If your hospital is particularly full when you go into labor you may stay longer in triage.
Do i go to the emergency room when in labor.
Under federal law labor is considered a medical emergency.
At your third trimester prenatal appointments we ll talk about how to know when it s time what to do and where to go but ideally you ll come to the hospital when you re in active labor.
It s common to think the first signs of contractions are your cue to come to the hospital but that s usually not the case.
Many hospitals have what is called triage a temporary room in which you are assessed to determine if you should be admitted to stay.
These patients go to the emergency room and sometimes if they re over sixteen weeks the ob gyn doctor instead of examining the pt in the er the pt is taken to the to the labor and delivery floor for evaluation.
Most of the times the get evaluated and go home if not the same day the next.
If you end up in the hospital in an emergency without health insurance doctors and medical professionals are required to treat you as a patient in need this is because the emergency medical treatment and labor act oremtala ensures that any individual with an emergency medical condition regardless of the individual s insurance coverage is not denied essential lifesaving services 1.