Consultants....Geeez

[cryingatthediscoteque]

What is it with them??? Just had an appointment with mine (due to VBAC) and he did not know what a doula was, or whether they were permitted at the hospital. Obviously he has his finger on the obstetric pulse...NOT!!!

He also said that I couldn't use the midwife led unit because of risk of scar rupture. But what about all the other things that can potentially go wrong in labour, they don't discount you from using the midwife led unit!

Left fuming as usual that they just don't seem to see you as an individual case, or listen to your desires, you are just another patient they want to truck in and out with minimum fuss......

OK! rant over!!

oh some of them just think they are God, don't they?

You can switch consultants if you want to you know, you may find that they are not all the same. When I finally got to see mine - as opposed to lots of sweet but unknowledgeable SHOs - she was superb, and found there was plenty of room for discussion/negotiation about monitoring etc.

Most hospitals allow 2 birth partners, so you can definitely have a doula and don't need their permission. A doula doesn't have any medical role so it shouldn't be an issue.
I am in similar position re VBAC/scar things and my hospital it is the head of midwifery's decision regarding VBAC in the midwife led unit. You could probably argue the case if you had the energy and time.

HTH - where are you btw?

I'm in Kingston.

As mary said, it may not be up to the consultant whether or not you are eligible to birth at the MLU anyway (hence the term midwife led!) You could go direct to the head of midwifery and see if she will allow you to use the unit. If you threaten to book a homebirth that might be enough to change their minds! Or you could try turning up to the MLU in labour, I know of a couple of people who've been admitted in this way when previously they had been told they weren't allowed.

Ultimately though you may find they won't let you. I fought quite hard to be allowed to use the MLU but was told that they can't afford to admite 'high risk' clients to the MLU as any bad outcomes can jeopardise the whole service and so they have to look at the bigger picture

agree re seeing head of midwifery

and 2 birth partners are usually allowed

i had 3 in the end ! as long as on-one gets in the way, it shouldn' t be an issue

a doula virtually halves your chances of another c.s so hold on to that thought wherever you deliver

i had VBAC under obstetric care, and was really just left to get on with it with my birth partners, until the birth was imminent

you just don;t need the stress though !

Crying, were his initials OM?

No, although they are all of the same ilk I have come to the conclusion!

Gave birth to my second at kingston 4 weeks ago.
Also told couldn't have MLU due to being high risk. In the event it was just me and dh and midwife for the duration and was a great experience. Midwife popped out a few times to update the "medics" and that was it.
Had exactly the same experience on the same unit with my first.
The two differences I noticed were that we had a room twice the size of one on the MLU and (with ds2 only) no birthing pool (which wasn't an issue for me anyway).
The only important difference I noted is that on the obstetric unit they automatically admit you for several days (3 with ds1 which was completely pointless, but I didn't know any better). Second time I declined the transfer to "my room" and said I wanted to leave immediately, which threw them somewhat (though I did get my way).
Would not pay too much attention to consultants. Mine also filled me in on various scary scenarios, but at the end of the day they weren't the ones delivering my dss (though suppose if anything had happened I may have seen them - though more likely it would have been whoever was on duty at the time).

honestly i think some of them can be a bit more enlightened - i've found one who i felt actually listened, and lulu's was good too, though both about 300 miles too far away for you i'm afraid.

in truth though if you are having a VBAC the consultant is going to have nothing to do with your actual birth unless there's a problem. so you may never have to see him again. agree its demoralising though. can you make good use of your community midwife for as much info and support as they can offer.

thanks everyone, I hadn't really thought that I won't see the consultant unless things don't go smoothly. Had elective section last time so haven't even set foot on a delivery ward yet!!

Hi crying
I had my DD at a hospital with an MLU and a delivery unit. I didn't go to the MLU as I was due to be induced so they asked me to come to ante-natal ward/delivery unit, but then it turned out I was in labour anyway...
To cut a turgid story short, it was not a VBAC, but I was on the delivery ward. It was just me and the midwife except for when things went wrong, when the very competent SHO (I thought he was much more senior!) handled things until they started talking about forceps and then the consultant appeared.

I think it is an excellent idea for you to take a doula. Frankly I fail to see how they can stop you from doing so and it may be helpful to have someone there to speak for you (husbands can get a little overwhelmed IME). The midwives working on MLU tend (from the little I have seen) to be very pro active birth and get you to move about a lot. Those on the delivery ward were, in my case, pro strapping me to monitors and getting me drugged up. If yours are similar then if you are not on the MLU a doula may be useful to get you to mobilise, try to relax etc, and to limit the amount of lying down/drug taking you have to do.

It is a good suggestion for you to speak to whoever runs the MLU. Maybe they will take you for a bit - often there is an express lift between the 2 units, so it might be a good place to go through the less exciting bits of labour, if not the whole of it.
I hope you get what you want.