hospital won't do VBASC

[katiemacmom]

Have any of you had a client tell you the hospital says that they don't do VBACs if the client has had 2 or more c-sections? A friend of mine, who was also going to be my client, told me that today and insisted that if they did make an exception that she be hooked to EFM and flat on her back the entire labour? I haven't done enough births (and this is my first VBAC) to argue any point, but it just doesn't seem right to me. How do we as doula's, help our clients who are just individual people fight a whole hospital system? I'm feeling a bit at a loss. Especially since she is a person who doesn't like confrontation. I don't think she's going to want to fight the fight, she's already accepting she's going to have to have a c-section.....any ideas? Keeping in mind I'm from Canada, so some of the laws, etc are different than American laws and expectations....

[swissmiss]

ICAN www.icanonline.org

Specifically: http://www.ican-online.org/vbac/your...-banned-vbac-q

The bottom line is the a cesarean is a surgery, and they can't perform a surgery without prior written consent (in the absence of an emergency anway). They can't make her go through with the cesarean. Period.

I highly recommend that she contact the local ICAN chapter (and if there isn't one, contact the closest one available).

But she is going to have to stand up, and likely fight, for her rights. Only she can do that though.

[swissmiss]

http://www.ican-online.org/vbac/vagi...more-cesareans

Here's ICAN's page on VBA2C.

[katiemacmom]

I'm just starting out so all of these resources are helpful. I know that she's going to have to be the one to fight, but I'm just not sure she wants to. I feel torn between pushing her to fight (because from our previous discussions she really wanted the VBAC), and not pushing her. I don't want her to feel pressured, but I really feel like a lot of her hesitation is after her husband, parents, etc were also telling her she was crazy to try to have an unmedicated birth. Our first conversation about me being her doula (on the phone), her husband was in the background telling her he knew she wouldn't be able to handle the pain, but if she wanted to try, he's support her (I felt like slapping him!!). I don't speak to her often now, so I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but it's hard, cause I know she can do it, I just need her to believe she can do it!!

[loveslabor]

Honestly, if she's going to get what she wants, she's gotta be willing to fight, and probably fight pretty hard.

[swissmiss]

Quote:

Originally Posted by katiemacmom I'm just starting out so all of these resources are helpful. I know that she's going to have to be the one to fight, but I'm just not sure she wants to. I feel torn between pushing her to fight (because from our previous discussions she really wanted the VBAC), and not pushing her. I don't want her to feel pressured, but I really feel like a lot of her hesitation is after her husband, parents, etc were also telling her she was crazy to try to have an unmedicated birth. Our first conversation about me being her doula (on the phone), her husband was in the background telling her he knew she wouldn't be able to handle the pain, but if she wanted to try, he's support her (I felt like slapping him!!). I don't speak to her often now, so I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but it's hard, cause I know she can do it, I just need her to believe she can do it!!

Before anymore time passes, I highly recommend a one-on-one talk with her (leave the DH out of this for the time being) asking her what she reallys wants. I'm working with a client in a similar situation as it relates to wanting one thing and having a bunch of people tell her differently. So I asked it this way, "If you could have the birth you want, without anybody telling you that you can't, or that they won't support you, or that you're risking yourself or your baby, what would YOU want to do?" And work from there addressing each of the issues that are swinging her away from what she reallys wants.