Vbac ban question, midwife question.

[Buzzer Beater]

Hi all,
I'm new to his board but I've lurked here off and on since starting ttc in January. Now I hang out mostly in the June DDC. It's been 18 years since my c/s (not emergency, just the ftp railroad) and I am facing a vbac ban at my local hospital. I'm trying to decide what my options are, what to do for the birth. My situation is complicated by the fact that I have _no_ records from my c/s as they were legally destroyed years ago. So, questions if anyone can answer them for me:

- Has anyone here heard of an actual legal vbac ban fight, in the courts, successful or no? I know there are protests and "showing up pushing" but I'd like to know if anyone has pushed this in the system.

- In my state, I cannot legally have a midwife attend me as I have no records. Of course I need proof of why I had the c/s in the first place. Do you know if that's the same in all states? Or where might I find out about the laws governing mw in my surrounding states. WA is a great possibility to travel to as I'd have friends to stay with there.

Any suggestions, links etc would be appreciated! TIA
Sara

[khaoskat]

There are two places that will have your medical records regarding your c/s. I would check with both your old OB and the hospital where you delivered. Also, I know my OB dictates a correspondence to my primary care physician after the end of the pregnancy, so you may want to check with them and see if they have any information.

You might want to check out ICAN. I know there is an attorney fighting VBAC bans in a certain area.

Oh, and this maybe something to consider. If they can measure scar thickness, your scar may be seen on an US, which can then maybe tell what type of incision you had.

[Buzzer Beater]

Thanks for the info on the ultrasound... maybe that will suffice with the midwife? She did say she wanted to know what kind of suture I had. I wonder if my current OB would even look for me?

My records are not at the hospital, they were definately destroyed there, and I have a set of records coming from my gp from the pregnancy, but don't know if sugery notes are in there as he did not do the surgery. Hopefully that dr's name is in my file and I can request there. In WA state they are only required to keep surgery records for ten years.

I have spoken to the lawyer you mentioned, and she is researching Montana laws and will get back to me... to see if there is a good route and if I want to pursue that... and not knowing what that might mean for me as far as the process goes, I'm trying to find out if anyone else has tried it. I'd like to think of all the pros and cons...

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 12/17/10 at 8:56am

[Buzzer Beater]

Oh no problem- it's different according to state laws how long specific records have to be kept. For instance, birth records have to be kept forever, but other records have different requirements. Mine were dumped simply because they were so old. The hospital I delivered at has a huge volume, and uses an off site records storage company after several years, then dumps asap because it's expensive to store all that data. I never thought I'd be having another child...otherwise I would have asked for them a long time ago!

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 12/17/10 at 8:57am

[khaoskat]

Originally Posted by GoestoShow

Oh, that's crazy! I never thought of medical records of being destroyed after a certain amount of time. Good to know! Though I have to wonder with the advent of electronic bookkeeping if records might not be kept for longer periods of time now.

Under Obama's plans, he is going to mandate all medical records be kept electronically and in a central data base. I am not sure where he is at in the process of putting his plans into action on this - ie still talk, actually being put into place, etc.

[jess152]

I'm doing an HBAC with a Great Falls midwife. I don't know how you feel about a homebirth, but she travels...pm me if you want her name.

[roadfamily6now]

dang, you're in bozeman. They have a stupid VBAC ban at the BDH.

I say, go to another state that is more friendly. I know CA is. Alaska, not so much sorry. But at least we can still have hospital VBACs.

Are you talking about Homebirthing Midwives and Records? I know of a Livingston Midwife that does HBACs.

[Buzzer Beater]

jess152,
In Montana, midwives cannot (legally) attend a vbac birth where the mother has no records. That in a nutshell is my problem, or I would go to a midwife. We have great ones here in Bozeman, but it doesn't do me any good. That's why I'd like to know what laws govern midwives in other states...

[jess152]

I'm pretty ignorant of the law, but it stands to reason that there would almost be a statute of limitations on something as long ago as your first birth, especially if your records were legally destroyed. Have you talked to anyone in the legal profession about it?

[SalmonBayDoula]

Could you go to the surgeon and inquire if he recalls what he did, what the standards of care were back then, etc.

Like if he can write an affadavit that stated what he does customarily and usually...that kind of thing.

Sharon

[Buzzer Beater]

jess152- I know it seems crazy that I need records from so long ago... maybe I can get some kind of waiver from the state, some type of informed consent thing, I don't know.

SalmonBay, I'm hoping to have the surgeon's name in my records coming from my gp... I don't remember the name! I had 3 days of induced crappy labor, 4 hours of pushing, I was out of it.

I just have such crappy crappy options at this point- a c/s or unassisted. What is wrong with our system that it has to come down to that? I will be asking/talking/researching/begging for info until I figure out what to do. And in the end I may show up at the hospital pushing. It's two blocks away!

[womenswisdom]

Consider hiring a traveling midwife. They generally are a lot "looser" with what they feel they need to adhere to in the way of state laws. For example, they will frequently go to illegal states and catch babies. So that might be an option for you.

[DocsNemesis]

I know Washington state has a lot of VBAC options, especially in the Seattle area, but I wouldn't know about the whole lack of medical records thing. I can ask my midwife if you'd like?

Couldn't they tell via US what type of incision you had? I know part of the thing they like to know is if you had an vertical or horizontal incision internally as well as externally. I'm not sure what else they can tell via US.

[Belle]

Originally Posted by Buzzer Beater

jess152,
In Montana, midwives cannot (legally) attend a vbac birth where the mother has no records. That in a nutshell is my problem, or I would go to a midwife. We have great ones here in Bozeman, but it doesn't do me any good. That's why I'd like to know what laws govern midwives in other states...

Licensure is voluntary in Oregon. An oregon midwife could attend your birth. Not sure what the rules are on specifics on VBACs for licensed midwives. I know our midwives wanted to make sure that you had a horizontal scar and an u/s to check placental placement. But this may vary by midwives.