Introduction & Looking for Advice

Cheryl Renee

Hi ladies!  I've been lurking for awhile now, but thought I'd say hello.  I've found alot of your posts very helpful!  My story: I had a c-section 11 months ago.  I had to insist on trying to have my baby naturally, after my doctor tried his best to push a csection on me.  I ended up having an emergency section anyways because they induced too early and my body was just not ready yet.  Now, I've been looking into vbac.  I'm not pregnant...yet, but I want to be as knowledgable as possible for when that time arrives.  I've got two hospitals in my area.  One has a strict "no vbac" policy and the other is a "de facto vbac" hospital.  So my question is two fold.  1. How far away would you drive to have a VBAC?  So far, the closest hospital I've found is about 1.5 hrs away!  2. Do I establish care with a physician in my area knowing that I will have to go somewhere else to have the baby, or find a doctor in that area to see?  

I really appreciate any feedback or references you can offer.  Thanks in advance!

Cheryl Renee

Thanks! That helps alot.  Let me know how your vbac goes!

rae_dylanzmom

Similar to the pp, transferring care at 36/37 weeks to VBAC/VTOL-friendly doc about 2 hours away. He's in a much bigger hospital that essentially specializes in VBAC, due to all the smaller hospitals in the area who aren't equipped for it.

I did a consult with the new doc a couple of weeks ago (at about 34 weeks) to make sure he'd take me on,... would probably do that consult a little sooner.

One of my local OBs was supportive of me getting another opinion and actually did a positioning ultrasound so I was armed with info when I went in for the consult. That support was really great, and I didn't feel like I needed to hide the fact that I was considering a switch.

Also, maybe check with your insurance to know if they have any restrictions on how late they'd allow a switch and what they would cover, consultation-wise.