Just been given consultant's go ahead for water VBAC in MLU!

[Poppet45]

Am on cloud nine!!! Despite me having a 1.3L PPH with DS and him getting stuck LOT (thus theoretically putting me more at the 60 per cent odds of success end than the 80 per cent end) my wonderful wonderful consultant has agreed to write a letter to the MLU asking them to take me in for a VBAC in water! As she put it 'if you're happy to disregard my recommendation about continuous monitoring then I would encourage you to use everything there is at the MLU to have a successful birth'.
She also agreed with my dates not the scan so I have 13 days to go overdue before they pounce with an ELC and she said if I turned out to be 3cm dilated or not long to labour they'd give me more time too.
All I have to do to finalise it is to talk to the MLU head sister, but my consultant said she thinks she'll be delighted to have me there.
Any VBACers in Scotland wanting to labour in water, get thee to Forth Park Hospital's MLU in Kirkcaldy - and ask to see Dr Jennifer Boyd to be referred there!
Sorry for the random giddy post

oh my god. what did you say to convince them?
so happy for you. i've just had the opposite news! no pool, continuous monitoring....argh. hope it all goes the way you want it to and well done!!

Happy for u poppet. I had vbac wb with ds3 in Edinburgh simpsons last year despite pph too with ds1. Twas amazing! Consultant not happy but got consultant mw support. Consultant onside for same again with ds4 in 2 months. Just had to write in my notes I'm aware of the risks of no cfm. I did bit of hypnotherapy too. Great experience - walked out with my wee boy 4 hours later in time to put the other two to bed

smedrock I know, I went in fearing a huge battle, but I had been told Forth Park is very very progressive and I guess it's true. Certainly this consultant was very reasonable. As my MW said, if you can prove you've read your stuff, you are aware of the risks but are still clear its what you want and you can argue it rationally she'll listen. I went in with loads of notes and said I was totally prepared to get out for pushing (although I hope I won't have to) so they can prepare for PPH but just said I'm not aiming for a hippy dippy birth eperience, after DS i have a healthy respect for how dangerous birth can be, but I have new fears too and I know being allowed back in the pool will help me stay in control for as long as possible. I also quoted the PPH stats. My risk is already tripled with any subsequent VB because I've had one once, it quadruples with an elective section and goes up ninefold if I have an emcs, so I have to do whatever I can to make this VBAC a success to minimise the risk of another PPH, and she agreed. I just have to hope the MLU head sister agrees to, but I've been told she will probably be very happy to have me there. I hope your birth is great regardless of the restrictions they've put on you, but I really, really hope they change their minds on the day. I've definitely known that to happen with friends. Good luck!
lollysticks my emcs was at the Simpson as it happens! I laboured in there with DS in a lovely birthpool before things went tits up. Am glad to hear they're starting to get more progressive about WVBACs even if they are being very strict on who will be allowed in the new MLU. I hope the trend continues.

Yep - sadly consultant flatly refused midwife led unit cos of previous section - was a bit disappointed by that. To be honest if you can get into simpsons when in labour and find a midwife available to help I would say you've done well so beggars and all that. Ds2 almost came in the waiting room (and he really wasn't that fast). Told I was just lucky not to get turned away that night. Do they not give u some sort of drug to reduce pph after labour? Sure I got something with ds2 after the blood loss from ds1.

I am absolutely thrilled for you. Genuinely grinning like a loon. I know just how much this means to you.

Bloody brilliant.

Showofhands Thank you so much my dear . I knew if one person would get my silly, self absorbed giddy post it would be you. You're right it does mean the world right now. I feel like a weight has been lifted for a while at least. Wishing us both lots and lots of luck and healing 'birth days' for all concerned.
Lollysticks Yup my time at the Simpson was similar. Not so much during the day but when things went wrong it was during a busy, busy night shift and I think that was one reason my mw was so disinterested. I did have drugs after my PPH - two types - but it still took an hour to stop the bleed. By which time my heart rate was all over the shop so I had a stay in the HDU til it was more stable. Oh gosh I don't want a repeat of that.

Lollysticks forgot to add, the CLU in the Simpson still has birthing pools and baths. I was in one myself. If you have enough normal traces on the CFM you could try asking a mw if you could use pool or bath/shower for a while. Then just refuse to get out

Poppet you are inspiring me to try and get my MW on side next visit to try to overcome my issues with delivering in a MLU :-) am very glad you got what you wished for! Not sure if I said that on the other thread I did mean to if I didn't! If you see what I mean!

Yes I had him in one of those bathroom pools with mw sitting on loo throughtout. She just kept asking me to stand up every half an hour to put the monitor machine on and then we carried on. Good thing was cos I was vbac and wb I was high risk so got most senior mw on who stayed throughout. Did a stint in HDU after ds1 after the pph and then 5 days in the ward- a truly dreadful experience.

Yay! Brilliant news! Hope things go well for you.

voodoo definitely try and find a community mw on your side, I've seen a few so far and they've varied from 'oh you'll need to go to the CLU' with no discussion to writing down the AIMs web address and telling me what I need to do to convince the consultant. The younger they are the more progressive I've found - well to a point - the really new ones can be a bit overwhelmed and tend to stick to the protocol. But ask around, and maybe see if they can point you towards the most lentil weavery professional they have You could ask if you could have an initial CFM trace when you arrive and then if things look okay, intermittant, with a promise that you'd go right back on CFM if things look wobbly. It's worth asking if you'll have someone in the room continuously monitoring the recording? If not I think regular dopplers - which need someone in there physically monitoring you not leaving it to a readout for someone to look at at a vague future time point - are worth asking about.