Can an ambulance take a pregnant mother in labor to the hospital?

Yes, of course a woman can take an ambulance to the hospital if she is in labor. Ambulances can be used for any legitimate medical emergency, so why wouldn’t a pregnant woman be allowed to take one?

Call it stupidity, but, if it consoles you, I’ll flag the question right now.

The flag button doesn’t work.

@luigirovatti Ok I flagged for you.

I didn’t call it stupidity. I answered your question and asked why you thought it might be otherwise.

An ambulance can take ANYONE to the hospital. Winos, hypochondriacs, a kid with a tummyache.

Most labors are not so fast and most women do not go to the hospital in an ambulance. They will often be taken in someone’s car who is not speeding or in a taxi. In the event that it is an actual emergency, yes an ambulance could be called.

I worked for the local ambulance service for 7 years and can’t recall ever taking a woman to the hospital for a labor emergency. We were all trained and even had a dedicated delivery kit in our bags in case it happened.

Unless you live in a community with a volunteer ambulance service a commercial ambulance ride will cost you or your insurance company about $1500. If you can drive in on your own there is no reason to incur the expense.

Agree with @janbb and @luckyguy… it would be a very expensive alternative to a drive in a car. People who live far from hospitals or have high-risk pregnancies make birthing plans with their obstetrician to ensure (as much as possible) that they will safely arrive to the hospital prior to the delivery. If a labor is progressing extremely quickly, then the paramedic can attend the delivery at your home and then escort mom and baby to the hospital following the delivery.

Sure, any medical situation an ambulance can transport you, but it’s usually expensive as mentioned above.

My mom’s labors were 45 minutes and two hours. The 45 minute one she barely made it to the hospital in time. My dad drove her.

@Cupcake What determines whether a paramedic or an ambulance comes to evaluate or transport? I think of them as the same.

@JLeslie: They’re not the same. The training is different and the pay is different.

https://www.medicaltechnologyschools.com/emt/emt-vs-paramedic

Difference between Emergency Medical Technician and a Paramedic.

If the ambulance comes to your house but does not transport you, you can expect to see a bill of $400–500. If they transport you, that jumps to $1500. There is a range depending upon distance.
And if you are taken by helicopter you’d better hope you die so your life insurance will cover it.

I ran my daughter to the hospital, 60 miles away, when she was in labor. I disrespected the hell out of my car’s speed limit. Having done labor myself two times I knew we had plenty of time. She wasn’t having that baby any time soon…but what an excuse!!
It was the middle of the night. I’m blasting down a pretty well deserted highway. I passed a car full of guys, and they got all red neck and floored it to try and catch me. It was a little scary. They dropped away when I hit 100 though.
Halfway there I blew through a town named Derby (I grew up in that town.)
My daughter said, “Here comes that cop.”
I said, “What cop?”
She said, “The cop you blew past. He whipped around and he’s after us.”
I grinned.
I pulled over.
Cop walked up.
Jen started putting on a great show!
I said, (and I swear, it’s true) “Yeah, I was doin’ 90 on the highway but I slowed down to 50 through town. And I hesitated at the stop lights before I ran them!”
He said, “Do you want me to call an ambulance?”
“No!” I said. “This is fun!”
He cocked his head, looked at me, and shook his head. He let us go.
We get to the hospital. As we walked down the hall that cop stepped out from behind a pillar…he had beaten us there! I grinned, he grinned.
And Jen didn’t have the baby until the next evening.

^^You drove 100mph with a woman in labor in the car, but not in the final stages of labor so no real need to feel the need to speed. I stopped reading there. It’s so irresponsible. Why would you put everyone in the car in Jeopardy like that?

I had to take an ambulance for childbirth.

I went through Braxton Hicks contractions for the last four months of my pregnancy.
When my water broke I started right into labor at two minutes apart.
When the ambulance got to me I was already crowning.
The short trip to the hospital the EMT kept telling me to breath through it and don’t push. The OB met us at the er door. There was no time to get me to delivery. There was no time for any prep or episiotomy. I was delivering right then.

A fast delivery like that is crazy. You feel lie you are bound to the front of an Amtrak and going nonstop coast to coast. Your head spins just the same as super high speed no brakes.

When I drove cab there was once a woman in labor cost called. Everyone refused the trip because they didn’t want to end up delivering.
Dispatch told me pains were about ten minutes apart, so I took her.

Geez, yeah. When my water broke it was literally minutes before the baby was born @Patty_Melt. I think I had pretty easy labors compared to most women. I was also in very good shape. I was strong.

I only hit 100 when I was trying to get away from those guys, who seemed intent on running us down. I was scared. It was the middle of the night and were were on a pretty deserted highway. The rest of the time I was doing 80 or so, which is 10 miles over the speed limit.

Too late. You already expressed the joy you felt.

@Dutchess_III Lemme guess, he let you go because you are so hot.

I’m finding that particular story a little hard to believe.