Well, went for my midwife appointment today at the doctor’s surgery – I’m 30 weeks today.
All was fine with the routine stuff – midwife did say that I am measuring 32cms (it should be 30) but I’m not worried about that – how scientific can a tape measure on the bump be, anyway?
I also asked her for her opinion on my VBAC plans and the consultant saying constant monitoring meant I couldn’t be mobile. (The midwives I see at the doctor’s aren’t actually from Warrington Hospital, where I am having this baby, they’re from Wigan, so they can’t tell me what Warrington’s policies etc are, but I just wanted a second opinion on what I do next.)
She was really helpful. She said, as I suspected, that I don’t neccessarily need constant monitoring. She said, with regular monitoring with a dopler I should be able to roam around freely, perhaps laying / sitting on the bed for 20 minutes every two hours to do a trace. She said that anyway, even if I had constant monitoring and was hooked up to the monitor, I would still be able to be fairly mobile – sit on a birth ball or chair, stand up or even walk around a little. She said she totally agreed that being mobile was my best chance of avoiding another failure to progress situation and achieving my VBAC.
Having had some great advice online to contact the Supervisor of Midwives at the hospital to ask to discuss their VBAC policy and get their help and agreement writing a birth plan, I asked this midwife if she thought that was my best course of action – she said it was. So I feel much better about everything, and will definitely do that… am going to get my thoughts down on a rough birth plan then take those ideas to the midwife to discuss them.
Now I am feeling more confident and perhaps even strong enough to insist on intermittent monitoring, as this midwife suggests. That’s what I originally wanted, but then I felt a bit worn down to accept constant monitoring as long as I could be relatively mobile.
The appointment today has given me just the lift I needed and I feel like I’m back on the right track again… hooray!
