Has anyone chosen a different hospital to their closest one?

[tinkerbelle93]

A bit of background- I found my birth with my DS really traumatic- I came in at 7cm then very quickly he was picked up as being in foetal distress. Cue having a pitocin drip shoved in my hand, clothes stripped off me and gown on before being rushed into theatre with a huge team of people for a swift episiotomy and him being pulled out with forceps in under 60 seconds. It was all a mad panic, I got told off for screaming and I felt as though absolutely no thought was put in place for my dignity either.

It took me a while to get over it, but ever since then going back to the hospital has been a huge trigger and makes me feel sick. I've had to visit twice in 4 years to see friends and their new babies, and I've found it so difficult each time. I do not have this problem visiting other maternity units.

I do have the option of 2 other hospitals but both take an extra 25 mins to get to, so I don't really know if that's a good option, but the thought of going back to that one makes me feel really scared. The other 2 hospitals also have better stats. There are no birthing centres or anything like that nearby. I would consider a home birth but given what happened last time I feel it may be risky.

Has anyone else chosen a hospital further away? x

 

[Nerdy]

My hospital is 25 - 40 mins away. My DS was born 30 mins away. The closest hospital was frightening so we went the safest route and are doing that again.

 

[jlw617]

I have a hospital within 5 minutes of me but unless I go during rush hour I'm delivering at a hospital that's 35 min away and the only reason I'd go to the other one is because my midwife told me to because she thinks I'm going to go really quick...I hate the one by me, my oldest daughter almost died when she was 5 and had to be life flighted to a different hospital and I feel like they were partially to blame, plus their maternity ward makes me cringe as I went in once when I was around 25 weeks for contractions and the nurse swabbed my urethra instead of my vagina, it was one of the most painful experiences I've ever had plus I bled afterwards for 3 days as a result which was also extremely painful-I cried every time I went to the bathroom. 25 min away isn't bad at all, I'd go to the one you prefer unless there's an emergency.

 

[tinkerbelle93]

Thanks for the feedback ladies. Our closest hospital is 20 minutes away, the other 2 are 40 minutes. I guess I'd need to know I wasn't too far gone then the journey wouldn't be too bad.

Jlw- that sounds horrific!

 

[flowergirl7]

Mine is 45 minutes away. We have one that is 15 away but I would only go there if I absolutely had to. We made it with Plenty of time with our first

 

[stormcloud96]

We technically chose the closest and then moved, but are sticking with it. Has the best reputation, is nice, and I'm already familiar with it. It's an hour away, but as others have said you usually have plenty of time...

 

[cosmicgirlxxx]

I have a local maternity unit apex 8 minutes away but I'm choosing to travel approx 25 mins (more in rush hour as it's near the city centre).
I had a horrific delivery at my local hospital and now wouldn't trust them to deliver a pizza!

 

[MumToEva]

I chose to go back to the hospital where i had my first even though we had moved further away - there is a MLU far closer (15 mins versus 35mins), but after needing urgent medical assistance 1st time round i wasn't risking having to be blue lighted to a different hospital if things went wrong again.

 

[LockandKey]

I have a hospital about 10 minutes from me, but they would not take our health insurance, so I've gone with a midwife unit and birthing center that is about a 45 min drive from us. The midwives and birthing center are all top rated in our area, so I am more than happy to drive the extra half hr to get there

 

[LillyFleur]

My nearest hospital is 15 mins away but they have reduced services now (just midwife led, so if there's an emergency it's 35 mins up the road by ambulance)

So I'm heading to a hospital that's 45 mins away but at least once I get there I won't have to transfer if anything was to happen.

 

[laurac1988]

I changed from a hospital that is 10 mins away to one that is 40 mins away and it was the best decision I've ever made.