no homebirth if previous cs

[slinkstah]

is it true that you cannot have a homebirth if you have had a previous cesearean? or does it depend on what the hospitals poilicies are.

at my booking i told the midwife that all being well i did not intend to have the baby in the hospital, she said she was all for it but the hospital would not let me as i had a cesearean before, my cesearean was 9 years ago and i have had 2 vaginal births since then. the midwife was still adamant there would be a problem with giving me a homebirth, i just wondered if it was just my hospital that had this rule or was it nationally?

won't stop me having a homebirth however, as i they can't force me into hospital can they??

I had a section and wouldn't have thought of having a home birth for my second, too much risk imo.

But with you having had 2 births since, maybe.

They can't force you to do aything you don't want to!

Friend had one but she hired an independent midwife for it.

SIL and friend both had homebirths after c-sections.

I don't know if they had to fight for them but I doubt it.

The local midwife-led birthing unit wouldn't take me after my last birth being a c-section though.

i don't think i would risk it if cs was recent or was last birth but since it was so long ago and i have had such bad experiences in hospitals i think i am gonna have to fight for a homebirth.

The Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists now both discourage home births after C-sections and it can be very difficult to get your community midwives to consent to one. They may well feel that your scar is at as much risk of rupture whether or not you've had subsequent VBACS.

(I'm not saying I agree with this, btw, just saying what I've been told when researching this topic.)

I think you have a legal right to a homebirth.

Is there any sort of local home birth group, for support and information?

Try looking here

I was told that when I went to midwife with 2nd pg in August 05

I was told the scar rupturing thing as well and advised that I would only have a trial labour and not be allowed to labour too long.

There is a risk imo and one I didn't want to take, but I am a huge scaredy cat on these things so may not be the best person to consult.

xx

do scars get less risk of rupturing when they get older do you think, seems logical- maybe they will take this into account as my scar is 9 years old and i have stretch marks that look more ruptureable lol

Rupture is really rare. And apparently there are lots of warning signs, generally.

Had a c-section with ds1, vbac in hosp wioth dd and homebirth for ds2 I did hire an independent m/w for the homebirth but only because I moved house during preg and was out of my hosp's official catchment area for homebirth and there was no guarantee I could have one due to staffing probs. There's no national policy, it depends on the hosp and esp on the consultants there. Lots of OBs hate the idea of home VBAcs.

There are national recommendations, though, Wilbur, apparently . I spent a bit of time arguing with an RCM spokesperson about this.

I'd want to know:

1. What are they worried about
2. Just how likely is a rupture
3. What warning signs there are and at what point they appear
4. How long you have following the warning signs before it all goes horribly wrong
5. How quickly can you get to hospital in the event of any of the warnings.

Generally speaking, the hospital only wants the same as you - a healthy mother and a healthy baby - but they err on the side of caution.

Here is a link about rupture and VBAC. It is from a biased source, but is a reprint of a journal article. Apparently rupture happens 0.012% of the time. So, not often.

Oh, and Soupy's questions are the right ones.

(Um, SD, I've lost your address. Can you email it to me, so I can post you that costume? Sorry!)