When to go to the hospital?

paintme · February 2012

When do you plan on heading to the hospital? After reading some posts lately it sounds like labor can start in many ways (contractions, water breaks, lower back, bloody show...) What is going to be your sign to grab your bag and head on in? Will you call the OB nurse line first to confirm?

mrs.gee · February 2012

You doctor should give you guidance on this. And yes, I would always call my OB before heading in. She will advise me on when/if to go and will call ahead to L&D if I'm going in.

angelaggie · February 2012

I'll call the nurse first because that is what my doctor told me to do. My doctor's office is just down stairs from L&D, depending on the circumstances I may go to his office first. Also by calling the nurse first she will alert L&D I'm on my way. That way they should already have a room ready for me and ready for me to check in.

I'll call if I have any leakage/water breaks, bleeding, or contractions that come every 4-5 minutes for about an hour.

jenskurn · February 2012

Every hospital/ OB office is going to have a different procedure. I was actually told not to call my OB and to go in when A) my water broke or

when my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute, for a duration of 1 hour. They also said that if you are vomiting or having bad enough contractions that you cannot walk or talk through them to go in. There is also a different procedure if you test positive for strep B. Definitely ask your OB at your next appt.

kmhunt11 · February 2012

There are too many different scenarios to predict. I know it's hard to not be able to plan. This time if my water breaks, I will wait a few hours for labor to set in if it doesn't right away. If it doesn't, contractions you can't talk through 5 minutes apart or less is a good guideline. But of course, I'll talk it over with my MW to see what she says. I've only seen her once because my OB left his practice at the end of January, so I don't know the new practice at all.

paintme · February 2012

I just randomly thought about this at the gym and will talk to my doctor this friday but I wanted to know if it was the same with everyone. I want to spend as much time at home as I can but my mom was in labor with me for less than an hour which makes me nervous about timing.

LilyPotter218 · February 2012

My OB has given me a few things I need to call about. If the office is open I will likely start with an office visit (that is 1 mile from the hospital).

Bleeding: Office visit if it's open, right to L&D after hours

Suspected water break (drastic change in discharge): Office visit if it's open, right to L&D after hours. If it is a giant gush I am supposed to call but go directly to L&D

Contractions every 5 min for more than one hour OR contractions every 5 minutes that have been consistently gaining strength and are coming closer together. That will land me directly in L&D

In any situation, I would call the office or after hours nurse line to double check what I am supposed to do.

blaharn · February 2012

The rule of thumb we learned in our childbirth class was 5-1-1. Contractions coming every 5 mins, lasting at least a minute, and it's been consistent for 1 hour. Of course there are other times you would want to make the call before then, but this is a good guideline.

sfinchWed68665 · February 2012

My OB told me to call and they would let me know if I needed to come in or go to L&D.

krispy83 · February 2012

My OB told me to call but also gave me the rule of 4-1-1, when my contractions are 4 minutes apart, last 1 minute and have been that way for 1 hour, I should head to the hospital. I'll ask him at my appt on Thursday but I believe there is a different protocol if my water breaks. My plan is to labor at home for as long as humanly possible though, so I'm hoping if my water breaks before this, he won't insist that I come in immediately.

Charlyne · February 2012

I was told to come in if either my water breaks or contractions are 3-5 mins apart. My MW told me to call the office first, then head to the hospital. My office is right next door to the hospital, so she may ask me to come in if it's during work hours to check me. Otherwise the call service will contact her that I'm in labor.

CplusJ=S · February 2012

I plan on seeing how I feel and playing it by ear rather than following a specific guideline. I am going to labor at home with my husband and doula for as long as possible before heading in. A friend of mine who uses the same OB as me had a baby in September and had a horrible experience going to the hospital too early. She used the 5-1-1 rule and was only 1 cm dilated. They admitted her anyway, started her on pitocin almost immediately and then broke her water. The doctor then decided she wasn't progressing fast enough so she ended up with a c-section.

murph317 · February 2012

I plan on asking my Dr what he suggests we do when the time comes, at our appointment on Thursday. I plan on waiting until contractions are pretty close and then calling L&D, since we have **knock on wood** had a complication-free pregnancy so far and are not high risk, no signs of pre-e, etc. But, I will confirm with my Dr to see if that's what they suggest as well.

ktekne · February 2012

jenskurnick:
Every hospital/ OB office is going to have a different procedure. I was actually told not to call my OB and to go in when A) my water broke or when my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute, for a duration of 1 hour. They also said that if you are vomiting or having bad enough contractions that you cannot walk or talk through them to go in. There is also a different procedure if you test positive for strep B. Definitely ask your OB at your next appt.

Agree with this

med380 · February 2012

My doc's office gave me a sheet that says when you should come to L&D vs. when not to. For contractions, I believe they said if they are every 5 minutes, lasts about a minute, for an hour. If your water breaks, you need to go in. Losing the mucus plug (i.e. bloody show) is not something you need to go in for.

Last time, I did call first because I thought my water broke but I wasn't sure (it was a slow trickle and not a big gush). They told me to come on in and get checked.

I am kind of hoping my labor starts again with water breaking, because then I don't have to worry about timing contractions and all that

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