Midwife lead care

[Lolalu09]

Hi all,

I am consultant lead due to c section with my first. I'm 24 weeks pregnant now.

I have an apt with at the hospital for midwife lead care which I'm guessing is to do with vbac? How was your apt and what did it consist of?

The consultant apt I had a few weeks ago was pointless really. Was just told to come back nearer to birth and decide from there if I want a vbac or c section lol.

Thank you x

I'm in the same boat as you @Lolalu09 and had an almost pointless consultant appt after my 20 week scan! He asked me a few Qs about my 1st birth and the circumstances that led to my C-Section (ended in emergency after going in for induction) and whether I'd thought about preferences. He then said he would refer me to the midwife "options clinic" to discuss VBAC and help me make an informed decision, so imagine your appointment is similar. I must admit though, none of my appointments come through with the reason or what they're for - just who they're with! And then when I ask my midwife even she can't be certain! It's not great is it?!

Would be interested to hear from people who've had these next appointments though!

@MummyV2021 thank you for your reply. At least I'm not the only one in the dark.

Nothing has been explained to me so I'm just guessing what these apts are for. With my son it was elective due to him being breech.

But yeah the consultant apt was just a waste of time really.

From a midwife point of view, a consultant has to decide you are suitable for VBAC before referring to the VBAC clinic so midwives are not offering women VBAC where this would be against guidance etc. It probably feels pointless for those who are suitable but it’s an essential safety step.

At my trust the VBAC clinic goes through success rates of VBAC, risks and benefits of VBAC vs ELCS. Let you make a decision and then put a plan in place. If that’s ELCS you will be back to the consultant for consent. If VBAC you will be asked to discuss options post dates and discuss IOL vs ELCS if you get to that point.

@BarkItOff that's really helpful thank you! I think a lot of the time they forget we have very little knowledge of why they do certain things and everybody gets different explanations too. What you've said makes total sense and kind of feels like the path I'm on. My consultant did say I would be eligible for VBAC and was happy for me to explore this option. He was also supportive of my desire to have ELCS should I go overdue again instead of induction, due to my anxiety over going down this route again. He said 75% of VBACs are successful, which gives me some hope!