Hi there!
ATM you're making me want to move to NZ for my #3! I want a VBA2C but feel the need to have hospital booked too. I would love a midwife but we are still sorting out the logistics of paying for one. If you can afford it why not have both, even if you do end up in hospital 2 supports are better than one?!?! And if you stay home doula can focus on you while Mw focusses on baby. I have found that independent mw's and hospital mw's are both very supportive of my choice, it's the GP's and Ob's who are not so happy...
Also, check the hospital policies re: VBAC and have a birth plan that can be followed so you don't have to think while you're in labour.
I had a failed VBAC for #2 and I can see why now and intend to change that for #3.
Thanks for the replies.
We/I have gone through a few ideas and am now going with midwife care from the hospital plus a few OB visits and we have employed a Doula to help us with it all. I am feeling good about going through the hospital and was very happy with the OB I met today - lets hope shes the one who`s on duty at the time if I need it!!
Sarah - congratulations on #3 and I hope you get the support to help you achieve your VBAC. Im guessing like me, you have been trying to do as much homework on the subject as you can. Its a it overwhelming at times, but good one you for giving it another chance!!!
Hi Salsa, I had 3 babies in NZ, know what you're saying about the funded homebirth over there.
A couple of clients I have supported for VBAC over here (I'm a doula) have also hired a Private Midwife. The plan was, the midwife would accompany the woman while she laboured at home, and because the mw can check the baby's heartbeat (a doula can't do that - but parents of course can hire a doppler and do that if they want), there's that extra reassurance that all is well. I remember reading about a UK midwife who commented, "with regards to the risk of uterine rupture, I would rather have the focussed, one-to-one care of a midwife who really knows and gets me, to observe the early signs of possible rupture or dehiscence, that be in an institution where reliance is placed on a machine to pick that up."
The beauty of hiring a midwife to support you at home while you labour during your VBAC, is that you have a couple of routes open to you and you don't have to make the call until you're in that moment:
1. You can stay at home as long as possible, with the skilled support of a midwife who specialises in keeping birth normal and safe, and possibly also with a doula who specialises in emotional support and confidence. And then when you feel it's the right time, transfer to the hospital with both these angels alongside every step of the way. In the hospital, the midwife's role changes to one of support only, however, her clinical skill still is there to help you make wise decisions.
2. Since your midwife is with you, if at the last minute you think, "I'm confortable here, I'm feeling confident - I don't want to move!" - you can stay put and have your baby at home. It might even be in your birth pool.
I have had one client choose the first option and one choose the second option. The nice thing about hiring your own midwife to support you for your VBAC is that BOTH options remain open to you, and you don't have to make the call until you're in that moment - at which point you really do know which route is the right one for you.
One of my clients who chose to hire a midwife decided that she could not afford to hire me as well, so in a sense I "did myself out of job" but when I got the happy news of how she gave birth at home in her own loungeroom I was so happy.
Yes, I want to have the option open as I would in NZ to stay home and birth or go to hospital during the time Im actually in labour, but our financial situation has changed since we arrived and being as we know so few people here - espcially as we do not know others with kids here, I felt to go with hospital care. I know that a hospital experience may not end up giving me alot of support, but in my current situation (which is somewhat vulnerable and bit lonely being new here and having a pregnancy and baby in a different system) I feel better with the choice of the hospital. But otherwise, yes, an independant midwife and potential homebirth - and not having to decide till Im ready would be great.
We are going through Mercy and I think so far they are not too bad...
Even with no funds you can still get support, there are free trainee doulas and mw's and they often have a bit of experience too. Esp. if you are feeling vulnerable and lonely you need that support, come along to all the group meetings you can too - we might bump into each other!!!
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