Update 5/25/10 11:00am – Thank you to those who suggested I contact Robbie Davis-Floyd.  She and I exchanged emails yesterday and we have a plan in place.   Hopefully this will be all worked out soon.  I will keep you posted via this page.

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I remember how excited I was in August 2009 when I registered for the 2010 Controversies in Childbirth conference as well as a preconference technology session on marketing your birth business.  I had no idea that 4 months later it would be canceled and 5 months after that, I would still be waiting for my $570 refund.  (If you want to hear the full story, continue reading, if you want to know how you can help, skip ahead.)

I have emailed and called Alan Huber, Conference Coordinator multiple times since the conference was canceled via an email dated 12/30/09.  It wasn’t until 10 weeks later, on March 11, 2010, were my communications acknowledged via an email from Mr. Huber.

He assured me that I will receive a refund but that he would “give priority to those that indicate[d] that waiting a few months for their refund would create a severe hardship” and that if I “must have [my] refund in the next few weeks, please e-mail [him] back and let [him] know.”

I immediately emailed him back explaining that not only was I out $570 cash, which was a hardship in and of itself, but I now also held over $1200 in Southwest Airlines credit as my family was going to spend a week in Tampa and make the conference our annual vacation.  If I didn’t buy $1200 worth of tickets and fly on them by October 15, 2010, I would be out that money as well.  All told, my checking account was $1800 lighter for a conference that was ultimately canceled.

It’s been 10 weeks since I sent that email.  I haven’t heard a word from Mr. Huber nor have I received a check in the mail or a credit on my credit card account.

I have called my credit card company to contest the charge only to learn that even if I had contested it the day the conference was canceled, it would have been to late.  Charges need to be contested within 60 days and the conference was canceled 120 days after I registered.

I’m sharing all this because I’m hoping you can help me.

If you have found the website and/or the classes helpful or if you just think I’m a fantastic person with a good haircut, please email Alan Huber at huber at businessofbirth dot com and ask him to expedite the refund due to VBAC Facts for the canceled 2010 Controversies in Childbirth conference.  I, and the digital projector I need to fix or replace before my upcoming July class, would greatly appreciate it.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Being someone who loves charts, numbers, and spreadsheets, I found it really fun to chart my cycle.  Not only do you learn how your body normally functions, but you are more apt to recognize when things are a little off.  I credit my experience with NFP in “tipping me off” early when I had my miscarriage.

Go to My Beautiful Cervix for the pictures.

Is VBAC Illegal? Is homebirth illegal?