[2] VBAC
All pregnancies are different, so we can't answer that. Sorry, what was the question?
That is the standard response to any question we ask of the health service. As we approach the business end of MOTS' pregnancy we're understandably nervous about the same happening again, and don't want a repeat of it. So when MOTS was asked to go and speak to the VBAC midwife I expected propaganda to be rammed down her throat.
And that is why I went along too. But, as I found out, this could not have been further from the truth.
MOTS had an appointment with the obstetrician a few weeks ago, who was there to talk about an elective cut and shut, but she was trying to push MOTS down the VBAC route. A little at odds with the appointment. And in the absence of any notes (they'd gone AWOL, probably on holiday in the Highlands somewhere, after all it is skiing season) the 64 million dollar questions around what exactly happened last time couldn't be answered.
Tuesday's appointment with the VBAC midwife, who you would think would push for VBAC and extol the virtues of it, was well balanced, no opinions given, told MOTS what her options were, listened to her thoughts (which she says are now back to what they were in October), told her that they seem perfectly reasonable, laughed, joked, told us the notes had shown up (along with their holiday photos, some stunning shots of Portree harbour), and was generally but totally impartial and informal. Both of us expected to go in, listen to propaganda based on the NHS trying to achieve targets, and come out with the balance skewed more heavily in favour of a cut & shut. The balance was tipped, true. But the other way. And not based on the virtues, but what we wanted to hear - cold hard facts, likelihoods and possible outcomes. What I think helped MOTS' case was that MOTS got to explain what she wanted from the session, she came across as having thought about the possibilities and what could happen, and what she wanted to do in each scenario. The midwife was supportive of those decisions, and offered extra advice where there would be differences to last time, such as the drip only being tried for a maximum of 4 hours, not the 24 that MOTS was on it first time. What I think helped the midwife's case was that she had read up on the notes ahead of the appointment (and didn't have them with her to refer to, it was all there in her head), knew the score and treated MOTS as an individual.
Oh, and the birth plan? Why do mums fill this in? For no reason other than to get them thinking about the birth, other than that it may as well be a crossword puzzle for what use it is at the actual event. And that's from a midwife!
MOTS seems to be much happier after Tuesday, it went a lot better than could be expected. So we are at this juncture very grateful to the VBAC midwife for her time, and for the community midwife for the referral. There are still a lot of routes that will end in a section, and this is more likely this time, but it's not 100% guaranteed. MOTS is going to give it a shot, and is happier knowing that she won't get the 26 hours of drug induced labour before an emergency caesarean section, that it will be severely restricted. And that puts me at ease too, I don't want to see her go through all that again and end up physically and emotionally drained going into theatre, as this has shown she won't get that far in any scenario.
The surreal part of the morning was going through the labour suite and MOTS not recognising the place. She didn't remember which room she was in, or the theatre, or the lift. I pointed each out to her, even the unmarked room I was ushered into to gown up in. The only bit that seemed different to me was walking down the corridor from maternity to the main drag of the hospital. And only then because I wasn't half asleep with no shoes on!
