VBAC SUPPORT

Hi ladies,
Yes, you are right, Dr Swart does not back-up for the midwives anymore, neither does Dr Sulliman.
They are now working with a team of gynies from Eugene Marais who also has birthing rights at Femina so in case of an emergency you will have your midwife with you as well as one of the back-up gynies on their team.

Hantielab, I would strongly consider seeing Dr Bosch (she is one of the back-up doctors for Midw-exc) and using her with a midwife present for the birth.

There is also a new birth house opposite Moot Hospital run by one of the midwifes who used to work at Midw-exc and Dr Bosch, so you could try that route as well. It is called the Birth Boutique.

That is sad to hear about Dr Swart. I contacted Midwives exclusive about twin natural birth but she didn't sound very enthusiastic, basically said it depends on the Dr.

So I'm just gonna relax and see closer to the time how babies are positioned and then try again with Dr!

Gloeiwurmpie, good luck with the choices and keep us up to date

Hi Ladies,

Thank you for the replies ladies. It means so much to have support on this journey.

Antz, thank you for giving me the heads up on Dr. Suliman.

Nels_n, thank you for explaining all of this. It is just weird that for so many years he did back them up and not now anymore. I guess the insurance went up and this makes it difficult for doctors. So sad that this dictates the birth process.

So sorry to hear that medical aid is giving you hassles now too! One pays so much monthly and when push comes to shove you just want them to do their part. I am so hoping that your next gynea appointment goes well and that you can have peace with the plan you have drawn up. It is pretty insane through how many hoops one has to jump to just birth a baby!!

Sma@ that's my other worry. Financial. This year alone we had to pay R4000+ for medical bills we were unaware of due to the medical aid changes for last year. So imagine having to pay R-+5000 for medical aid being exhausted(we weren't aware as we phoned before every visit to find out if we had funds and they said yes , only to find we didn't any longer), then having to pay R6000+ for a midwife, R1500+ for gynea copayment. Out of pocket, we cant afford it at all due to building from our income, especially now with baby coming we need to have this house done. So I am considering having a doula with a gynea.
I am seeing another gynea in 2weeks who is highly recommended as vbac by the hospital staff,and my gp. Really hoping he is as great as they say he is.
I didn't know that trying to birth your own children can be so overwhelming.

Ya Nels is right, sometimes they have to play it safe for things like that. It's sad that factors totally not related to birth dictate the birth process so much, but well, that's just how things work.

So its up to us mothers to do enough research, to learn about our bodies and what to expect, warning signs, cos I know even though all of us here want to birth naturally, more than anything we just want our babies safe, as they should be with natural birth.

I had the issue with medical aid also, my then medical aid didn't cover midwives, but because I knew that it was safe for me to use a midwife, and even if things go wrong my baby and I would be taken care of, I paid cash for the midwife. You must just find caretakers, whether docs or midwives, who still care about birth and who make decisions based on you as a person.

Morning ladies

i recently found out that one of the reasons gynecologist are now stopping being back ups is due to their insurance being ridiculously increased for being backup gyneas. As that causes more liablilty for them and the possible cases that may arise as due to the fact that if you back a midwife you are almost agreeing that ALL is well and if something goes you will take responsibility for the patient if an emergency or death occurs. So if something goes wrong its the gyneas responsibility to explain why he\she didn't see it coming. Because even when you do end up having to have a cs the gynea has to write reports as to what went wrong because he\she should have known there was a problem. Hence now gyneas prefer taking so much precautions and making so many limits towards vbacs, and are also wanting to be the patients sole care providers to guard themselves should the need arise

Hi GW

So sorry to hear this... i had wondered about him as i know my friend who is using Midwives Exclusives, and who is due any day now, has Dr Suliman as a back up gynae...