Doctor won't allow VBA2C, hospital has a De Facto ban. But do I really need their permission???

[henny penny]

Boy, you have some tough circumstances there. I'm facing some similar problems in researching my own possibilities for vbac (won't go into it here). I'll probably get flamed off this board for saying this, but here goes. For just a day or so, forget about a vbac; really, forget about the details of delivery all together. Think of how you want to feel the day you deliver; calm, secure that your kids are cared for, well treated by medical staff or rushed, anxious, worried about the kids, risking high pressure emergency surgery, being treated like dirt by an md you don't know, etc. It seems like you would be setting yourself up for the latter is you show up at a non-friendly hospital in active labor. I guess I'm saying look at the whole picture and decide on a pros/cons kind of way. I'm sorting this out for myself now and I understand how complicated things can get. I live in an area with a very hostile birth environment. It's sad, really. I'd have to drive 1 hour and 20 minutes (the next state) for anything better. Ug.

[LaffNowCryLater]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

It doesn't have to be a publicly owned hospital. If they take money from HHS (ie Medicare and Medicaid) they are subject to EMTALA. The number of hospitals that do not participate in either of these is vanishingly small--it's almost exclusively the Shriners and the military.

Just popping in to say that the Shriners will attempt to bill Medicaid, sometimes successfully. We have Tricare but my (physically disabled) son has Medicaid as a supplemental insurance and he gets care from the Shriners several times a year.