For emergencies and labour there is a midwife available 24 hours a day. Every delivery is different but there are certain guidelines you can use to determine whether it is a good time to call us. Remember they are guidelines, so also follow your gut. When you have questions or cares, or feel like things are happening very quickly and you need our help during contractions, do not hesitate to call us!
Contractions
- When giving birth for the first time; call us when for an hour regular, painful contractions occur every 3-4 minutes lasting about 60 seconds.
- When having given birth before; call us when your contractions occur about every 5 minutes and last about 60 seconds.
Ruptured membranes
- When the head of your baby is in the pelvis and the amniotic fluid is clear during the daytime you can call us immediately. If this happens at night do not call us right away but wait until 9.30 in the morning or until your contractions are like described in the previous paragraph. It helps if you could keep some amniotic fluid in a glass or underwear or sanitary towel so we can determine whether your water actually did break and whether the amniotic fluid is clear.
- If during a consult we determined that the head of your baby is not yet in the pelvis we would like you to call us immediately after your water broke. No matter what the time is or whether your having contractions or not.
- If the amniotic fluid is brown, yellow or green we would advise you to call immediately, the baby might have pooped in the amniotic fluid and that is a reason for some extra checkups.
Bloodloss
- Losing some blood during labour is completely normal, but there are guidelines as to how much bloodloss is healthy. In case you lose a lot of blood in a short amount of time, say your sanitary towel is full within 30 to 60 minutes, please call us immediately.
- It is possible to lose the mucusplug. This is completely normal and if you do not have any contractions no indication of being in labour. Losing the mucusplug can cause a little bleeding which is nothing to worry about, so it is not necessary to call us.