Anyone been allowed to vbac in a midwife-led unit?

[Chathappy]

Firstly, I've posted this on the vbac support thread too but thought i would start this thread in case not many people saw it on the other one, so apologies if anyone reads this twice!

Just wondering if anyone had any advice at all... I had my 34 week midwife appointment yesterday which went fairly well.

I showed her my birth plan and it mainly contained things to support hypnobirthing and also stated that I didn't consent to continuous monitoring unless it was via telemetry (which they have at this hospital) so that means I can still move around and use the pool too. I had spoken to her about this before and she said that they would be supportive of that and they still are.

Anyway, they have one room with a pool which is right in the middle of the delivery unit and the midwife led unit and can be accessed either side from both. I asked her, if this room/the pool wasn't free could I use a room in the midwife led unit (as I'm not having continuous monitoring anyway I thought that would be the main reason to have to go the the main unit?) and she just gave me a very blunt "no" and that that unit is only for low risk etc even without the monitoring (even though it is next door to the main unit anyway so hardly far to go if there was an emergency!).

I didn't know how to respond to this - do I have any rights in the instance?

I know I could try and get in contact with the head of midwifery to discuss but I'm also uneasy about creating a battle when they are already letting me use the pool (which is good) and I'm not sure if I want the stress of putting up a fight to use it iyswim. I am seeing the consultant in 2 weeks to discuss. Is there anything I can say that may change their minds? I guess I could threaten a home birth but again I hate confrontation and don't want to cause myself any stress either really....

It seems silly I can't use it IMO

I asked about a birth unit for vbac and was also told definitely no. This was for a vbac after a vbac! (so 1 straightforward birth after the caesarean).

I had dc 3 at home in a birth pool-in-a-box. Best decision we ever made!

If you want a water birth, the one room they are offering doesn't sound like a bad option if you don't want a home birth. I think if you know your mind, and if you're prepared to stick to your guns about your hypnobirthing, then going into the hospital might work well.

Get in touch with the head midwife. That's what I did after an awful awful meeting with the consultant who made me cry. She dealt with everything for me and I didn't have to do a thing after that. I had a VBAC on the natural birth floor. I had a post-partum hemorhage (unrelated to it being a vbac) and they rushed me up to theater without a hitch. I was at queen charlotte's in london.

Thanks for your replies ladies - yes I think I'm going to contact the head of midwifery and see what her feelings are on it. I don't want to cause a massive fuss about it but then I also feel like it is a bit of an injustice that vbacers arnt given that option when all the latest research shows that it's actually not that unsafe at all.

Thanks again !

they can't tell you what you can and can't do! it's your birth and if you want to give birth in mw led unit do it
are you going to cw by any chance sounds like the same set up? The obstetricians can be quite interventionalist there and they get v.twitchy about anything outside of what they consider normal! and hospital policies.

This is at hinchingbrooke where I'm going ! They have seemed pretty good compared to some of the stories I have read online about other hospitals and their policies etc.

I was just really glad they would let me use the pool at first! I really don't want to end up on the normal delivery unit though if that room isn't free at the time....

I've got the name of the head of midwifery now - I'm going to ring on Monday and try and get an appointment for a chat with her I think! Thing is, think I would rather be at home if I can't use the midwife unit.... (although the thought if that scares me slightly also!). I'm probably leaving it a bit late to organise now too, I'm 34+2 weeks now...