Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe has issued a proclamation declaring April Cesarean Awareness Month in the State of Arkansas.  The chapter leaders of ICAN of NWA and Birth Network of NWA will accept the proclamation later this month. 

Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody issued a proclamation declaring April Cesarean Awareness Month.  The chapter leaders of ICAN of NWA and Birth Network of NWA will accept the proclamation later this month.

Here is some new info. I received from a mom about filing a grievance with DHS about the hospital banning VBAC.

Thanks again for all of your help.  I will continue my fight - and for now, I am just going to plan on using my same doctor and just showing up in labor with my heart and mind set on refusing surgery.  I may get treated like crap, but the Arkansas Dept. of Health and Human Services has already told me that ....... Mem. can not force me into surgery and it would be at least a $50,000 fine.  I don't know if I told you this or not, but I called them to file a grievance about the lack of birthing choices at ........  She called me back a few days later only to tell me that until I was an actual patient of the hospitals that there wasn't anything they could do for me, BUT to call them the minute I pre-registered and re-open my grievance.  Pre-registrtaion counts you as a techinal patient.  We are supposed to pre-register one month in advance, so that will give DHHS 30+ days to take action BEFORE the baby gets here. 


This is good info. to have if you are planning to deliver at a hosital that bans VBAC- but be sure to know your rights and study informed refusal rules so that you doctor cant "dump"you.  According to EMTALA the hospital has to take you if you show up in active labor BUT your doctor can dump you as a patient as long as they give you 30 days notice and a referal.  At least that is how I undertsand it- if anyone has more info. on these regulations please let us know.

How to have a VBAC in NWA.

You do have some options open to you even though the area hospitals have a "BAN" on VBAC.

1. Find a supportive Doctor who did lots of VBAC's in the past.  There are some Doctors in the area who did VBAC's for years successfully and would probably be supportive if their patient decided to do an informed refusal of c-section at the last minute.  If you have one of these doctors please let the rest of us know who they are so we can go to them too!!

2. Go to a hospital that still does VBAC's- rumors that Berryville still does them but we dont know for how long, Ft. Smith apparently does them and is only about an hour away.  Little Rock has more than one hospital that does VBAC's and there are lots of rumors that St. Mary's is VBAC friendly even though they officially ban.

3.The route that holds the most promise in my opinion is Informed Refusal of C-section.  But you HAVE to educate yourself about how this works.  Get more info. at www.ican-online.org.  If you decide that this is something you are interested in I can hook you up with a local woman who did this and had a successful VBAC at a local hospital and her Doctor was supportive of her choice. Informed refusal makes the "ban" on VBAC a mute point- all VBAC moms have to do is just refuse surgery!!!  We are trying to come up with a network of free doula support and free legal aid to support local women who want to try this route.  If you are interested email the website and I can put you in touch with someone who can help you. After a few successful VBAC's this way I think the "ban" will be over because we found a way around it!!

4. Call you health insurance company and ask to be assigned a nurse case worker.  It is in the best interest of the insurance company for you to have a VBAC because it is cheaper than a repeat c-section.  Most insurance companies will give you a case worker who will work on your behalf and as your advocate to try and get you a caregiver who will support your VBAC and convince the hospital to give you a VBAC as well.  Its definitely worth a try and a good free way to get someone working on your behalf. If you are on assistance call them and so the same thing for the same reason- it is cheaper for them if you VBAC.

5. Hire a doula- you are gonna need the support. www.birthnetworknwa.org has a list of doulas and you can also go to www.cappa.org and www.dona.org for more.  If you cant afford a doula email this site and we will try and hook you up with some people who can help you get a discounted doula or possibly work to get you some free support.  This is just for VBAC moms, especially informed refusal moms.

6. Educate yourself about what VBAC entails, how you can increase your chances of success, what they risks are, what your rights are, etc.  There are tons of great sites with this info. on the web.  ICAN is great and there are links on this website to lots of other places to find good info.  The more you know, the more medical professionals will respect you when you discuss VBAC with them. 

7. If you are thinking about HBAC you can email this site and we will put you in touch with some local moms who have done this and might share their experience with you as well as some tips.  It is against the law in Arkansas for midwives to attend HBAC births but some women are choosing this route and do find professional help to support them at home.

8. Join the local groups working to reverse the ban on VBAC in NWA and then none of us will have to worry about all of this and can have our babies in peace!  Contact www.birthnetworknwa.org, alynwaican@hotmail.com or help@bringbackvbac.org to find out how you can help reverse the ban on VBAC!  We have to do this ourselves- no one is going to do it for us!

9.? ?? send in your suggestions about how to have a VBAC in NWA.......

Share your experience of C-section, VBAC, or repeat c-section due to lack of VBAC at your hospital with women in our community. The good, the bad and the ugly. Things that might have made a difference. If you had to do it over again. (Please practice good manners and if you feel you must write something derogatory about a hospital or caregiver please refrain from using names, consider initials or nick-names instead. Content here may be edited or removed to maintain the integrity of the site.)

Have you had a successful VBAC lately or know where women can go to have one?  Share you story, advice or even a rumor. (Please practice good manners. Content here may be edited or removed to maintain the integrity of the site.)