My hospital has the rule of 3cm for admittance, but here I've been 3cm for almost 2wks and they won't admit me. I mean, if I was JUST 3cm and no contractions, I'd be fine and not care in the least that I was 3cm. But since I've been having really rough contractions for 2wks now that make my pelvis feel like it's going to explode because she's THAT low, and hard to breathe because my lungs get squeezed with every contraction, and... well, let's just say it's exhausting. I wish they would admit me so I can just get this over with.
What cm do you have to be before you're admitted? And if you don't know what contraction pattern/dilation you need to be admitted, you should find out! Especially the contraction pattern since it's pretty difficult to check your own cervix...
Re: When will your hospital admit you to L&D?
It's 4cm at my hospital.
Oh, and contrax have to follow the 5-1-1 pattern.
I was admitted at barely 1 cm with DD. I'd had prodromal labor for 4 days before that and I was DONE. My doctor finally took pity on me once the ambien stopped helping me sleep, etc.
It all depends on the labor, the woman, etc. With DS I was 3-4 when they kept me and in active labor, etc...the normal case. But with DD there was no way I was going home again.
I'm pretty sure my hospital policy is 3cm but I don't know about contraction time. When I was pg with my dd we called my OB when my contractions were 5 - 6 minutes apart for several hours. She told us to head to L&D so I could be checked. When we arrived I was contracting every 5 minutes but only dialted to 2cm. I was told I couldn't be admitted. At that point it was midnight and we were 45 minutes from home. I asked the nurse if she could give me an Ambien so I could get some rest because I hadn't slept in 2 nights (from irregular contractions). I knew there was NO WAY I was going back home and I was planning on walking the halls if she couldn't give me Ambien. She told me I could be admitted for a medicated rest and I agreed. They put us in a private room and gave me Ambien and Morphine (neither of the drugs worked). After and hour the nurse came back in the room and I was dialted to 4cm and was offically admitted.
I'm sorry you're so miserable and I hope your LO stops giving you a hard time and makes an appearance soon!
Clomid M/C 8 weeks 2/08 *IVF #1-DD born 3/09
*Surprise BFP-T18 baby lost at 13w 1/10 *FET #1-DS born 2/11
This is crazy to me that hospitals have such stringent "rules" about when to admit--to me, it should totally depend upon the situation!
My hospital doesn't have a hard and fast rule. They "like" for you to have contractions 5 min apart, but as the nurses have told us over and over...if you are in labor, we will not send you home. Maybe part of that is because they serve such a wide rural area, and it would suck to get sent home, 45 miles away, only to have to turn around and come back immediately, or to not even make it back because you progressed quickly. But still...
Hmm, I am not sure about this. My doctor wants me to call her cell phone if my contractions get too painful or to a 5-1-1 pattern and if it's office hours I'll go in to be checked, if not, we'll go to L&D. If the water breaks it's an automatic trip to the hospital, bypassing the OB's office.
I just had my birthing class at the hospital and they didn't say anything about dilation for admittance.
They said over and over, however, that contractions should be 5 minutes apart, last 1 minute each, for at least two hours before coming to the hospital. They stressed that contractions needed to be regular and progressing.
Sorry to butt in....Im a nurse on a L&D unit. If your water is broke, you get admitted as an inpatient. You do not have to be admitted as an inpatient to be checked. They will put you in the triage status. If you are in active labor, they will inpatient admit you. If you are contracting but not progressing, the RN will have you walk around for an hour and then come back and get checked. Of course every patient is case by case. Please always call L&D before you go in. It gives the unit a heads up that you are coming, so they aren't blind sided by you showing up. Our doctors tell every patient to call the MD before they go to L&D. This way the MD or RN can evaluate if you truely need to be seen.
Once again...sorry to butt in, i was just lurking on the 3rd trimester board & thought I could be of some help. GL to all you ladies.