Bessie
15-07-2006, 15:15
9 years ago, I had a Csection for the birth of my first child. I bled heavily throughout the 17 hours of birth and so after being constantly monitored and having all sorts of interventions, I ended up having the section due to suspected placenta praevia. It wasn’t until I was debriefed 5 years later when pregnant with my 2nd child, that the obstetrician noted that the reason for my Csection was in fact failure to progress and that I hadn’t had placenta praevia after all.
The whole birth experience was something which left us all shell shocked. The birth was poorly handled and the medial staff failed to explain what was happening. We were led to believe that the situation was life or death, so went along with the CsSction. There were also a number of times when staff acted unprofessionally, causing unnecessary pain and embarrassment. My baby had the most dreadful colic afterwards and I eventually went home stressed out and unable to cope – we had no family support.
I really wanted to have a trial of labour for my 2nd child. My doctor referred me to a pro VBAC obstetrician and as I was in the UK, I was permitted to go into a family birthing centre, which was just a floor below the hospital birthing suite. My DH and I attended independent childbirth education classes run by the British National Childbirth Trust, in which we found out that our best chance of having a VBAC would be to avoid all interventions and have a spontaneous birth. When I had my ultrasound scan, it was noted that the placenta was low lying (a common occurrence after a CSection) and fortunately that improved and I was given the go ahead for a vaginal birth in my final trimester. My DS was born after a rather long labour of 18 hours. My midwife agreed to change the start time for my labour after we asked if we could have more time, DS was born shortly after but as the time limits neared, the midwives became quite panicky, which was off putting. However, we stood our ground since there was no other substantial evidence to suggest that bubs or myself weren’t coping with the birth, apart from a small amount of meconium in the amniotic fluid. The paediatrician was called down as bub was being born, to suck out any meconium, but our little fighter spat it out himself.
DS’s birth was an empowering experience for us. He was a very mellow baby and I was allowed home the next day. I had some discomfort from a 2nd degree tear, but that was nothing like the difficult recovery I’d experienced with my earlier Csection.
3 years later we decided to try for another baby. We had since moved to Australia and were quite anxious about meeting a new hospital system, which we were unfamiliar with. I was concerned to find out that Csection rates were higher and it seemed impossible to get data on different intervention rates, between hospitals. We found out that our choices were limited, as we wouldn’t be able to use a family birthing centre, since they don’t do VBACs. We found out after having a tour at a family birthing centre and I remember crying in the car, because I would have loved to give birth in such a low tech, comfortable environment. It was then that we looked into home birthing options, but I was concerned about the unknown reason I had bled so much in my first birth. We decided that our best bet would be to remain at home for as long as possible.
I changed hospital at 32 weeks, after an enlightening chat with the doctor on an antenatal visit. We were discussing VBACs and he told us that King Edwards in Subiaco would be a better hospital, as they do more VBACs and if anything should go wrong, they have 24 hour theatre cover (which they don’t have at Joondalup). They would also have telemetry belts available, which would allow me more movement during the birth. We were very grateful to have this information although the hospital would be a 30 minute trip on the freeway, we figured that neither of my previous labours had been that quick.
Eliana's birth story is here http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?p=488531#post488531
It's a long account but VBACs aren't necessarily straightforward iykwim!
The whole birth experience was something which left us all shell shocked. The birth was poorly handled and the medial staff failed to explain what was happening. We were led to believe that the situation was life or death, so went along with the CsSction. There were also a number of times when staff acted unprofessionally, causing unnecessary pain and embarrassment. My baby had the most dreadful colic afterwards and I eventually went home stressed out and unable to cope – we had no family support.
I really wanted to have a trial of labour for my 2nd child. My doctor referred me to a pro VBAC obstetrician and as I was in the UK, I was permitted to go into a family birthing centre, which was just a floor below the hospital birthing suite. My DH and I attended independent childbirth education classes run by the British National Childbirth Trust, in which we found out that our best chance of having a VBAC would be to avoid all interventions and have a spontaneous birth. When I had my ultrasound scan, it was noted that the placenta was low lying (a common occurrence after a CSection) and fortunately that improved and I was given the go ahead for a vaginal birth in my final trimester. My DS was born after a rather long labour of 18 hours. My midwife agreed to change the start time for my labour after we asked if we could have more time, DS was born shortly after but as the time limits neared, the midwives became quite panicky, which was off putting. However, we stood our ground since there was no other substantial evidence to suggest that bubs or myself weren’t coping with the birth, apart from a small amount of meconium in the amniotic fluid. The paediatrician was called down as bub was being born, to suck out any meconium, but our little fighter spat it out himself.
DS’s birth was an empowering experience for us. He was a very mellow baby and I was allowed home the next day. I had some discomfort from a 2nd degree tear, but that was nothing like the difficult recovery I’d experienced with my earlier Csection.
3 years later we decided to try for another baby. We had since moved to Australia and were quite anxious about meeting a new hospital system, which we were unfamiliar with. I was concerned to find out that Csection rates were higher and it seemed impossible to get data on different intervention rates, between hospitals. We found out that our choices were limited, as we wouldn’t be able to use a family birthing centre, since they don’t do VBACs. We found out after having a tour at a family birthing centre and I remember crying in the car, because I would have loved to give birth in such a low tech, comfortable environment. It was then that we looked into home birthing options, but I was concerned about the unknown reason I had bled so much in my first birth. We decided that our best bet would be to remain at home for as long as possible.
I changed hospital at 32 weeks, after an enlightening chat with the doctor on an antenatal visit. We were discussing VBACs and he told us that King Edwards in Subiaco would be a better hospital, as they do more VBACs and if anything should go wrong, they have 24 hour theatre cover (which they don’t have at Joondalup). They would also have telemetry belts available, which would allow me more movement during the birth. We were very grateful to have this information although the hospital would be a 30 minute trip on the freeway, we figured that neither of my previous labours had been that quick.
Eliana's birth story is here http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?p=488531#post488531
It's a long account but VBACs aren't necessarily straightforward iykwim!