VBAC at St. Thomas', share your experience Post Reply

[morasmum]

Ladies,

I would like to hear you experience having a VBAC at St. Thomas' (even horror stories), and I would also like to know the "technical" details in terms of how long did they let you labour at home, or did you have to go straight to hospital as soon as the first contraction started?, was induction a possibility?, was there a time limit for 1st stage?, was there a time limit on the pushing stage?, is the continual fetal monitoring a "set on stone" rule or can it be bent?, can you move at all out of the bed with CFM? , etc.

I would have loved to ask the community consultant these question when I saw him at 19 weeks, but I had not made out my mind then yet. And I have received a letter from the consultant midwife moving my appointment with her for when I am 38 weeks; so I am hoping I can learn from you experience and clarify what are the practical guidelines for a VBAC at St. THomas'.

I hope to hear from you.

[supermummy]

I can only comment on the CFM aspect at st Thomas's. I was assured beforehand by my midwives that I'd still be able to move around to a degree - obviously there are limitations but I had imagined I could change position, eg kneel, stand by the bed. In fact I ended up having to lie down the whole time on my back. When I tried to even lie on my side which was more comfortable, the monitor didn't work as well so they insisted I must stay on my back which made it much more stressful. They also wanted me or my husband to hold the monitor in place on my tummy which made moving around impossible! At no point did they even ask what position i wanted to be in or if i was comfortable. When it came to pushing they just automatically whipped the stirrups out. Not a great experience of CFM in my case. Perhaps in other cases they are more flexible with CFM.