to consider going against consultants advice?

[TiredofYorks]

DS1 (2.4) was born by emergency C section.

I am 36 weeks pg with DC2 and have just been to see the consultant. He said because of previous CS I am high risk and need to be in the consultant unit.

I asked if I definitely can't use the Midwife led unit (it is across the corridor from the consultant unit) and he said no, so I asked if that ruled out a water birth (there is one on the Cons unit) and he said yes as I have to be monitored throughout.

I then asked if I would have to be immobile, he said that there is one mobile monitor but if that is in use then yes I will be immobile and will have to stay on the bed.

I asked exactly what the risk is and he said 0.7%.

I know this is a low risk and I do think I'll cope better if I'm left to it (well I think so anyway) and also I really wanted a waterbirth.

So would I be unreasonable if I considered going against the consultants advice and opting to use the Midwife led unit anyway?

Sorry for the long post.

Please though don't believe that being immobile will mean intervention.

I was induced with all 4 of my children and was immobile because of drips etc and they were all natural births with no intervention.

It can be done. Please make sure you are safe first and foremost.

and Good Luck!!

Appletrees, - you say you -

Yanbu, I deliberately missed appointments, refused an x ray and discharged myself "at my own risk" from hospital during labour to get my vbac.

Are you actually proud of that?

Unbelievable, irresponsible, immature... I could go on. But you know, as long as you got the birth YOU wanted... hey, that's what matters, right?

The problem is that so many people get so hung up on their rights that they forgot about their responsibility to ensure their baby has the safest birth possible. As someone else said, the medical profession are not there to deliberately spoil people's birthing experiences but to make sure babies and their mothers are safe. Sometimes safe doesn't always equal lovely and comfortable and peaceful. As mothers and adults we need to live with that fact. I had a horrible clinical birth with DD3 where I was continuously monitored for reasons I won't go in to - and thank God I was - her HB decelerated so suddenly with no warning. Her birth was awful but you know what? I got over it and she is healthy and happy.

Tiredof, if your baby had a voice, what kind of birth do you think (s)he would choose?

y a def n b u for at least QUESTIONING the consultants advice as although they are brilliant at what they do in the right situation, sometimes it is right to go for what YOU think is the right thing to do.

i will be going for a VBAC if all is well with my next pregnancy. It is terrifying as the risk of scar rupture is small but catastrophic. but then there are all sorts of small but catastrophic risks associated with labour in general.

i don't know what you should do. but it is definitely worth doing your research and being happy with YOUR decision. you can easily stay in control of the labour to a point.

you don't have to be monitored continuously. it is easy enough for them to monitor you intermittently and change it to continuous if there is any problem. they wanted to monitor my sister's 2nd but she took the straps of. it was a totally different labour. good for her. she said she was a lot more stroppy .

i am pretty sure PLENTY of women have successful VBACs.

'As someone else said, the medical profession are not there to deliberately spoil people's birthing experiences but to make sure babies and their mothers are safe.'

watch the business of being born. different country but quite a few parallels.

girlwithsparklyhair if the mother is relaxed and in control, then surely it's more likely that her labour will be smooth and free of interventions thus better for baby? In a hospital, you're more like to end up with pain relief. Now, I don't know about you, but I didn't fancy an epidural/pethidine which will affect my baby making him drowsy etc. Or have him yanked out by forceps while I flail about on my back like a stranded beetle. All of which could well have happened as I was pushing for over two hours at home - in a hospital they only "let" you push for a certain amount of time before they start waving instruments about.

Girlwithsparklyhair - you have written what I wanted to write.

God help these poor bloody consultants with women like that in their care.

I must admit I'm quite surprised by the responses, I did post thinking people would say 'oh the risk is minimal, go with what you think'.

I do however appreciate all of your responses and perhaps I'm trying to look at it too black and white.

Perhaps being in the CLU where they can monitor me as and when they feel is required is the best thing, and if I can be mobile in between then that would be great, I hadn't considered this would be an option before, I just assumed they would strap me to the monitor and I wouldn't be allowed to leave the bed.

I don't think the consultants are evil at all, but it did cross my mind that they might just be being cautious. It seems as though this is what they advise and that's that.

I'm not against any advice that I'm given and had they said today that a VBAC was out of the question, I'd have gone ahead with a cs, although I would have been extremely sad not to have experienced natural childbirth.

Understanding other peoples experiences has helped a lot, I'll re read and read all the links too.

But Igglypuff, do you think they use forceps for fun? There's a REASON why there's a time limit!

