Where do I start?

[brietta]

I am about 26 weeks pregnant with baby #6.

My first 3 deliveries were natural, vaginal births with midwives.

#4 was a whirlwind emergency c/s because my baby's heart rate was 270 bpm and it turned out that she had to spend the first month of her life in the NICU after being diagnosed with 5 categories of major heart disease.

#5 was a successful hospital VBAC, but I had to fight tooth and nail for it and at the last minute the doctor insisted that I deliver in the OR, which was cold, sterile, bright, and just awful. I was glad for the successful VBAC, but there was really nothing else that was good about the experience.

With #6, the same doctor said he would deliver again, but it would have to be in the OR again, which I am adamantly against.

I live in an extremely rural area in NY state and most of the hospitals have a c/s rate of 45% or higher and have either banned VBACs altogether or do maybe 1-2 a year. We have one midwife who does home births in the entire county and I love her, but she has apologetically declined doing any VBACs.

This has led my husband and I to seriously considering a UBAC. The only other alternative is delivering at a hospital 2-1/2 hours away (I have met with a doctor there and he is very enthusiastically willing to work with me and try to be as accommodating as possible). The logistics of this are nightmarish, especially when considering childcare for my other 5 children, who are 8 years of age and under.

I have NO IDEA where to begin with preparations and planning for a UBAC. Where do I get a good list of needed supplies? Where do I then buy those supplies? What kinds of options are there for emergencies? I went ahead with a level II u/s and fetal echocardiogram to rule out any health problems in this baby so that we can confidently plan something at home, but I have a history of hemorrhaging, as well as significant tearing in my first birth (he was born in the intact sac and posterior so that the friction from a fast delivery + spinning as he came out led to surface tears that have since re-torn at almost every birth because of how brittle the scar tissue is).

Please share any websites or book titles that might get me started.

Thanks!

[Roslyn Joyce]

HI IM ALSO LOOKING FOR ADVICE ON UC...

NVR DONE ONE BUT AM CONSIDERING IT....

SO ANY POSITIVE ADVICE WOULD BE GREAT!!! THX...

[Almi]

Here's a good thread with lots of resources on it:

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/252628/unassisted-birth-resources

If you want to dig through that later, I recommend you start here:

http://www.unhinderedliving.com/childbirth.html

Good luck!  Lots of ladies have successful UBAC's. :)