feeling discouraged (no more) - thanks ladies! - Page 2

[MamaChef]

samstress,

Most ICAN chapters have copies of The Pink Kit.. ask your local group if they have one..

[Crystalyn]

My hospital has a 3% VBAC rate and my doctor's is lower.  I plan to do a VBAC with her, though, and I'm positive about it.  A little background:  I live in the Dallas area and my doctor serves a fairly pretentious population (she's a doc to some stars, and a very prestigious bubble city inside of Dallas).  I've been going to her for 11 years now -- and started not long after she opened her practice because she is good... and it was before she became a name in those neighborhoods.

I went to see her today for a check-up and asked her why her rate was so low.  She said that it's rare that anybody in her practice even asks for a VBAC... it just isn't convenient because you have to deal with not knowing when labor will happen (they can't chemically induce due to risk of uterine rupture) and people just think it is easier to schedule their births ... they can pre-arrange childcare for their other kids and work around social schedules.  It's also less painful (aka - no labor... incredibly painful healing process, though... IMO)  And... it's easy for a doc to go in and do a tubal ligation or a little tuck during the Cesarean. 

They don't track the percentage of people who go in requesting a VBAC and actually have one.  For the hospital, only 3% of people who have had a previous Cesarean birth have a subsequent vaginal birth at that hospital... mainly because just not many people are interested in doing the work that is required for a vaginal delivery that can't be scheduled and induced...  and the crunchy, health-conscious ladies usually have their VBACs at home or in a birthing center.

I'm moving forward with this my doctor and the hospital.  And staying positive that I will be a success story if my body can go into labor on its own this time around.

One disheartening thing that I learned today is that they will require me to have a dry epidural (cath in place) just in case they need to rush meds for surgery.

[samstress]

thanks for this Crystalyn.  i'm starting to think this is why the rates at my hospital are low as well (not sure what my OB's rates are yet -- we meet on the 15th).
 

Originally Posted by Crystalyn 

I went to see her today for a check-up and asked her why her rate was so low.  She said that it's rare that anybody in her practice even asks for a VBAC... it just isn't convenient because you have to deal with not knowing when labor will happen (they can't chemically induce due to risk of uterine rupture) and people just think it is easier to schedule their births ... they can pre-arrange childcare for their other kids and work around social schedules.  It's also less painful (aka - no labor... incredibly painful healing process, though... IMO)  And... it's easy for a doc to go in and do a tubal ligation or a little tuck during the Cesarean. 

this seems crazy to me.  who does know when labor will begin?  isn't the surprise part of the fun?  true, we won't be able to schedule childcare for dd, but given the situation, i'm sure someone will be able to help us out in a pinch (and my in-laws are only 2 1/2 hours away -- i'm sure dh will be on the phone with them as soon as i go into labor).  yes, i suppose a scheduled-c is less physically painful than labor, but i would never want to go through the recovery again (not to mention all the other things that i experienced that were, i'm convinced, a result of of my c-secton).  i'd rather avoid surgery, in fact, if i never have surgery again, it'll be too soon.

don't get me wrong.  i understand why women schedule repeat c-sections.  in fact, i'd be lying if i said the thought never crossed my mind.  these reasons, however, don't seem very compelling to me.

here's to both of us having success and getting the births we want (and deserve)!

Edited by samstress - 1/6/11 at 10:26am