Can the hospitals MAKE you do anything?

cynnnabun

So, I'm going to be attempting a VBAC, and the hospital near me that has wireless monitoring, doesn't have a group that I'm comfortable with.

The groups I'm looking into, deliver at my more local hospital which is pretty standard with their policies and rules.

I'm going to ask the doctors, but if I just say "No. I will not lay in bed and be monitored the entire time. I want to labor moving around." Can they really do anything? What would they do? Tell me to go home then? It's not like they can not deliver the baby.

Just curious if anyone knows if they can somehow MAKE me do things, or if I refuse, I refuse.

iris427

OK I'm not a lawyer so take this with a grain of salt.

They can't make you do anything without a court order.  You have the right to consent--or not consent--to anything and to disregard medical advice.  

If you are in active labor or having a medical emergency, they cannot make you go home.  Under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) they have to treat you or arrange for your transfer to a facility that can (but certain restrictions apply to that).  I believe this only applies to hospitals that participate in Medicare but that includes almost all hospitals in the US.

That said, hospitals are very good at persuading people and if you still refuse, things could get ugly and it could absolutely affect the kind of care you are given.  You may be told that you are endangering your baby's life and that your baby could die if you are not continuously monitored.  It might also make the doctors feel like they are in an adversarial relationship and be less risk averse since they will be worried about their own legal protection.  This might give them more incentive to do another c/s on you--that would be my big concern for a VBAC mom.

Definitely talk to the doctors ahead of time about this.  I wouldn't want to be continuously monitored and stuck in bed either.  Maybe you can sign something or work out an acceptable compromise with your doctor.

chicsub

I have to have CFM, but with telemetry so I can be in the shower and even do a water birth if I feel like it/baby cooperates.  Even when I was induced with DS and on the monitors I was out of bed and they didn't have tele (different hospital), so that technically shouldn't be a problem. 

jen5-03

No, you can refuse. But it's hard. REALLY hard. Who wants to fight when you're giving birth? And yes, in almost all cases they will try to bully you into following their routine.

But the stuff you mention is up to your OB. Sure the hospital staff has a standard protocol, but if your OB says let her do X, then they will.

nosoup4u

This is a good post to read: https://rixarixa.blogspot.com/2010/12/dont-ask-just-do.html

If you're polite about it, but just do what you want, I think you can get pretty far in a hospital setting.

My whole plan was to stay at home as long as possible so I didn't have to deal with hospital rules, and it worked out, since I showed up pushing with DS2. It wasn't fun getting there, but I was so far into labor, that I think it was much more stressful for my DH than me, heh heh.

cynnnabun

Thank you ladies! I'm definitely going to talk to my group about what I'm looking for. But I ultimately think I'm going to have the same attitude as that blog entry. I'll say, no thanks, if they want me to lay down.

Who knows, I'm probably being adamant about this and I'll feel like crap and wanna lay down anyway! haha. But at least I'll do what I want, and not what they want, to a point anyway.