Information on continious monitoring for VBAC? - Page 2

[mamalade]

Originally Posted by sattygirl99

Thanks...!
I've gotten both good and not so good reviews (though the not so good reviews aren't awful, things like 'they dressed my baby after they took her away fro meconium suctioning, I didn't even see her naked first' or a doula who told me she's had one MW be not so friendly and force a mother to be on a drip (which I'm trying to figure out... They can't force you to do anything...).
.

You are so right, I think so many of us learn this a little late. I know I did. I am glad you are in such a good space, you are going to have a much better birth because of it. I think your plan is a good one, we all have to work with what we've got. Although I would imagine checking into a hotel in labor might be a surreal experience I guess labor is surreal no matter where you are, though!
Good luck!

[MNHall]

Originally Posted by sattygirl99

... Because once my water is broken, they absolutely will NOT check me. Just won't happen, too much risk. And after my daughter getting an infection after birth, I'm really sticking to it this time.

Sorry I haven't read past here, so if you answered this already, I apologize, but, I saw you said your daughter got an infection after birth....can you tell me more about that???

My daughter too got an infection after birth. She ended up turning blue and not breathing on me when she was 10 hours old, landed her in the NICU for a week due to an infection. We were assuming it was GBS, as I was positive and didn't get my antibiotics...but, your post makes me wonder.

Do you know any more details about your daughter's infection? We just knew she did not have menengitis, as that was the only specific test they ran, other than knowing she had an infection....although, I think we knew it was a blood infection, now that i think about it.

Anyway, I showed up at the hospital with my water broken and did have a lot of action up there. A few internal checks, but the main thing was after 90 minutes of pushing, the OB helped rotate her head (which was the same reason I had a c/s with DS, so I was happy at the time to have some "help"), but anyway, that was a LOT of hands in places that shouldn't be with water broken, ya know!

Sorry to hijack with a quesiton...just curious if you could share!

Thanks!

[sattygirl99]

I always thought GBS too however, they can test GBS in a baby and I had 3 rounds of anitbiotics during labor. IIR, they did test her for strep and it was negative. I don't recall if they tested strand specific or not though. It was all much of a blur!

I'm shocked they only ran menengitis... Poor DD had so much blood taken, growth cultures done, etc. We were in the hospital for 3 or 4 days. She spiked a 103.6 fever at exactly 3 weeks old, after 24 hours of being fairly lethargic (which I missed because 3 weeks is prime time for a growth spurt). We still don't know what exactly it was... But I have a hunch that she got an infection from so many vaginal checks and then not being able to be squeezed through the birth canal. I had (from what I remember) 4 or 5 vaginal checks from the point they broke my water (with mec) to the point they did the c-section. Her first blood culture after the fever grew but they were never able to identify exactly what it was, just a strain type.


Thank you to everyone who responded to the post. We will be having our HBAC however with a different birth team than we had originally planned. I'm going to have to get a job or something to help pay for it but it's worth it for me and I'm willing to do that if a provider is willing to stick by me. That's going to be a challenge since my husband works 2 jobs, both nights and PT days. I'll figure it out with the help of friends and family though!

Good luck to everyone else working to achieve their VBAC's... We can do this!!

[MNHall]

Originally Posted by sattygirl99

I'm shocked they only ran menengitis... Poor DD had so much blood taken, growth cultures done, etc. We were in the hospital for 3 or 4 days.

Like you said, there was so much at that time that was a blur, I'm sure what I remember and what actually happened aren't quite accurate. I know they drew blood a number of times, I just remember high counts, infections and the spinal tap was negative, which was a big, huge, thank goodness!

I remember at one point they said they knew it was an infection, which meant antibiotics and NICU, then they just needed to make sure it wasn't menengitis because that meant a 30 day stay instead of other infections that were only a week stay.

I guess regardless though, vaginal checks are NOT always necessary and I'm going to have to discuss this with my new OB...who I'm sure will be super cool, as he has been with EVERYTHING else.

I mean, come on, woman with broken water, contracting every 3 minutes that can't even sit in the bed long enough for you to check her, I think it's safe to say it's "real" labor....no check needed! Plus, "I" was the one who said I needed to push....only THEY needed to confirm that...I already knew it was time!

ARG, makes me mad!

But anyway, again, sorry for hijacking and going off on something else, but thanks for responding!

[keeptryst]

Another great EFM rebuttal post by midwife Gloria Lemay:
http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=187

[lexiejk4]

I read a birth story where a mom told them (while in labor) that they can produce information that says that the continuous internal monitor will out way the risk of infection to an area that is already compromised with ROM, then she would consider the options. This only applies to an internal monitor, but I liked her boldness.

[CookAMH]

Originally Posted by iris427

This article isn't specifically about VBAC, but it's pretty interesting. It was written by an obstetrician and it's pretty damning in its assessment of continuous monitoring.

I emailed the author and asked him what he thought about VBAC and CFM and he wouldn't really give me a straight answer. He just said to ask my doctor. But I think the article actually makes a good case for NOT using CFM in a VBAC, even though he never specifically addresses VBAC.

That was a very interesting article. I put it on my facebook .