Article in Time Magazine examining VBAC vs. Repeat Cesarean
What a great piece on VBAC vs. repeat cesarean. It gives an excellent summary of the history of VBAC, the influence of ACOG’s recommendations, as well as how malpractice insurance effects the choices available to women with prior cesareans.
A couple excerpts:
Indeed, the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), a grass-roots group, recently called 2,850 hospitals that have labor and delivery wards and found that 28% of them don’t allow VBACs, up from 10% in its previous survey, in 2004. ICAN’s latest findings note that another 21% of hospitals have what it calls “de facto bans,” i.e., the hospitals have no official policies against VBAC, but no obstetricians will perform them.
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Following a few major lawsuits stemming from VBAC cases, many insurers started jacking up the price of malpractice coverage for ob-gyns who perform such births. In a 2006 ACOG survey of 10,659 ob-gyns nationwide, 26% said they had given up on VBACs because insurance was unaffordable or unavailable; 33% said they had dropped VBACs out of fear of litigation. “It’s a numbers thing,” says Dr. Shelley Binkley, an ob-gyn in private practice in Colorado Springs who stopped offering VBACs in 2003. “You don’t get sued for doing a C-section. You get sued for not doing a C-section.”
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So how to reverse the trend [of repeat cesareans]? For one thing, patients and doctors need to be as aware of the risks of multiple cesareans as they are of those of VBACs. That is certain to be on the agenda when the NIH holds its first conference on VBACs next year…. But Zelop fears that the obstetrical C-change may come too late: “When the problems with multiple C-sections start to mount, we’re going to look back and say, ‘Oh, does anyone still know how to do VBAC?’”
Read the entire article here: The Trouble With Repeat Cesareans
Great article, huh?! The woman featured is up in your neck of the woods, right?
I am pregnant with my second child and am planning on doing a VBAC. Pretty much all of the doctors that I have talked to, including the one I am currently stuck with had something along these lines to say…”Well, we can TRY it if that’s what you want to do but you only have like a 60% chance and if you have a uterine rupture, it could be catastrophic. So when do you want to schedule your repeat ceasarean?” I have had many other mothers who have had c-sections ask me, why in the world I can’t let this go and just get a repeat “C”.
I felt the c-section. My epidural had worn off by about the 25th hour of labor and i could not be numbed again. It was one of the most terrifying, painful experiences of my life. Not to mention the emotional aspect. And none of the doctors were sympathetic at all. I just laid there and let the doctor’s do whatever they wanted to because I’m just the stupid patient. During the c-section, I asked my doctor, “does this mean I will always have to have c-sections”.
“Oh, no! Lot’s of women deliver vaginally after c-section.” If that were true, then I would think that doctor’s wouldn’t act so weird and discouraging about it. It was horrible. I couldn’t bond with my son the way that I wanted to. I couldn’t nurse because of the pain…there was no way I was going to be able to get up every 2 hours to feed him. I was stressed and in pain. It took me probably almost a year before I felt physically back to normal. Emotionally and pyschologically, I still have problems. When i found out I was pregnant again (which I wanted to be for a while) I got overwhelmingly depressed and frightened. I now look forward to the pain of vaginal birth. I can’t wait! It’s gonna hurt like heck but I am going to have a say in it this time. My main concern is that I am going to be pressured into another c-section. I wish there was more info about c-sections because it is becoming a very common thing. It’s really sad. It’s all about convinence and money. It has got to be a totally different experience to have your baby come out the way that they were intended to rather than having a doctor cut you open and rip them out. I am sorry if I am being “mean” or graphic but I think it’s ridiculous. C-sections can be very helpful, if there is a problem but that is the only time that they should be used. Also, I believe that doctors should have to pass a class of how to treat a pregnant/laboring woman. I have had horrible experiences and I am very passionate about it now. I would hate to see it happen to someone else. I had nightmares steadily for about a year and a half and every once in a while, I will wake up screaming and crying still. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
VERY HELPFUL
I just had a c-section recently, and I don’t want to go through that again at all. I decided to look at midwives for our next child (even though I’m not contemplating pregnancy at this point, I think it’s helping me to cope to look for providers now). They operate very differently and have much lower c-section rates. I found one that specializes in VBACs, and 97% of her VBACs are successful. It is worth it not only to find someone who is willing to help you, but who also likes your birthing choices and is able to make them happen.