S/O: how far are you from a hospital?

[Rivka]

The "camping when baby is due" thread got me curious: how far is your house from the nearest basic hospital? I'm realizing that my perspective is a bit skewed because a 10-15 minute drive would take me to four different hospitals, two of them major. That's obviously not the norm, but I'm curious about how many people there are here for which a 30-45 minute drive to a hospital wouldn't be anything out of the norm.

[Jennifer in MI]

I can be at my local hospital in 3 minutes. I can be at the trauma center in 5 minutes. This is the only reason I was willing to try a homebirth.

[Carrie12345]

There is a reason I swore I wouldn't have another baby while living in this house. (I never fail to jinx myself :tongue_smilie:.)

 

Our crummy hospital (particularly crummy for l&d) is 35 minutes away in ideal weather with no traffic.

A hospital with better NICU facilities, but still crummy l&d, is about 45 minutes away in ideal weather with no traffic.

My chosen hospital, where I do plan to deliver if we don't switch to a homebirth, is 60 minutes away in ideal weather with no traffic.

 

I'm due around the holidays, when the weather is likely to stink, and traffic is likely to be an issue, of course!

 

Oh, and dh's work takes him 1-3 hours away from the house. :glare:

[Chris in VA]

I'd have the ambulance number on speed dial! lol

Or at least the local cab company.

[Melissa in Australia]

20 minutes to a very basic hospital, it has 5 doctors that are on call. They do things x-ray , small surgery blood tests, baby delivery( uncomplicated, no c-section or twins) etc. the next hospital is 100 km away, where they do most things apart from major surgery like transplants etc. Then you would have to travel to Melbourne, 500 km away.

[myfatherslily]

I voted 11-20, because there is a small hospital 15 minutes from me. The nearest baby-catching hospital is 35 minutes, though.

[ChristusG]

It's a little over 5 miles from my house....I can be there in about 10 minutes with no traffic. But that's not the best hospital. It's just okay. If it were something important, I'd want to drive further to the hospital that's about 45 minutes away. That's the one I give birth at when I'm pregnant.

[Renee in NC]

I voted 10 minutes or less, but where we used to live it was 30 minutes to a small hospital or 45 minutes to a larger one that could handle a problematic delivery.

[Cera]

We are 5 minutes from a basic hospital and 45 or so from a major trauma center.

 

However, when we go home to visit we are 60-90 minutes from a hospital depending on traffic/weather. I can tell you from experience it is a long ride when a kid is injured.

[Mom2J112903]

Literally 2 minutes. It is *not* a level 1 trama center however, but you can be there via helicopter in 20-30minutes.

[MissKNG]

The closet hospital is about 20 minutes away but the hospital that I gave birth to my girls is about 45 minutes away.

[Denisemomof4]

I voted 11 - 20 minutes because usually when we head to the ER it's in the middle of the night. With traffic I'd give it another 5 - 10 minutes, but really don't see it taking longer than 25 minutes. NEVER less than 15.

 

BTW, I live on a one lane, rural dirt road in a small country town. We live near one of the better hospitals in the state.

[amyable]

The closest hospital is under 10 minutes away when there is NO traffic and you hit all the lights just right, but I voted 11-20 because that NEVER happens where this hospital is. ;) Although it has a maternity ward, I would never want to give birth there. The hospital we've used for 4/5 of our kids is 15 minutes away in the middle of the night with no traffic and hitting all the greens (ask me how I know ;)) and more typically 25-35 minutes or more. Makes me kind of nervous now because my last labor was 45 minutes long. :001_huh:

[patchfire]

In theory, I am equidistant from two hospitals - 7 miles from each.

 

In practice, I'm 15 minutes from one and 20 from the other, and that's during the middle of the night. :tongue_smilie: It could easily take 20-25 to the first and 30-45 to the second during high-traffic times.

[Carrie12345]

Makes me kind of nervous now because my last labor was 45 minutes long. :001_huh:

 

Lalalalala... I can't hear you!!!! :closedeyes:

[Country Mouse]

I'd say we're about 15 min. from the nearest very basic "hospital" and about 30 min. from a Level 1 trauma center.

[DawnM]

20 min. with no traffic.

 

How did we find out?

