Hellobee Boards

The hospital I delivered at was 40 min away from my house, but my OB was right next to the hospital and where I worked. I say, if you found a place you really like, stay with it. Unless you have a super fast labor (not likely), the 30-60 min drive won't be bad at all.

My hospital was about a 40 minute drive my house. We had plenty of time and we ended up going to the hospital around 9pm so there wasn't any traffic.

If this is your first birth it will not likely be a speedy birth.

You should see if you like the hospital and midwife better than your current practitioner. It doesn't hurt. You should do what makes you feel comfortable.

I'll be the odd man out and say I would check it out. The contractions I had in the car on the way to the hospital were SO painful because I couldn't move. I couldn't wait to get the hell out of that car.

I think it doesn't hurt to check it out but a word of caution on using a new hospit...we had a new hospital, where a friend delivered her baby a little over a month after it opened. She had a terrible time trying to figure out logistics before they opened, and then there were minor (non-medical) glitches that delayed some things like billing because they were so new and hadn't worked out the kinks. I delivered at the same hospital 8 months later with no issues.