UPDATE to "Plus Sized Water Birth?" (Updated again)
AliciaS1411
member
I got a call from the head of the birth center this morning. She told me that they will not take patients whose pre-pregnancy BMI is over 40. My pre-pregnancy BMI is 40.3. FORTY POINT EFFIN THREE. and they won't take me.
So I went through all the trouble of transferring files, filling out paper work, taking the tour, going to my first appointment, and paying an $80 copay only to be told that I'm too fat for the birth center and have to switch everything back.
I am so PISSED and so UPSET. The hospital I am delivering at doesn't allow water births, they're not very friendly about natural birth period.
I feel like an absolutely failure right now..and I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to have the birth I want..but then part of me feels like a jerk because I should just be happy that I'm having a baby. but no, I want to stomp around and pout and act like a 5 year old.
Re: UPDATE to "Plus Sized Water Birth?" (Updated again)
Pretty much exactly what I was going to say. BMI doesn't take so many things into consideration that it's a horrible way to gauge somebody's health. I would push back on them and ask if there are any other tests that can be done to determine if you're eligible to use the space. I'm so sorry that they're being so ridiculous!
I would push back too. I know that I am also not a "usual" MW homebirth patient...but I'm perfectly healthy enough to have baby at home. (I'm overweight too etc...)
And please - stomp... I'd be furious!!
Ok, you ladies convinced me to argue a bit. I sent the following email to the director of the center:
"Mrs. ****,
Hello, My name is Alicia S****. I was seen yesterday for my first appointment at Lisa Ross and it went great. I've been wanting to switch to the center and have a natural water birth for my entire pregnancy and had to convince my husband before we could do anything. I finally got him on board after taking Marva's Hypnobirthing class. (she really relaxed him about a water birth). I've done so much research and spent so much time on this and I KNOW that a water birth is what is right for me and my family.
I saw Ellen yesterday and the appointment went great. (She was extremely nice!) I had some concerns obviously, and I was worried that something would come up and I wouldn't be able to have my water birth. Ellen told me that everything looked fine, and that the only thing she'd be concerned about is my Prepregnancy weight. (<250lbs) but she then commented that I looked healthy and that she's seen other women with my body type birth there. So I left thinking it would be fine.
Ellen called me back this morning and told me that my BMI was way over the limit and I could not have a water birth, and could not be seen as a patient because my pre-pregnancy BMI is over 40! My prepregnacy BMI is 40.3!!!! She told me my only options are to transfer to UT or switch back to the OB I had originally transferred from.
I am beyond upset (not with Ellen!). water birth, and even laboring in a tub is NOT an option with my original hospital and I had my heart set on Lisa Ross. I went through all the paper work and trouble of transferring, paid a $80 copay to be seen, only to be told that I'm too fat to deliver there. I feel that it is completely unfair to be judged by a CHART rather than by my actual body type and lifestyle. I'm a dance teacher (ballet and contemporary), I've been a dancer my entire life, I'm IN SHAPE, I just have a slow metabolism. I feel like I'm completely healthy enough to have a water birth and that the amount of studies that have been done to disprove BMI as a gauge of ones health is laughable! I have NO other risks, my BP has been perfect the entire pregnancy, I'm eating right, I have a great range of mobility thanks to my dance background, and I'm doing everything I can to make sure my baby is healthy.
Are there any other test that can be done to determine whether or not I can be a patient? I feel that to turn one down from their desired birth because of a predetermined CHART is is completely opposite of what your center is supposed to stand for. Especially since my BMI is only 3 TENTHS over the limit! (Seriously if I were a quarter of an inch taller I would be within the limit!) I've done the work, I've taken the classes, I've made an educated decision about what is best for me and my baby, and Im being told that I can't do it. It makes me feel like a complete failure as a woman and mother, and it makes me feel like I'll never be able to have the birth experience I want.
Below my name, I've attached an section from a Blog called Well Rounded Momma. It is written by a 300+ pound woman who has had successful water births, it concludes with a letter from Barbara Harper, the founder of Waterbirth.org.
Please discuss this with whoever you need to, and please let me know if I can be looked at as a person rather than a statistic. I REALLY want my water birth.
Alicia S****
"Barbara Harper suggests that instead of facilities instituting across-the-board BMI restrictions on access to water, they should make case-by-case judgments, taking into account the mother's blood pressure status, her fitness, her general mobility, and whether there there have been any complications during the pregnancy.
Instead of forbidding waterbirth to all women of size, decision-making could be individualized to acknowledge the differences in the spectrum of fat women giving birth. This is a common-sense approach that makes a LOT of sense.
Finally, an important question is whether such BMI restrictions on waterbirth are justified by actual research, or just hospital administrators' fears of risk. Doctors and hospitals are striving to become more evidence-based in their practices; what does the evidence say here?
I wrote to Barbara Harper and asked her this question, and this was her reply:
'Thank you for writing in your question about waterbirth studies and policies concerning BMI restrictions for women wanting waterbirths.
I am very much in opposition to such practices, but acknowledge that they do exist in many hospitals and some birth centers.
The water is THE VERY BEST PLACE for an overweight parturient woman. She can move in the water, control her body, respond better to the movements of the baby and feel much better physically after the birth because of the buoyancy effect on her muscles and cardiovascular system.
I don't see why every hospital isn't seeing that they could save hundreds of cesareans on plus-size women by PUTTING them in water as an intervention.
But, the great liability monster raises its ugly head and the hospital then becomes fearful of employees hurting their backs if they had to get a woman out of the water during an obstetric emergency. Thus the development of policies to protect the hospital against workers compensation cases.
When I teach the professional Waterbirth Credentialing workshop I do address BMI weight restriction policies and insist that hospitals treat each woman individually and not restrict the woman who presents in labor at 250 pounds who has gained 60 pounds during her pregnancy, just on the basis of the final number. I implore them to look at activity levels and pre-pregnancy weight and pre-pregnancy activity levels.
I have been successful in having the BMI policies removed from some hospital protocols, but not with others.
There is no available scientific evidence one way or the other, with the exception that we did a search both in the US and in the UK to find workers compensation cases for back injuries in labor and delivery settings. There were some, but none related to water. Holding the leg of a 300 pound woman while she is pushing is much harder than helping her in and out of the bath.
--Barbara Harper, RN, CLD, CCE
Founder/Director of Waterbirth International
www.waterbirth.org"
I'll update when I hear back.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
For once, I feel like I can actually offer something **really** helpful! When DH and I were in college, I went to Lisa Ross. I loved their practice but I have heard a lot of things have changed since I left. A very pro-natural birth friend of mine left their practice when she was pregnant with her son. She found a VERY natural-friendly doctor and midwifery staff at St. Mary's. She had some struggles at the hospital with the nurses because she was induced but her doctor was very supportive!
I delivered DS at St. Mary's. I was induced and I had a very good experience. My nurses were supportive of my natural birthing plan and actually held me off from getting the epi sooner.
Below is the link. GL! I wish you all the best!
https://drbrabson.net/6.html
Thank you! I'm going to contact them about a water birth right now.
Wow. I'm sorry, I think that's crap.
Gretchen Evie, born 7/8/2012 at 35w5d
What?!?! I am so mad for you.
Your letter was so well-written. Let us know what you hear back.
My hope is that they recant for the benefit of other moms, but that you can find an even better facility/plan.
More Green For Less Green