VBAC study on CDC website

[Celia]

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5144a3.htm

[techteacher1]

Very interesting... It's dismaying to see that women are electing for repeat cesarians rather than VBACs at such an alarming rate.

[Celia]

I don't know that it's so much an issue of "women electing repeat c-sections." I think they're simply not encouraged to pursue a VBAC. There's a lot of scary, misleading language and information out there regarding VBACs, doctors are often unsure of how to appropriately "manage" VBAC labors. The women who have the highest chances of achieving a VBAC, it seems, are the women who have taken the initiative to educate themselves and line themselves up with a care provider who's "on the same page". I think, too, that it's unfair of <u>any</u> organization to say "You need to improve your VBAC rates" and not help to provide the encouragement, the education, etc.

The article stated that issues need to be examined more closely. The characteristics of the women play a part, what kinds of insurance they have, what sorts of providers they have, etc. I definitely agree with that!

[miche]

Thanks for posting this Celia. I agree that it's not so much that women are CHOOSING to have ERC's, but that they are given little other choice. In my case my doctor just assumed I wanted an ERC and "informed" me about VBAC by trying to cut down at my reasons for wanting on and trying to convince me how dangerous they were. I had a huge struggle to find a provider that was truly vbac friendly. I was an excellent candidate for VBAC and I did have one. Most women (70-80%) who try will have a VBAC, and most I know who don't have a VBAC feel pretty ok about it. Not thrilled of course, but the ones I know personally (as opposed to online) describe their labor experience as being a really wonderful thing even though it ended in a cesarean. They felt empowered and in control - things that were lacking in their first cesarean births.

[stargirl]

I was just told that all the hospitals in our area were going to cease doing VBACS within the year due to rising insurance costs. !! It looks like insurance, not the doctors or the moms will have the deciding vote here in central Minnesota.

[Celia]

That's hysterical, stargirl considering that some insurance companies are pushing VBACs for the very same reason. LOL

I just came back to edit because you know what, that doesn't even make sense :confused: why would insurance companies stop backing a VBAC effort? A c-section is much more expensive, and I would think that the possibility of coming away with paying for a vaginal birth instead of a c-section would be appealing to insurance companies. Plus, what would happen if someone was planning an ERC and had a VBAC by accident LOL could happen!! What would they do then?

Things that make you go hmmmmmm...... ;)

OK, I'm coming back again. I just realized (duh!) that it's not patient insurance that is behind what you're saying; it's malpractice insurance. That, IMO, is just plain unethical. It's proven and encouraged by the CDC and many other credible groups that VBACs ought to be more of a norm following a c-section, and so I think to arbitrarily recommend an ERC for all candidates is not right at all.

[stargirl]

Sorry I didn't get back here sooner. I would have made it clearer. Yes, it's the malpractice insurance that isn't "letting" hospitals do VBACS anymore in our area. My La Leche Leader told me last week that after this year that our city's hospital will no longer do VBACs!

[Celia]

I guess I simply would not subject myself to that. I would sooner either find a midwife to attend me or I would just arrive at the hospital pushing. Don't they realize that's what they're driving women to do? :mad: