I just found out my local hospital's policies.

[stretchmark]

Hi, I live in Taos, New Mexico and am almost 35 weeks. Due to a past c-section at 26 weeks and a terribly long response time for the OR docs to show up (66 minutes) I will not be allowed to labor for very long if everything looks good and not at all if anything looks not-so-good.
So I am trying to open myself up to all the possibilities of c-section and not having instant bonding with my baby and being in the hospital for a few days, etc.
I wrote up my birth plan and am trying to reslease the need to control just so I don't drive myself crazy while at the same time trying to get what I want and believe is right.
I contacted people in both the OR and L&D today and what I found out I am not so sure I want to stretch to accomodate. I found out that my husband can be with me in OR but that the baby will be immediately handed to a nurse and my husband can follow her to L&D. I will be examined and taken into recovery where no one is allowed in. The usual time is one hour although I spent 4 hours recovering from the first c-section at another hospital. My husband will be allowed to stay with baby until I get wheeled into my room. So at a minimum, I will be separated from my baby for an hour and a half.
When I asked why the baby couldn't come into the recovery room with me I was told two different things: One is that the area isn't secure and newborns have to be in a secure area and, Two, that it might be invasive to another recovering patient to have a baby in the room. That really ticked me off. How about the invasiveness to the bonding process and breastfeeding process that need to be started after birth? What if one of the recovering patients is a baby?
Anyways, it makes me think that i can basically burn my birth plan tonight .
Is there anyway around this?
Tiffany

[mountain mom]

I don't understand why they take your child to a different place during recovery. I had a csection and my dd was with me the entire time, even in recovery. They used a large piece of cloth and tied her to my chest while I was being monitered. She slept and nuzzled and I got it together and then we all went to our room. Are you being put right under? I was awake the whole time.
My thoughts are with you, is there any way for you to have a nurse advocate for you? My doula was also a RN and she was in the 'loop' so to speak. GOOD LUCK and you know you won't even have to have the section everything will be just fine!!!!

[Penelope]

Read "Giving Birth" by Katherine - shoot, can't remember her last name. There's a section specifically on a birth center in Taos which might be a good contact for you - they have midwives and MD's and it sounded GREAT. Although you might well know about it already -

Good luck!

[cottonwood]

Sounds like a crappy place to have a baby. How far away are the other hospitals in the area?

You could try lobbying the hospital to change their policies. The thing is, the baby does not belong to them, and they do not have the right to forcefully separate the two of you. The only time that would be justified would be if your or the baby's condition warranted it.

[OnTheFence]

First of all you dont have to allow them to do anything to you without your consent. If your labor is moving along and nothing is wrong with you or your baby you can tell them that a surgical birht is not an option at this time. Period. They cant cut you open without consent unless you and your baby are in dire straights and it looks like you are going to die.
Second, that is bull shit about taking your baby away in the OR. Speak to your doctor NOW. Dont wait. And your pediatrician. Jack stayed in the OR for a small portion of the time and I was able to hold him up my chest and see him. I also had him in recovery the ENTIRE TIME. They brought him into me fifteen minutes after I got out of the OR. During that time my husband held him in a rocking chair in the nursery and my sister was with me. My sister was with me the entire time, and my husband;s main focus was the baby. Also tell them you do not want to recover in their recovery area but in a labor and delivery room. This is what I did. I would be damned if they couldnt give me a damn room for 2 hours. Women who birth vaginally get their newborns with them and a csection mom is no different. You need to get this straight now just in case. Make arrangements NOW. Tell them that you want to be nursing within the first thirty minutes of that babies life, that you want someone to hold him up on your chest after he is born and that you want him in recovery and you dont give a damn what their bull shit policy is. This burns me up

Your doctor can advocate for these things and make them happen. What you are asking for is not that difficult to deliver. And if you are trying to VBAC, I would be damned if they told me how long I could labor, etc. Just dont go to the hospital until your water breaks. Geez.

[Eman'smom]

Remind the hospital (in not so nice terms if you have to) that this is your baby not theirs. Unless there is an emergency there is no reason the baby needs to be separated. Get your dr/ped on your side now.

Also if the miferery school in Taos isn't an option I'd assume you are going to Santa Fe? What about making the trip to Alb.? Lovelace had amazing midwifes and great policies (or at least they don't make a big deal about you waving them). I had both my babies at Lovelace with a midwife and can't say enough wonderful things. Ds's birth was Ok, but that was mainly us not knowing any better. DD's birth was nothing short of amazing. Look into it, we drove 80+ miles to birth at Lovelace and have never regeted it. Of course out here, 80 miles is nothing as you know.

[Greaseball]

Enlist your dh's help. You don't have to give them your baby, no matter what the policy is. You don't have to be separated from your dh, either. If you have surgery you may be too weak to stand up to them, so it should be your dh's job.

Of course, you don't have to consent to surgery, either, no matter what the policy is. I guarantee you they will not throw you out on the street in the middle of labor just because you insist on a VBAC.

You can have the baby however you choose and then you can all leave, if you feel up to it.

[KKmama]

Woo hoo, Kim! (I agree... )

When I had my C with ds, dh was in the OR and went with ds to the nursery, and they later joined me in recovery, and it was way less than an hour later (and my best friend was with me in recovery). We were able to nurse in recovery. I agree that it's BS that you should be in there alone and that your baby can't join you... Y'know, the recovery room can't be that far from the OR, and how crowded are recovery rooms, anyway? Their answers are screwy, and I don't think their "set-up" sounds very with it or oriented toward families...

This time, if my VBAC doesn't work out and I have a C, there's a private recovery room attached directed to the OR. The baby goes in there and the mother joins the baby ASAP (and the mom can have contact with the baby in the OR). They make a big point out of having as little separation as possible and allowing the mother access to her support people... (just to give you another example of how it is elsewhere and what you are reasonable to expect).

[rainbowmoon]

i just found out the hospital our birth center uses for transfers doesn't *allow* rooming in. wtf!?! my midwives told me it's my baby though and if I end up there I can have my ped. call in an order that baby rooms in with me regardless of thier *policies*. maybe that could be an option for you? they did tell me to be prepared for *consequences* from the nurses though

if I were you I would try to change thier policy by fighting this or get your pediatrician to help.

[veganmamma]

They can't take your baby away from you or do anything yo don't consent to. Policy or no, your family, your body, your child.

[OnTheFence]

Originally posted by rainbowmoon
i just found out the hospital our birth center uses for transfers doesn't *allow* rooming in. wtf!?! my midwives told me it's my baby though and if I end up there I can have my ped. call in an order that baby rooms in with me regardless of thier *policies*. maybe that could be an option for you? they did tell me to be prepared for *consequences* from the nurses though

if I were you I would try to change thier policy by fighting this or get your pediatrician to help.

My philosphy with a hospital like this is to have your baby discharged immediately and then keep the baby in your room, or leave as soon as physically possible after the birth. Nothing burns me up more than hospitals holding babies hostage. My aunt was treated this way and it just chapped me so bad! I actually hate the hospital she went too but a lot of the "upper" crust use it. BITE ME! Is what I say.

[KKmama]

Wow, it's hard for me to believe "this still happens," (although I know it does)... it just seems like it's so obvious that parents want their babies with them and that there has been a lot of change.

At the hospital I'm using this time, there is no nursery. *All* the babies room in. There's also no NICU per se; there are several NICU-type suites where the parents have a room and the baby has adjoining space with whatever special equipment might be required (and the parents can stay as long as the baby is in... I think they've figured out more parental care = shorter stays).

[stretchmark]

It is crazy, I do see my doc tomorrow and I am going to ask her all about bending these stupid policies. The hospital is small and they just received a 60,000$ grant and NONE of it goes to maternity. The ultrasound room is actually being shortened 8 inches just to make a bigger hallway. The recovery room is for everyone so they don't have one just for moms. So I could be in there with someone who had a mole removed and that would inhibit my baby from being in there with me. The whole scene here in Taos is kind of limiting. All the peds work at the same place and you just get whomever is on call. A few of them know of my difficulty breastfeeding my 26 weeker and I think they would bring the baby into recovery for me unless there were other babies to visit. My poor husband is not excited at all about fighting with the nurses which is what my friends husband had to do. I am not sure if I could recover in L&D but will find out. I am going to check in with my doctor about being transported to Albuquerque. I have insurance that is for UNM and they give the baby right to the father in OR after they are breathing well. Then they go to recovery with the mom and later they are taken for measuring and weighing.
I just don't want this to be a bad experience. When my daughter was taken out at 26 weeks and I had to lay there going, "Wow, she isn't in me anymore, and I don't have her." it was painful. I just can't beleive they get away with this. It seems unethical and possibly harmfull. There is a good nurse practitioner who is also a lactation consultant at the pediatrician clinic and I could contact her to see if she could be there with me. Since part of their concern is that the recovery room nurses don't know anything about babies, having a NP in there would be fine.
Also, the midwifery clinic here in Taos can't see me because my risk of rupture is slightly higher since I was cut so early. They won't see me anymore. Also, the doctors split apart from them as there was a huge change here with OB/gyns so that isn't an option for me. Also I felt kind of weird having to draw out a unicornuate uterus for them, I felt like they should know a bit more to care for me.
So let's just hope that I can manifest something positive here in Taos or in Albuquerque. Either is fine with me I just don't want a bad experience.
Thanks for the suggestions, I will be on top of things immediately.
Tiffany

[wombat]

You know what is REALLY MAJORLY STUPID about these hospital policies? They're so damn inconsistent from hospital to hospital.

I found out the hard way - after a c/s, I spent 1 hour in recovery (although my husband and doula were allowed in there), and dd had to spend 4 HOURS in an observation nursery. Her apgars were 8 and 9 and she was perfectly fine but it was "policy" for a baby born by c/s. And before the c/s, my OB had told me that of course someone could bring dd into recovery to see me. Well when the time came, no one could do it. And of course the staff had changed 3 shifts since I was admitted so it was really hard to keep track of "policy".

I agree if you can find out their reasons for their policies and try to work around them, that's the best way. A lot of the issues I had were due to staffing problems.

[OnTheFence]

Originally posted by wombat
You know what is REALLY MAJORLY STUPID about these hospital policies? They're so damn inconsistent from hospital to hospital.

I found out the hard way - after a c/s, I spent 1 hour in recovery (although my husband and doula were allowed in there), and dd had to spend 4 HOURS in an observation nursery. Her apgars were 8 and 9 and she was perfectly fine but it was "policy" for a baby born by c/s. And before the c/s, my OB had told me that of course someone could bring dd into recovery to see me. Well when the time came, no one could do it. And of course the staff had changed 3 shifts since I was admitted so it was really hard to keep track of "policy".

I agree if you can find out their reasons for their policies and try to work around them, that's the best way. A lot of the issues I had were due to staffing problems.

O get things in writing. Have your doctor and pediatrician sign off on things you want. This helps with those "staffing" problems.

[DreamsInDigital]

If I were you, I'd just have my baby at home.

Everyone has offered you lots of great advice. I hope you take some of it.

[OnTheFence]

Originally posted by DreamsInDigital
If I were you, I'd just have my baby at home.

Everyone has offered you lots of great advice. I hope you take some of it.

The poster, if I am not mistaken has a uterina anomaly, had a premature baby that was born by csection. Her uterus was cut at a 26 week gestational age and is probably scar is not as low as say someone who had a full term (37 week +) scar on their uterus. She has two things that increase her rupture rate beyond the .7% that is quoted due to having a mullerian anomaly and a scar on her uterus that may not be an exact low transverse. I think attempting a VBAC in a hospital is wise and homebirth with these comorbid issues is taking an unnecessary risk.

At least if she plans before hand, talks to the staff, gets signed documents from her doctors, she has a chance at a good outcome. If she transfers from a failed homebirth she could be screwed far worse than having just a bad birth experience.

[normajean]

Instead of burning your birth plan.....

I would suggest editing it to include the possibilites of C-section and when yuo would allow it. Like people said, you have the right to refuse medical care, and if you refuse, the responsibility for the outcome.

Put in your birth plan the EXACT cicumstances you are willing to be sectioned for. Put a stipulation that your DH or other attendant has to be notified in advance of ANY procedure not in the birth plan. Go to the hospital and make an advance directive for your care should ytou become incapacitated, they still have to follow your wishes.

Put in your birthplan that in the event of C-section the baby is going to be given to your DH (or whoever you specify) and that the baby goes nowhere without him. Put in your birth plan about what type of care the baby gets in what circumstances--ie--if he's at a certain level, no respiratory distress etc, that he can room in with you if you want. Or if he is healthy early release.

The longer you wait to go to the hospital, the lower your chances of unnessecary C-section are. Also put in your birth plan that monitoring is ONLY by fetoscope. The electric monitors trigger so many unneccessary C-sections its pathetic.

Have your birthplan signed by you and your DH. Give copies to the hospital asap so they can be prepared before you come in. They are more likely to follow it that way. Have your doctor sign it too if possible.