Poor bloody consultants? Poor consultants who told me that I couldn't possibly cope without pain relief, that I had no idea what I was thinking having my baby at home as a first time mother (and they said all of this before they even checked my notes and decided I was high risk!!)

One more thing from me:

I am a healthy person and I had 4 healthy children. I did look into homebirthing but wasn't allowed in the end because all 4 had to be induced.

My 3rd child had shoulder distocia, which is when the head pops out but they are basically strangled because the shoulders can't come out. I can remember hearing my baby scream but he couldn't come out. It was shocking.

I thank God I was in hospital and not at home as a massive number of consultants and staff were there to save me and my child.

My child was born safe but it was the scariest time ever. Nobody could have predicted this and it did happen to me.

So please please think twice before taking any risks. It only takes a few seconds....

atswimtwolengths my DS was fine. Heart rate fine, no distress etc after over two hours. Agpar scores of 10.

Iggly, I pushed for 3 hours in hospital.

And I don't see how me being calm, relaxed and in control could have affected the fact that my baby got stuck? So, no, of course a positive mental attitude isn't going to change things like a cord round a baby's neck, or a shoulder dystocia, or any of the other emergencies that can and do arise during childbirth without warning.

Ruby, certainly in the UK I think doctors just like to get babies out safely, to be honest, I know many people in the medical profession and they certainly don't seem to have some evil agenda where they are trying to sabotage your dreams of a peaceful gentle birth.

Rubbish. I did do quite a lot of research but assumed that nobody would think I hadn't. x rays in pregnancy are not safe. I was told I was "too small" ... rubbish. I had a posterior pregnancy and was slowed to a stop by continuous monitoring and immobility. fifteen years ago mobile monitoring.g wasn't on offer to me. so the second time I knew I had to stay mobile which in those days where I was meant staying away from the consultant.

I believe I was absolutely right, was utterly vindicated and what WOULD have been irresponsible would be abdication.g all interest in the birth to do as I was told. thank god I had the guts. it is one of the things I am most proud of. my consultant had as much interest in me as the issue of woman's weekly in the waiting room.

Appletrees, I don't think you are really in a position to comment on what is safe given your previous posts and advice to mothers to take off the monitoring belt after five minutes. You talk about abdication, when you said that IMO you kind of abdicated the right to have an opinion on safe birth practices.

god so awful isnt it.. but at the end of the day think of this.. your decision and then your responsibility..

my ds is 21 and dd is 11, both fantastic pregnancies but unexpected and complicated scary births,, thank god had then in hospital..

ds had just graduated from uni and dd just fabulous.. maybe think of the bigger picture.. having a baby isnt just all about the birth, its about the rest of their lives... good luck in your decisions love..

"poor bloody consultants with women like that in their care."

Yes but the poor bloody consultants don't help themselves when they spout such nonsense as uterine rupture can cause epilepsy and believe me I am usually on the doctors side being actually married to one.

girlwithsparklyhair - my DS was also stuck as he had his elbow up by his face.

Of course the actions of the mum can't prevent emergencies. However many in the medical profession act as if giving birth is a medical event, like an illness, to be managed and you're lucky if it goes right. It's not - it is a normal physiological process and you're unlucky if it goes wrong.

I would accept a consultant telling me what the risks are and would happily listen if I thought they had some respect for me in my ability to give birth. Which they didn't!

this is quite a good article

amazing lady

a big fat good luck from here

Rubbish. The midwife in my second v bac were very happy to take the belt off after five minutes when the risk of rupture was the same if not greater.

"midwives"

Igglybuff, giving birth is a normal physiological process, but one which is made much safer with medical monitoring, it's naive to suppose otherwise.

girlwithsparklyhair - I know exactly where you're coming from which is why I took all my consultant's advice with DD2 - but Appletrees also has a point because the problem is that medics do have certain vested interests which means looking at the absolutely worst case scenarios in order to minimise their risks as professionals.

They're not doing it out of malice - they have to act that way. But the truth is that a medicalised birth carries some risks that a non-medicalised one doesn't simply because intervention of any kind can interfere with natural processes.

I had EMCS and completely unplanned homebirth second time round and I'm still unsure what I'll aim for if I ever have DC3 as really I didn't feel like either of them were planned in any respect.

girl, it is not made safer with medical monitoring AT ALL. quite the opposite in fact.

There is loads of info on here re VBAC and you should certainly read up on both the levels of risk; and how that risk can be managed.

FWIW I recently had VBA2C in MLU (very nearly in the car on the way). Consultant was supportive.

You are entitled to a second opinion, so get one. Also talk to the head of midwifery for a different perspective