[The Aubrey]

I'm having such a tough time finding a doctor who does VBAC!! It's really annoying. I'm pretty sure I'm a good candidate for VBAC. With my son I kept asking (from about 36 weeks) if he was in position, because I felt like he wasn't. All of the doctors I was seeing told me he was head down, everything was fine. They wouldn't give me an u/s to check, because I was wrong...his head was down. Well, I labored at home to 6cm. Went into the hospital, walked until 6.5-7cm then finally the doc checked me and said "How sure are we that this is a head down here?" he was breech. I almost killed the man with my bare hands. He attempted to turn Shane during active labor, which he said wouldn't work, but I wanted him to try anyway. And obviously it didn't work. Any advice on finding a doc who will do VBAC? I found one practice where a few of their docs do them and a few don't..so whoever is on call the day I got into labor will make the decision..I made an appt. with them and i'll keep that appt unless I find someone else.

[Jaci]

One thing to remember is that even tho those doctors won't do them, if you go in to the hospital in active labor they can't force you to have a c-section, especially if you've been working with another doctor who has already given you the go ahead!

[AmandaLynn84]

They can't force you (unless they are so adamant that they attempt to gain a court order for your c/s. Rare, but not unheard of...), but they can make your labor absolute heck. I would absolutely try to find someone supportive before resorting to laboring with unsupportive doctors/hospital staff. Have you contacted your local ICAN chapter?

[TheOtherMichelle]

You might need to find a midwife if you want a vbac. Some areas just seem to suck like that! Don't give up!

Heh, there was a lady in my daughter's PR that had four c-sections, and was going to have her fifth. She went into labor early, and when she said she was scheduled for a C-section on such and such day and needed one NOW, the doctor was like "well, let's try and do it vaginally.. PUSH." She labored for a while (I believe the OR was booked already), and they finally got her in for a C-section. I wish I could find the birth story.

But I was just thinking that I want THAT doctor. "Four previous C-Sections? Oh well. PUSH MAMA!"

Anyways, my point is that they can't force you to have a C-section without a court order, but it IS important to have a supportive doctor and nursing staff. A lot of women would cave under constant pressure to have a C-section (I probably would).

I second the suggestion of checking out ICAN, and maybe shopping around for midwives. if you can't find a supportive medical practitioner, I suggest looking for a doula to be there when you go into labor - that way you have someone on your side when the nurses are breathing down your throat.