 

Well, when we moved here my oldest broke his collar bone within the first month while playing soccer in the backyard.

 

We had no idea where to take him and found out the hard way that the nearest place was 20 min. (12 miles) away.

 

Now, there is a perfectly well, newly constructed building 3 miles away that is said to become a full service ER, but bureaucracy is holding up the opening. I can't wait until it is open! On Easter my middle son needed stitches and it took over an hour to get to the hospital!

 

Dawn

[Laura Corin]

I voted 31-45 minutes, but we have a community hospital that is closer: it can cope with stitching a wound or setting a bone, but nothing more complex. It doesn't have a maternity dept.

 

Laura

[Pamela H in Texas]

The hospital is about 5 minutes away IF you have traffic to deal with getting out on the road AND hit the two lights. LOL

[NavyWifeandMommy]

The closest military hospital is 60 minutes away. We do have a hospital down the street but it's not military friendly since I am overseas. Though if it is truely a life threatning emergancy I would go tothe one down the steet and then they can transfer meto the base hospital.

[Lolly]

We have two within 3 minutes of the house. But, I try my best not to ever use them. They did sew one of my fingers back on. When dd was an infant and needed quick access to an er, we drove to a hospital an hour away. (It only took us 40 minutes to get there that morning!) She was seen there immediately as opposed to the hours of waiting we would have endured here. For births, I chose a hospital an hour away because I was a high risk pregnancy. Good thing because the nicu there was needed.

[MeaganS]

I'm exactly 1 block from the hospital. In an emergency, I could probably carry my child to the emergency room faster than an ambulance could. I'm also less than 5 miles from one of the best children's hospitals in the country and 7 minutes from the hospital I plan to give birth to. It's pretty comforting, even if I hear ambulances all night long.

[Violet Crown]

Two blocks from a major hospital; three blocks from the heart hospital. Aaargh the siren and helicopter noise.:eek:

[wendybird]

50 minutes to the nearest hospital from us. We have gone and made it in 40 when Griffon needed stitches, and our neighbor who is an emt said that for most injuries they would bring a helicopter for speed out here. I think it would only be 15 minutes flying.

We homebirth, our midwife is comfortable with the distance to the hospitals. My last 3 babies have all been less than 2 hour labors.

[Carrie12345]

Just thought I'd add- we do have a helipad in our development (it's a big development!) about 2.5-3 miles down the road. As long as I can figure out arrangements for the rest of my kids, I know I can get out under most circumstances!

[Quiver0f10]

When we lived in Maine and I had my homebirth VBAC, we lived @ 20 min from a smallish hospital and 3 hours from a hospital with a NICU.

 

Here we live fairly close to a hospital( I don't think they have a NICU either and the closest is @ 1.5 hours?) but with traffic it could take 20-30 minutes depending on the time of day and day of the week.

Edited August 12, 2010 by Quiver0f10

[angela in ohio]

We used to be about 2-3 minutes from the largest hospital in the area, but now we are a good 15-20 minutes from any of the five area hospitals (of course, we potentially have less need of an ambulance, now that we don't live in the dangerous area of a big city.)

 

We do have volunteer firemen/ paramedics whom I trust with my life, and I know we would have one at our home within minutes if we called 911. :001_smile:

[ereks mom]

It's a little over 5 miles from my house....I can be there in about 10 minutes with no traffic. But that's not the best hospital. It's just okay. If it were something important, I'd want to drive further to the hospital that's about 45 minutes away. That's the one I give birth at when I'm pregnant.

 

Same here.

[hsmamainva]

Closest hospital to our house is a good 35-45 minutes away.

 

We do have an urgent care center about 10 minutes away and we've been able to take care of all of our urgent medical needs there over the last five years. The only time we've had to make the "big drive" was when our oldest had appendicitis.

 

I'm glad our baby delivering days are over! When I had our 4 babies, we were 10 minutes away from the hospital.

[tearose]

I'm a little over thirty minutes from the hospital. It's not a big hospital/clinic, but DH and I love it. Seriously, we have loved every doctor we've seen (pediatrics, family med, ob/gyn, ophthalmology, etc.). Before we moved, we were at a very prestigious research hospital (and affiliated clinics), and we hated it. We were a little worried about the quality of the hospital when we moved, but it is a very up-to-date hospital.

