Transport to the hospital when you are in labor

B

bart

Registered User
Just wondering if the cabbies here will refuse to take you when you are in labor and rushing to a hospital.. possibly with your water leaking already. Or do you not tell them that you are in labor but offer to pay for the cleaning fee if you dirtied their cab?

I guess ambulance is not an option unless in the absolute emergencies too right?

thanks!
 
There is no problem with getting a taxi while you are in labor... I was water leaking when I got one, and just made sure I got a extra towel and a maternity pad (well, it was at 4am so I guess the driver didn't see too much what was happening :)).
Good luck !
 
I took a taxi too with my water leaking horribly. I wore a maternity pad and took a towel and was fine; there was no mess and I didn't really need the towel. The taxi driver didn't mention any problems. They even drove during a typhoon level 9 (they did charge double though :smile:)
 
thanks gals, looks like towel is the way to go! I guess i was just imagining the water breaking like a dam breaking from what i see in tv series and movies. i will pack in that extra towel with my hospital bag then :)
 
Water breaking can be different for every woman... you can have contractions and go to the hospital and have the water breaking there (or with the help of the doctor), you can have a water breaking very suddenly and lose everything in 5 mn, and it can leak very slowly and last for hours, like I did, during 7 hours !
 
I didn't take a taxi while in labour as we have a car, but in addition to a towel I had a waterproof mattress protector that was later used on the baby's cot in my hospital bag in case my waters broke before/on the way. (No mess in the end, as had the membranes ruptured in hospital to speed up labour)
 
Yeah, and if you lie down after your water breaks, it really slows down. I rode in a taxi for 2 hours after my water broke (from SZ to GZ) but just sat really low back in the seat.
And you wouldn`t know it by who responded here, but only 10% of women`s water breaks first. As in my case, it resulted in a c-section, so I hope your water doesn`t break first for you.
 
no reason in the world that you can't call an ambulance.

999 is the number you need. they'll ask you what you need.
 
I did the taxi ride for my first birth and didn't think twice about it.
Taxi driver didn't seem fazed at all.
My water had broken at the beginning of labour, and was a slow trickle for hours.

2nd time, my water broke at the very end, just before I started to push, and boy was it a gush! Would have made a nice mess of our car if it had happened on the way.

Don't worry, taxi's have nice rubber floors.
 
As I understand from the news reports lately, ambulances are overtaxed in this city. So people who really need an ambulance (bleeding profusely, heart-attack, cannot breathe etc.) are not getting responded to quickly enough. Labor, in most cases, is not an emergency. Labor is an expected event and unless you are losing blood or having other alarming pains (besides contractions) I think it is not right to call an ambulance. On the news a few weeks ago they were talking about how recently several incidents have happened where the ambulance has even broken down in transit to the hospital--because the fleet is old and has not been replaced by newer vehicles. The same news report was talking about how people are calling for the ambulance for things like constipation. So, as long as taxis are willing and able to get you to the hospital safely, it would benefit the whole community if you didn't further tax the already over-strapped ambulance system unless you truly have a life-threatening emergency going on.
 
I totally agree with MLBW!!!

(I once saw my neighbor in an ambulance down where we lived. She told me she tripped and had a small cut on her ankle!!!!!!!!!)
 
I'd have no hesitation whatsoever calling an ambulance if I was moving quickly through the labour and would just use a towel under me in a cab if I thought there was plenty of time to get me to the hospital.
 
My doctor told me to get to the hospital asap when my contractions start but he mentioned that I cannot call an ambulance as they will only take you to public hospitals, not private ones. Not sure how true this is....just something he mentioned...?
 
I think it could well be true that an ambulance will take you to Accident and Emergency at the nearest public hospital. After all, if it's so urgent, they are going to get you to the nearest place they are sure you can get attention.
 
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