What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I work in Queens and am giving birth in White Plains, which is about an hour away from my job. I have nobody in Queens to drive me. The closest relative would take 25 minutes to get here to pick me up, which would mean it would take an hour and a half to get to the hospital if I waited for them.

I still have 2 months, but i'm getting anxious about this. How do I get to the hospital if my water breaks or I start having contractions at work???

Anyone else work far from the hospital? What's your plan?

What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I work in the city and am delivering at North Shore. This is baby #2, so I am worried about it coming quickly! Usually with baby #1 you have plenty of time from the first contraction until the baby comes, so you should be ok for someone to come get you. I am planning on taking car service to the hospital if I go into labor at work, so that is what I would suggest you do if you need to go straight to the hospital. Whatever you do - don't drive yourself!

What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I work in Midtown and im delivery at LIJ in NHP. I dont have a plan. She is breech right now, unless he turns im sure i will be a scheduled c-section. But idk.

Re: What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I don't think I'd be too concerned but it's worth discussing with your doctor. *Usually* babies don't come as dramatically as you see on TV/movies. I don't remember the statistics but it's not even that common to have your water break. I'm pretty sure I also read that your water is most likely to break at home when you're relaxing or in bed lying down. I think it's also uncommon for contractions to just come out of nowhere and be super strong and close together.

As a pp mentioned, you could always call a car service. I'd probably bring a towel and garbage bag or two to stash at work, maybe a change of clothes for "just in case". Have the number of a car service on hand. I'd think though most likely you'd have time for DH or someone to pick you up.

Again, I'd discuss it with your doctor, I'm sure you're not the first person to have this issue and they might have a good suggestion.

Re: What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

i am delivering at LIJ in New Hyde Park and work in the bronx...so i have the same issue with driving and the bridge etc...but im honestly not concerned. I spoke with my doctor and she told me you have plenty of time from your first contraction until you are ready to actually give birth. granted i wouldnt hang around work when i get my first contraction, but she said i could still go home, shower etc and still make it to the hospital. they encourage you to labor at home for a few hours anyway and not rush right in bc they will send you home if you arent far enough along. so that is my plan...drive myself home and have DH meet me there.

my doctor filled out my FMLA papers and put down my due date as my last day of work (as i requested) but said if i start to get uncomfortable driving or dont want to work anymore just let her know and she will change the date on the papers...im sure most doctors will accommodate you if you decide you want to stop working early just to be safe.
plus, listen to your body...if you wake up one morning and just dont feel right, take a sick day just to be safe.

Message edited 12/17/2012 11:43:54 AM.

What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I work in the city; and will deliver at LIJ NHP. I was able to work it out with my job to work from home starting Jan 2nd ( 1 1/2 weeks before my EDD) so I will be home when I go into Labor. BUT if I wasn't able to work from home; I would have taken a cab home to meet DH (he also works in the city) and then we'd drive to the hospital together. OR I figured wait here at work for him; then go home together.

Re: What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

My hospital was not as far as yours. I work in downtown brooklyn and gave birth at Lenox Hill. My boss and I had cab money ready (we called a cab company before hand and got the rate).

we didnt have to use the cab money because DD decided to come when DH was home.

Re: What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

From my understanding - the majority of labors are a long process, so you will have plenty of warning and time to prepare! There are plenty of stories of woman going into labor very quickly and that's definitely what you see on television, but I think those are situations that are really not that common. It would be interesting to post asking about labor - I think you'll find most people started feeling crampy or just not well long before labor really kicks in... I worry about my water breaking at work, not because the baby will come but the thought of traveling home in wet pants or even stopping to pick up pants (I'm a LIRR/subway commuter)... I guess we all find things to obsess about :)

What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I live/work on the border of Nassau/Suffolk and am delivering at Mt. Sinai and have no plan other than praying this fibroid is still in a position that would mean I have to have a csection... otherwise I'm looking at 1 1/2 hour car ride in GOOD conditions to get my to the hospital.

The doctors have assured me that being it is my first the odds of him coming that quickly are slim but I'm still worried.

Re: What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I delivered in Stony Brook and live 45 minutes west. Early contractions felt like af cramps to me, so it wasnt terrible to be in a car. With Dd2, my water broke in the very early morning.

You'll be in labor for awhile before the baby is born. Try not to panic.

What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I work in the city and I delivered at Good Sam. Usually you have plenty of time. And as many birth stories as i have heard on here it seems many people are either out of work by the time they give birth or things happen after hrs.

I wouldn't worry too much.

Re: What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I work in Midtown and will be delivering at NYQH in Flushing, Qns. I don't have a plan as of yet but I am sure whatever plan it is it will work out. G/L

What do you do if your hospital is far from your work?

I work in Queens with a weird situation -- I work in a jail, so I not only have to worry about getting home (an hour drive), but I have to worry about alarms in the building that could delay me getting out. With that said, God help any CO or officer that tries to tell me not to walk out if I'm in labor!! Anyway, I'm not worried at all about going into labor while working. I plan on working up until I go into labor and at the sign of a contraction, walking myself out of work and driving myself home. I feel like I will be able to do that with no problem -- your body tells you when it's time way before the baby comes out!