When I went into labor, it was a bit nerve-wracking for DH to drive in the dark on the wind-y country roads (there are a lot of deer here), especially as my contractions went from five minutes apart down to 2 by the time we got there. Our hospital does have satellite clinics in some surrounding towns, so it's only 15 minutes for us to see DS's pediatrician.

[Jen in PA]

I voted 21 - 30 minutes. We could probably reach the so-so local hospital in just under 20, but I would prefer the better one about 25 minutes away. Actually, I would prefer not to need a hospital at all!

[Parrothead]

Closest hospital is 5 minutes away. They do deliver babies. The closest trauma unit in the U.S is 3.5 miles away.

 

The last two places we lived the closes hospital was with 5 minutes, but neither could handle more than the most basic of services. The bleeding may not be totally stopped before they would send the patient either 45 miles for one or 72 miles for the other. The 72 mile ride was not even in the same ambulance. The ambulance from the receiving hospital would meet the sending hospital ambulance half way and they would transfer the patient on the side of the road.

 

When dd was born we lived in a place with a hospital less than 10 minutes away. But they did not deliver babies so we had to go to the next town 30 minutes away for dd's birth.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Our town is pretty small and I could walk to one of the two hospitals in less than 10 mins. The other is a bout a 20 minute walk but only because of traffic and crossing a highway. I can ride my bike to both in less than 10 mins - and that means leaving my house biking to one turning around and biking to the other.

 

These are pretty decent hospitals but like a pp said for trauma you would need a helicopter which would be about a 20 min ride; to drive to the trauma center would be about 45-50 mins.

[Caitilin]

The one closest to use is about 5 minutes away (population in my town is about 4500); the one in which I have actually delivered babies is about 30 minutes away, but it's the one where my midwife has privileges, and I'd drive further for her. She's amazing. :D

[unsinkable]

We live about 10 minutes from our area's Level 1 trauma center and about 15 minutes from the children's hospital.

 

Those are the only 2 hospitals I'd take my family to. DH works at the trauma center and I think kids belong at a hospital for kids (if available.)

[momofkhm]

I answered 11-20 because that's the closest hospital. In 20-30 will take me to 3 others. And then 30-45 will take me to either 2 others - both teaching hospitals.

[Closeacademy]

The hospital is around the corner and down the street 2 blocks. But it is not in network. The closest in-network hospital is about an hour away through very hilly, twisty turny roads.

 

All the Drs. in town are out of network too. We now drive 45 minutes to go to a Dr.:001_smile:

[LibraryLover]

About 15 minutes. I used to live next door to one. The Life Flight helicopter is loud!

 

In on direction, I am about 25 miles from a major teaching hospital, and in another direction, I am about 60 miles from a major teaching hospital.

 

I've never used a hospital to have a baby.

Edited August 12, 2010 by LibraryLover

[LizzyBee]

I selected 31-45 minutes, then realized there is one closer. One we never use, obviously.

 

When we lived in Baltimore, we lived 10 minutes from the hospital where we had our first two babies. It happened to be the hospital that delivers more babies than any other in MD. After growing up in a rural area where babies in distress were taken to hospitals 1-4 hours away without their mamas, I was very happy to be so close to a great baby hospital.

 

My 3rd baby was born at a hospital 45 minutes away. I don't have babies super fast, so I wasn't too worried about getting there in time.

[Amira]

I can walk to two different hospitals in less than 15 minutes. One is a major university hospital and the other is one of the best children's hospitals in the country. If I drove for those 15 minutes, I think I could get to at least 3-4 more (not that there's any reason to try it).

[FairProspects]

Closest hospital is a minimum of 30 min. away in good -no traffic. My friend actually needed a police escort to get there in time to have her baby since she went into labor during rush hour traffic!!

 

This hospital is only 5-10 miles away, it is the traffic that makes it so far!!

[mycalling]

Ours is 25min away. We've never used a hospital for birthing, but we have a bunch of kids that have needed ER trips.

[CAMom]

Less than 5 minutes from a basic hospital (it's about 2 miles), 10 minutes from two different larger hospitals, 10 minutes from a major children's hospital and 15 minutes from a university trauma center.