Birth on Shabbos – preparing a car

Question

If a woman feels she might give birth on Shabbos, what does she have to prepare in the car in which she’ll go to the hospital?

Answer

If a woman knows that she might give birth on Shabbos, she should put in the car all the necessary papers and all other muktze items that she’ll need in the hospital, so that she won’t have to carry them to the car on Shabbos. If the hospital is outside her “Shabbos territory”, that is, it’s more than 1000 meters (3000 ft.) outside the limits of the city she’s staying in, she should take out of the car everything that she does not need for the birth, so as to avoid transporting these items outside the “Shabbos territory” unnecessarily.

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