Another VBAC Ban

Well, my meeting on Wed. did not go well. It turns out you can have as many facts and statistics to back up what you want to do as you want, but if the institution's response, no matter what is flatly, "WE DON'T DO VBACS" then those facts mean diddly squat.

Apparently, I am just a walking incubator and when the time comes the incubator will go into the hospital so the humanoid can be extracted. It will be during business hours, Monday thru Friday, because that is optimal time for the humanoid to be extracted from the incubator. Natural births cut into the bottom line. They take too long and happen at inopportune times of the day and night. Even holidays and shift change!

My meeting started out with the doctor making me wait 45 minutes. He wasn't doing anything because he kept coming out and shooting the breeze with the receptionists. I finally went in and first we talked about the amnio. Easy, because I want an amnio. The only bright spot of the whole day is he told me it takes about a week to get the results. A week! It took 4 1/2 weeks in Canada. The wait made me crazy. I can handle a week wait.

Then, we moved on to the misnamed "TOL counselling" which was him just telling me they don't do VBACs. I asked what the CS rate was at the hospital. He said about 28%, but 100% for repeat CS. He also brought up my ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE and told me that I WOULD get preeclampsia and I would get gestational diabetes. I just thought it was stupid that we didn't say I may get, or was at a higher risk of getting either one, and didn’t ask about my lifestyle. Just stated that I WOULD!

I tried to press him on the VBAC by saying I thought the risk was minimal, especially when you counted in the real risk of a CS to me. He just said they have no ICU and only 2 units of blood on hand. (If that was a real reason, I could start donating my own blood now.) Then he just started ignoring me and stated again, "We don't do them." I asked for a written copy of the hospital's policy on VBACS and he said he would work on getting that for me. (Like someone has to go make it up real quick. Next time I go in I'm asking for it again.) Then I asked how far along in labor I would have to be for them to allow the VBAC. He told me "if the baby is crowning, I guess we could do it." Then I asked him if I was in active labor if my EMTALA rights would apply. He just sighed and said, "I guess, if you were in active labor and we didn't have time to move you we would have to."

Finally, I asked what happened if I refused consent to surgery. He said they could refer me to an Italian OB. I said, "I don't want to do that! Italians are IDIOTS!!!" He agreed then said, besides, they do CS willy-nilly anyhow.

I was pretty depressed after that meeting. : ( I don't know what to do. I was talking to some people today and they were like, "Well, if they think you should have one, maybe you should." But, the point is they don't think "I" should have one. It is an arbitrary decision foisted upon everyone!

So, I am looking for a midwife who speaks English, or one who wants to come on over! I keep telling Jack to read up on how to deliver babies. Who knows? Maybe all this anguish is for naught. Perhaps I will get the forecasted preeclampsia, or a baby who never comes on down so I can dilate. A million things could happen. It is important to put risk in perspective. But, just as easily everything could go as nature intends as well, and I don't want to miss out on giving birth just because of some misguided risk management.