Traveling over an hour for VBAC?

[chisub]

I'm having the VBAC talk w. my current midwife tomorrow (hospital birth, 7 min. from my house and where I had DS). Nervous as heck b/c she already made a comment about the OBs in the practice not allowing you to go much past your due date.

In 2 weeks I have a consult w. another midwife practice (w. backup OB, not a full OB/gyn practice like my current one). I know there are a couple different options for me that might be better, but they are at least an hour away (well 45 min. if there is no traffic or construction or snow, which is not something I'm counting on around here). A good 90 min. + is my guesstimate on real travel time in the beginning of March when I'm due.

Anyways, is anybody else traveling over an hour for their VBAC? What are your logistics? I don't have friends near the hospital, so that's out.

I feel like I'd be fine at my current hospital, but not if they fight me about going past my EDD (DS was born at 40w6d, so I'm convinced this one will not come before 40w).

[frenchie03]

I am traveling 55-70 min. away for my vbac in 4 weeks! I also don't have friends or family in the area and construction and traffic are constant concerns as well. All I can say is that I'm not afraid of the drive because if it takes me longer than I planned to get there it can only mean good things for my chances! LOL. The less time I'm actually in the hospital the better as far as I'm concerned. But it's not like I'm going to wait until I feel I need to push to get in the car either. Honestly, the drive doesn't worry me and if it meant choosing the hospital and care providers that were the better match I'd tell you to do it in a heartbeat. I've also heard of people getting a hotel room near the hospital then driving down there to get into a better distance range of the hospital and laboring in the hotel room for awhile before going in. If that eases some of the stress you're feeling about the drive that might be an option for you too.

[MaddieMay]

My hospital is a good 45 minutes away if everything goes smoothly. I am doing dual care with two OBs-one at my small town hospital and another with the big VBAC-friendly hospital. (FWIW, my small town OB is VBAC-friendly, but hospital policy isn't) The plan is to show up in labor at the small hospital, have them check me and if I'm in active labor and progressing (which I should be), transfer to the big hospital.

[ShwarmaQueen]

Traveling 7 min in active labor to our nearest hospital was brutal (and i only had a few contractions), so I cannot imagine traveling over an hour. I might consider finding a hotel nearby the hospital and go during early labor to hang out (maybe one with a big jacuzzi?)- it took me over 14 hours to deliver once I was in active labor, so you probably don't have to worry about delivering in the car (though it happens!) but you do have to worry about going to the hospital too soon and being strapped to the bed or traveling in the car during transition- OUCH!

[lyterae]

We will not be traveling for the birth, the midwife will be traveling 1.5 hours to us. If for some reason we need to transfer we have two hospital options, one is within 10 minutes away, the other (preferred) is about 35 minutes away.

[cagnew]

I am planning a VBAC and I am opting to use a hospital an hour away. There is one closer (10 minunes) but I don't like the hospital very much. The nurses play a big part in labor in a hospital, and I wasn't crazy about the nurses at the local hospital. My first baby was delivered there and they took her right after she was born- and kept her for 4 hours!!!! So, I will take my chances with the nicer, natural-birth friendlier hospital and hour away. Yes, I am nervous about the drive... I wish ALL hospitals were VBAC/Natural birth friendly, but don't get me started....

[MountainMamaGC]

I am not pregnant yet but if I have a vbac, i will be travelling 4.5 hours to my mothers. BUT I will be staying with her. I plan on going 2-3 weeks before my due date. They dont even deliver babies in this town (unless its an emergency) and the nearest hospital that does is 1.5 hours away.

[chisub]

Well the appointment didn't go so well and now an hour + doesn't seem like a big deal compared to the stress and tears that may ensue staying at my current practice. PP, I drove to the hospital in active labor and it was also 7 min. away, which is why driving over an hour gets me nervous. I know people do it all the time, so I guess I'll just figure out logistics with the new midwives. Wish me luck!

[BirthNut]

We are planning to UBA2C however we are driving an hour away to a hotel that is within sight of the hospital where my son was born. The hospital is very very VBAC friendly & people travel hours to birth there so we feel we would be in better hands in case of transfer again. I have family that lives about a 1/2 hr from there.

