GRRRR - rant ALERT!!! VBAC HELP!!!

[eidsvold]

just back from the hospital after seeing the consultant and I get the feeling that I am going to end up with a caesar despite not wanting one and at this point in time not needing one.

Did not see my named consultant but another who lectured me like I was 12 and from his reckoning caesar rates at this hospital are very high!!!!
He claims even with nothing wrong etc I have a 25% chance of having a caesar!!!!

On the plus side - they are sending me for another scan and I have that in the next week sometime - have to wait for an appt as they are all booked out!! Have another appt to see the Doc next week - hopefully it is MY named consultant and we can get through this....

was a little dismayed when I asked how the monitoring would be - constant was his reply - to which I said that would limit my mobility ( a very important factor in helping this VBAC) imagine my surprise when he turned to me and said I could not have everything you know!!!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! rant over....

any suggestions......just to let you know I am in Aus not inthe UK...

can you ask for a second opinion eidvsold?

kick him!!

alturnativly, dont show up till your ready to push and then they wont have time for CS.

fancy bragging about high rates for CS, thought most docs wanted to keep them low, maybe its different in aus.

why is he saying u have 25% chance of needing one? i know that once u have a CS u have higher chamce of another, but surely u should be allowed to attempt VBAC. is that even an option.

and u can have everything!!

I think the rate he suggested was because I had already had a ceasar. I am asking to see my named consultant next week when I am due another doc appt related to scan that I am to have.

I am very tempted to do that misdee....labour for as long as possible at home.

very tempted to just book an elective caesar and dh and I will just have to deal with it - looking after dd and recovering from surgery.

Eidsfold, why was your first C section and did you labour? If you did, and there is no particular reason why you should need another C-section (ie baby positioning, your physiology etc) there is no reason why this birth should 'have to' end up in a C-section.

In the UK, , the national figures show that over 60 per cent of first time Caesareans in the UK have a second one. However, another study which looked a bit more closely at women who did try labour ? about half the total number ? found that over 60 per cent of these did manage a normal birth. The way one leading obstetrician puts it is that ?If your first Caesarean had a non-repeatable cause the risk of labour is extremely small, especially if the onset is normal.'

Trust me, I'm a journalist

i went for vbac 2nd time around, but had another c/s. my advice would be don't build yourself up for either, just go in armed with knowledge about what could happen in either case. also if c/s is on the cards get an agreement between you & doc about how long things should go on for - i agreed 6 hrs labouring with my consultant. in the end the c/s was a crash one - no time for epidural which is my only regret - but at least i had a say in what was going on. good luck, x

mi - first one - dd was being monitored as they had picked up her heart defect in utero.... at 38+4 weeks they discovered that she had not grown in the last two weeks, loss of amniotic fluid ( of which i was not really aware) and poor dopplers....no labouring involved - just scan to theatre to dd being born.

at this point in time - nothing shown that this is not an at risk pregnancy. No problems picked up - everything is going well. Size ok for dates, blood pressure etc okay.

Am being sent for another scan and will be 36 weeks for that - sometime in the next week to check fetal growth......

There are a number of reasons for wanting a VBAC - very few of which have to do with wanting a 'natural' delivery, feeling like I missed out etc.... but for very practical reasons - I have a 2yo with down syndrome who is not walking and has just started having regular therapy since we moved to aus..... the recovery time for a caesar as well as the no driving will make life very very difficult.. esp. as she will miss out on so much. That is why it is important for me to at least give a VBAC my best shot.

what support system do you have lined up when you go into labour? many friends 7 family to jump ion unexcpectedly eat the last minute? Are the rules the same as uk for driving after c-section?

You may be allowed to drive earlier.
The recovery might be as bad//much better.
What happens to dd if you go into labour out of the blue early.

The one advantage of a c-section is that you can plan & arrange childcare etc rather than being at 'fate's' mercy . I can understand wanting a v-bac (had one) but practivcality wise, for the birth at least, c-section also has ad's. depends on your support network. dunno how it works in au, of course, but I guess you need to put your foot down if you feel really unhappy

eidsvold, I'm so sorry to hear about your treatment. I got the same from my consultant here in london and ended up bursting into tears, leaving his office and refusing ever to see him again. I marched myself into the natural birth centre (at the same hospital) and insisted on speaking to the head midwife. Turned out she was a big champion of VBAC's and offered to not only help me try for one, but deliver the baby herself AND talk to the consultant for me to get me out from his care. I did lots and lots of research online about VBAC's, c-sections etc. and totally satisfied myself that I was aiming for the safest and wisest option for both me and my baby. The midwife monitored me relatively frequently with a hand held monitor. But other than standing still for that, I was able to walk around the room, do my yoga etc. etc. I had a successful VBAC.
Mobility is statistically an important factor in having a successful VBAC. However, there are plenty of options for monitoring while being mobile (including what they do in the usa which is a mobile epidural). My midwife explained to me that monitoring with a fetal monitor is important, but that visual monitoring as well as listening to what the person in labor is saying about how they feel is just as important. My research indicated that the chances of a rupture at the previous cs scar line is really very minimal and it's even rarer that that rupture results in death to either the mother or the baby. As far as I could tell, the risk of complications from a cs were higher than the risks of serious injury from a rupture.

If it's an option in oz, I would try to get in contact with the head midwife at your hospital.
Good luck.

support system is in place - my mum will take dd while we are having the babe - but for the six weeks after - she is working full time and dh has just started a job so we are not even sure how much paternity leave he is entitled to ( contract work) rather than permanent let alone taking six weeks off. We can't afford a home help/nanny - having just moved to Australia a few months ago.

rules are the same - no driving and no lifting anything heavier than your baby for six weeks.

They do ahve a midwife led unit within the hospital but it is so small that places are given by a ballot system and you have to basically put your name down the minute you discover you are pregnant - no guarantee you will get a place , also need to be low risk.

I like that suggestion Sofia - I think I will do that and see what happens - might try and organise it for when I end up going in for my scan.

Thanks so much for your suggestions.