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Birth Center - How Far to Drive?
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I'm considering giving birth in an independent birth center, but it's 30 miles away. In traffic, I think it could easily be an hour drive. The alternative is giving birth in a hospital that's only a few minutes from home.
Would you consider driving 30 miles while in labor? Do you think the possible benefits of an independent birth center outweigh the convenience of giving birth just a couple miles from home?
Thank you for your input!
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Re: Birth Center - How Far to Drive?
30 miles isn't a long drive. You'll be uncomfortable, but as long as you leave with ample time, you should be fine. Labor isn't like TV. Rarely is it less than a few hours, and when it is, most women have actually been in labor for days or weeks without knowing.
That said, I wouldn't have made it to the hospital if I hadn't lived 7 miles away. But, as I've said here before, I waited too long to go.
I drove over an hour (1 hour 15 minutes) for my birth center and would do it again in a heartbeat.
At that point my contractions where pretty darn strong. I hardly remember the drive, except I had a pillow on my lap and would push my feet against the floor with every contraction. It kind of sucked, but like I said, I would do it again in a heartbeat. The birth center was awesome.
Just remember to put something down on the seat - my water broke at home and was leaking.
We are delivering at a hospital that is 30 minutes away with no traffic and can be up to a hour and a half drive with traffic. We have two hospitals that are much closer but I love my OB. So the drive is definitely worth it to me.
You may have already decided but I just want to pipe in on this.
I gave birth at a very close hospital that was natural birth supportive and it was wonderful. I also had a 17 hour labor with 7 of it being at home and 10 at the hospital. My body took a while to progress, just not a fast laborer.
One of the women in our birth class and now in my moms group chose a birth center about an hour away for her first child. Her labor only lasted four hours, her water broke, she threw up and went through transition all in the car in the middle of the night. She walked into the birth center and started pushing in the elevator and had the baby almost as soon as she was on the bed.
They left their home as soon as she was certain that contractions were steady and before she felt they were too intense to do the drive, however; her labor was fast moving. They checked out of the birth center almost exactly 6 hours after arriving.
Personally, I wouldn't want to go through that in the confines of a car but I also would rather take the risk than deliver at a hospital that I didn't feel would respect my wishes. It's a gamble driving that far but it's all about what you'll be most comfortable with.