I've seen a lot of people on here talk about going to the hospital following the standard 5-1-1 rule (1 minute contractions, 5 minutes apart for 1 hour). However, my OB's office recommends laboring at home for as long as possible, and they don't have a strict guideline for when you should head to the hospital. Our birth class instructor even told us that we should generally aim to labor at home for at least 5 hours, since 1st time labors tend to be 12 hours or longer. Has anyone else been given this advice... or does anyone else have experience with laboring at home?
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We just had this discussion with our doula last week, she said 5-1-1 is still the industry standard, but they're talking about moving it to 3-2-1 (3 minutes apart, for 2 hours, contractions 1 minute long) for first time moms since it takes so much longer for labour to progress. I'd like to labour at home as long as possible, and avoid interventions once I arrive at the hospital.
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My doctor hasn't really told us anything yet, but our childbirth instructor, who works for our hospital, said that I can labor at home as long as 12 hours as long as there aren't any complications, for first time moms.
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all we knew was that if we were less than 3 cm dilated they'd send us back home to continue laboring. That was my worst fear. So we waited until my contractions were pretty regular and went in to get checked at the OBGYN. I was 2.5 cm so they sent me to the hospital since I'd probably be 3 by the time I got there.
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We planned for 4-1-1 but were very stubborn so we stayed and stayed. My doctor told me to come "when the pain was really intense." I was at 9 cm when we arrived at the hospital. I had been in labor about 14 hours, but it was not really intense until the very end. (This turns out to have been transition!)
I pretty much knew when it was time to go. Instinct I guess!
Anyway, the chances of a first-time mom having a baby by the side of the road or something like that are tiny, tiny, tiny.
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We only live about 5 minutes away from the hospital so I wasn't too worried about getting there. I stayed at home while my contractions were irregularly spaced, though I would have some that were very close together. My husband started getting antsy and we probably would have gone earlier if we lived farther away from the hospital. We ended up going in when my water broke. The OB had given us some vague answer about when to come in but she said if your water breaks get to the hospital fast since I was already fully effaced. My mom had all her kids within 20 min of water breaking, for me it took another 12 hours.
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I want to labor at home for as long as possible.. but I'm nervous about it too especially when I hear about people being much more dilated than they thought they were. I will ask my OB for advice at my next visit but I would love to stay home until I'm closer to actually giving birth
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They told me 4-1-1. That happened very quickly for me, but the contractions weren't very painful. The doctor said to go anyway since they were coming so fast and close together.... and the hospital sent me home. I wasn't dilating. Everyone kept telling me that I would know when to come back, but I was like obviously not since I didn't know when to come the first time! As soon as I got home they got a lot worse, and I went back to the hospital an hour later. Still not dilating though- I was so surprised since I was in so much pain! They gave me a shot in my tush (because they wouldn't admit me until I was dilating, so I couldn't have my epidural until then) and about 10 minutes later I started dilating.
So really it's different for everyone. Do whatever you think feels right for you.
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I planned to labor at home as long as possible, but when my waters broke that changed the plan. I had to go to the hospital 24 hours later because they were worried about infection even though I was only 3 cm and my contractions weren't terribly strong or regular...
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@sloaneandpuffy: That's awesome! I'd love it if I could get to the hospital and be at a 9!!
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I would have labored longer at home, but my contractions came super fast. When they started they were about 3 minutes apart. Was scared and wanted to get to the hospital asap!
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They told me not to come in until 4-1-1 but I went in to get checked before then for some reason then when I went in for real I was still there for like 18-19 hours before lo was born
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I was told to labor at home as long as possible and when I could no longer do anything, including talk, during contractions then I was to go to the hospital. I waited until I had to vocalize through the contraction before I headed to the hospital. I arrived when I was just starting to transition so it was good timing for me.
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Good to hear that there are lots of perspectives on this! We're personally hiring a doula, so we're planning on laboring at home as long as possible anyways, and our doula should have a pretty good idea of when it really is time to go to the hospital. I was just surprised that my doctor's office officially encourages laboring at home as long as possible, since that doesn't seem to be what many others have been told by their doctors. My OB says to call her office when I'm 5-1-1 or if my water breaks, but they won't usually ask for you to come in at that point. They just want to have an idea of how your labor is progressing.
@sloaneandpuffy: I guess it's true that most 1st time moms will go to the hospital too early rather than too late, so in that way it makes sense to try to stay at home for as long as possible.
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I was at home for 17 hours of regular contractions with DS... really I only went in b/c when I called the hospital to ask a question the on-call Doctor hung up on me while I was mid-sentence... it freaked me out. =/ I was only 2 cm when I got there but they kept me (I should've left)...
This go round I'm staying home, but if I was to go to the hospital I would probably go when I started feeling like I couldn't do it anymore.... about that time of transition. Transition can still mean a few hours of labor or not much time left, but then I'd atleast know that I was around 7 or 8cm.
Sounds like you have a good plan having your doula... she'll definitely be able to help =)
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@skibobrown: Same here. We've hired a doula who will be with us at home and she will have a pretty good idea of when we need to go to the birth center.
I really don't want to be sent back, the birth center likes moms to be between 4-6 dilated before they let you stay!
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Use your judgement. I had the idea of laboring at home but when I woke up to contractions one on top of the other I knew I was progressing fast. DD was born less than 5 hours later.
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I labored at home from 7 am until about 1pm, when we went to the hospital. I was only 4 cm dilated when we arrived, but got to 10 in an hour.
I was glad to labor so long at home because it was in private, I had sent my DH to work.
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