All things VBAC
So this will not be the long, meaty post about VBAC which I dangled a few posts ago. Instead it is a plea to the universe that my senior paper (my thesis) topic would hurry up and crystallize already.
For the record, it's probably going to be a survey of Cesarean and VBAC legal cases nationwide. The chapter in Pushed featuring court ordered cesarean section has me riled enough to start drafting my own practice protocol for OOH VBAC (yes cats, I will be one of those midwives) before I have even been licensed... VBAC is the issue which has for some reason been filling up my cranky-tank of late.
I may even tackle some ethics issues involved in the mother/baby pair and whether a woman's rights to decline medical treatment (even if it's effectively forced: "Sorry, we don't do VBAC's at this hospital") may be trumped in favor of risk to her fetus. This has so far been the claim made when OB's and hospitals have court ordered women attempting VBAC into operating theaters. Injections of terbutaline given as babies are on the perineum, as mom is wheeled into an OR with hospital attorneys waving court orders to my mind are simply violations of human rights.
Makes me wonder if countersuits have been filed. Why aren't women suing for unnecessary (or iatrogenic) cesarean surgery?
Stay tuned!
For the record, it's probably going to be a survey of Cesarean and VBAC legal cases nationwide. The chapter in Pushed featuring court ordered cesarean section has me riled enough to start drafting my own practice protocol for OOH VBAC (yes cats, I will be one of those midwives) before I have even been licensed... VBAC is the issue which has for some reason been filling up my cranky-tank of late.
I may even tackle some ethics issues involved in the mother/baby pair and whether a woman's rights to decline medical treatment (even if it's effectively forced: "Sorry, we don't do VBAC's at this hospital") may be trumped in favor of risk to her fetus. This has so far been the claim made when OB's and hospitals have court ordered women attempting VBAC into operating theaters. Injections of terbutaline given as babies are on the perineum, as mom is wheeled into an OR with hospital attorneys waving court orders to my mind are simply violations of human rights.
Makes me wonder if countersuits have been filed. Why aren't women suing for unnecessary (or iatrogenic) cesarean surgery?
Stay tuned!
posted by Louisa at 2:00 PM
5 Comments:
If you aren't already, I highly recommend you hang out on the ICAN yahoo group list. The topic of suing for unnecessary c/s comes up frequently, as does the topic of all things VBAC.
Someday I too will be one of THOSE midwives. Having had two VBACs, one of which was an HBAC tells me that it is possible and the rest of the evidence tells me that it is safe. I'd be interested to know what you find out about all the risks involved...not just uterine rupture (which is SO rare).
Good for you! We need more of THOSE midwives.
Cherrie
Like you don't already know this, but VBAC IS SO IMPORTANT!
I think that as more and more of American women are being chopped and sliced by the OB machine, they will be searching out something different, better, midwifery for subsequent babies. There will be more and more sectioned multips out there who need you and midwives like you, to attend them in vaginal birth and healing.
I have spoken to at least six different attorneys about my completely unnecessary, coerced and trauma inducing cesarean and they all say the same thing: no damage can be shown because my baby is fine and I am alive without any long term physical ailments.
It sucks. Bigtime. Because from now on I have a black mark on my childbearing history. Because I'm now considered "high risk" by many. It sucks for so many reasons that I won't spell out here, but it breaks my heart every time I think of having another baby that it is likely to be an uphill battle to the end.
Believe me when I tell you that if I bumped into the bitch of a nurse who coerced me into my cesarean on the street there might well be bloody noses to be had. I will NEVER forget her name or face. Because from the minute I arrived to L&D from the birthing center, she had me pegged for surgery. She WANTED me to have surgery, I swear.
I WILL HAVE A HBAC NEXT TIME. I swear to God. Because the only way I'm having another cesarean is if it is enough of an emergency to warrant general.
Wow, you sure did get me going tonight...I guess you could say it's been on my mind quite a bit lately as my local ICAN chapter takes off and we are TTC #2.
:)
Were you at MANA last weekend?? I was totally going to ask if you were there, but I don't know your (real) last name!
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