[LisaSedai]

I went 2 1/2 hours (130 miles) for my VBAC, and would do it again. I had a fantastic doula who let me and DH stay at her place (20 min from hospital) otherwise, I was planning on getting a room at one of those extended stay hotel places.

[MaddieMay]

Originally Posted by MaddieMay

My hospital is a good 45 minutes away if everything goes smoothly. I am doing dual care with two OBs-one at my small town hospital and another with the big VBAC-friendly hospital. (FWIW, my small town OB is VBAC-friendly, but hospital policy isn't) The plan is to show up in labor at the small hospital, have them check me and if I'm in active labor and progressing (which I should be), transfer to the big hospital.

Scratch that. Found out at my last appointment that the small town hospital won't allow me to transfer if I show up there in labor because it's "too risky." So they said just to head straight to the big hospital. I guess if I show up somewhere and am not in active labor, I'll sign out AMA and head home.

[cairomama]

I travelled two hours away in active labor (contractions 3 minutes apart) arrived at 8cm dilated and gave birth 2.5 hours later. My plan was to go to a hotel near the hospital as soon as I was in labor before 40 weeks and stay down there after 40 weeks. I was 39.5 weeks and left for the hospital as soon as I thought I was in labor. My c/s was for breech, no labor and I was doing Hypnobabies so I didn't recognize the signs.

Still, I had plenty of time to get to the hospital and the ride was pretty comfortable thanks to Hypnobabies. Just make sure you have someone to drive you!

Traveling for a truly VBAC-friendly provider/hospital is worth it.

[SarahKatN]

Wouldn't have worked too well for my VBAC. I had a 20 minute drive to the hospital and while it went fast, it was kind of brutal to be contracting every 3-5 minutes in a moving car. I had my little girl 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital. My labor was super fast (which I wasn't expecting, since my previous deliveries were induction and CS while not in labor). I'm lucky that I got there before she was born at all. That said, it was such an amazing experience that it was worth the risk of delivering in the car to get my vbac

[amydiane]

I'm not pregnant yet, but I've found out that the only VBAC-friendly hospital in my area is close to an hour away with no traffic and some luck. You have to go through downtown to get to it, so depending on the time of day, it can be quite a bit more.

[wombatclay]

The real trick with traveling for a VBAC is that there is another little kiddo involved! So do take your older child into consideration while planning.

When I VBAC'd with dd2 we were able to use the local hospital and a fabulous OB team (they're in Ina May's book actually). The car trip was all of 10 minutes and my mom was able to watch our dd1 at our home while we were in the hospital.

With my second VBAC it was more complicated. The fabulous OBs had left town and the local hospital was no longer a good option for a VBAC. I eventually found a midwife/OB team at a hospital roughly 40 mintues away. On google it was 35 minutes, in real life it was more like an hour. During the pregnancy the whole family would make the trip.

Our plan was to rent a hotel room while I was in very early labor, have my MIL join us at the hotel so that the girls would have a familiar caregiver, labor for a while at the hotel, then join our doula and midwife at the hospital just a few minutes drive from the hotel.

In actual fact we had one false alarm (at 40 weeks, we went to the hotel and contractions stopped... we called it a surprise family vacation and the girls loved having a swimming pool).

At 42 weeks I had a NST in the morning and the mdiwives wanted me to consider an AROM induction that day or the next. While debating the "induction" we got a hotel room, my MIL joined us, we had a nice dinner, and as fate would have it the contractions I'd been having for weeks picked up and DS was born a few hours later. I stayed the full 72 hrs at the hospital and during that time my MIL stayed with the girls, bringing them to the hospy to visit and then back to the hotel (there was that pool doncha know ). DH stayed with ds and I but wsa able to go to the hotel to help with the girls' bedtime routines.

Despite the false alaram and the expected stress of knwoing "when" to leave our home, it worked out really well. I had a wonderful, midwife attended, hospital vbac with ds. if we have another pregnancy I'd plan the same thing... hotel in early labor and then as a "home away from home" for the older kiddos. (and honestly I was thinking that IF I had a rc/s, having everyone nearby at a hotel would help since I'd HAVE to have dh with me and having him commute an hour each way to be with the older kids would just not work).