my contractions were 4 minutes apart, lasting at least 1 minute, and had been that way for an hour. When I actually called, there was a very friendly, awesome, NB-friendly midwife on call, and she advised me to stay home for as long as I could, and only come in immediately if my water broke.

FWIW, I was in labour in my sleep and woke up with contractions 3 minutes apart. I rushed straight to the hospital, not only because they were so close together but also because I was desperate to get into a tub and ours was broken. I wouldn't say "I was in so much pain I had to go to the hospital", but I knew being in the tub would help, so off I went. Personally, unless you're really close to the hospital, I wouldn't recommend waiting until you can't handle it anymore. Go a little bit earlier than that. Good luck!