Homebirth and VBAC - FRUSTRATED

[luckydog]

Dear me, I MUST be pregnant. I was just talking to a midwife who broke some very bad news to me and I broke down completely into sobs. (That poor woman.)

I've had 3 births - a c/s, hospital VBAC and home waterbirth. My homebirth was in OH, where direct entry midwifery isn't licensed.

Now I'm in AZ, and I was excited because midwives ARE licensed here.

And now I'm crushed, because I just learned that home VBACs are ILLEGAL. Even when you've had VBACs. :

Seriously, I completely broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Which shocked me as much as it did her, I think. I have some options - I need to call around, she said some midwives will take the risk, but she just can't. Freestanding birth center with CNMs is also a possibility.

I need to wrap my mind around this info. My god, I am LIVID. Not at the midwife, but at my original knife happy OB who royally screwed up my first birth and it's coming back to haunt me 11 years later.

[Panthira]

I'm in the same boat here in CA, even though I had 2 VBACs too. I so don't want a hospital birth this time!

I'm looking at doing the same thing as you and trying to find one who'll do it. Doesn't it totally bite? It makes me upset and angry, and it puts a negative spin on the whole pregnancy with the added uncertainty and stress. It's just not fair, is it? We both know we can birth naturally, but we're relagated to the back of the bus...

[Shelsi]

Hey where in AZ are you? I'm in Tucson. I know the Phoenix area has a huge AP group though and I bet there would have to be someone in there that would have a connection for you. In Tucson I'm not coming up with very many names for midwives at all but if you're here I'd be happy to share the names I have so far.

[luckydog]

Thanks for the support, ladies! I'm emotionally steady again now. Wow, I was so blindsided by that. Silly, arrogant, me, thinking I got to call all the shots about my birth choices. :P

Panthira, it is SO unfair. I have since talked to another midwife and there is a ray of hope. It sounds like there are options - maybe even with her - as long as I'm willing to do it all on the down low and handle certain aspects (like filing birth certificate, and the like). Well, that's easy enough - very much like homebirthing in OH.

Shelsi, I'm in Phoenix - east valley. East Mesa, in fact. Any connections you can hook me up with would be greatly appreciated!! Are you also VBAC?

I did learn that the birth center here is NOT an option (they used to). The second midwife I spoke with also gave me the names of the OBs she likes and uses for backup. They will apparently let you have as close to a homebirth as you can have in a hospital, so that looks to be my worst case scenario.

Fortunately I have lots of time to pursue my homebirth ideal, tho. And thank goodness for the networking power of the web!

[Eben'sMama]

Hi luckydog and Panthira--I'm in Sacramento and just connected with an amazing midwifery practice that will do HBACs. Maybe call them for a referral to see if they know anyone in the Bay Area (there's got to be SOMEONE!) or the Phoenix/Mesa area.

http://www.birthstream.com/

Good luck!

[Shelsi]

Def post a thread in the Arizona/Utah forum or even do a search. I've never looked into that closely since I'm not close enough to the phoenix area but like I said I know there's a large AP group around there and I found out about it through mothering. I think they also have an AP yahoo group so you could probably search AP and yahoo and find their group as well. If for some weird reason you can't find anyone then let me know. I could give you the name of the diaper business I buy from that's out of Phoenix and I'm sure the lady who runs it would have contacts for you.

[2much2luv]

What a horrible thing to hear! What is wrong with people??? *Not the midwife, the lawmakers* I mean wtf are they thinking??? Anyway, I'm glad you're finding other options.

[Lissybug]

Hi luckydog. How frustrating. I don't have any PHX reccomendations for you, just a word of encouragement. I met a woman who told me she had a home VBAC with a MW who just decided to take the risk for her. I hope that since you have a lot of time you'll be able to find someone who will help you out as well.