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I was in labour for 40 mins
I gave birth at QMC but I assume hospitals are the same regarding Labour. I downloaded a free contraction app and timed them everytime I had one. the app then told me when it was time to ring the hospital and get ready to leave. My partner rang the hospital and told them we used an app to time my contractions and they told us to come in. I had some observations done and my midwife checked how dilated I was and broke my waters once I was past 4cm and the rest of my Labour went really quick! Don’t forget to take your hospital notes that have been tracking baby the past 9 months! Just don’t panic and do whatever you feel is best! If the pain is completely unbearable I’d ring the hospital and let them know! Good luck x
Easy to say don't stress but that is the best thing for you. You'll be having this convo with your midwife as well. I gave birth at Leicester general and had similar panics especially as neither myself or my husband drive and we lived 40ish mins away. They won't want to admit you until you are in 'active' labour. That is around 4cm I believe and you have a 3 strong contractions in 15mins. In your hospital book you'll have a number for the Maternity Unit which you can call for advice. So if you are concerned ring! I personally experienced unknown bleeding so I got admitted earlier due to them wanting to monitor (we never knew why but me and baby were well!) If waters break definitely ring as well. Basically my advice is don't be shy and sit there worrying. The staff are great and will reassure you. X
I had my baby 2 years ago at general, I found it was a slowwww, long build up to it, harsh back pain, but the best advice is to let your body take over and do the work and relax as much as possible. Take your time, have a bath or shower, eat high energy foods as you'll need it, paracetamol every 4 hours, I had sport lucozade too and found sitting on a yoga ball most comfortable. If your waters break straight away then I would contact the hospital within the hour and they'll give you advice but honestly you can call the general for advice at any point throughout they are all extremely lovely and reassuring, ideally don't want you to come in too soon. I used an app to monitor the length and frequency of contractions and that will flag up too when is best to contact the hospital. Good luck with everything, it really is a magical experience and the general were fantastic, the most caring people, I just took all the advice they gave me, definitely look at breathing techniques as they really help 💕🫶
There's a number on your notes for the ward, you give them a ring and explain what's happening, they'll then tell you what to do :) if your waters break (or you think they have) they'll ask you to put a pad on for a bit and then go in so they can double check to be sure as well. They'll usually tell you to time contractions and then ring again when they're closer together before you go in x