P.M.
answers from
San Francisco
on
St. Luke's Women's Center- Dr. Norrell. She's fantastic!
-
Q&A
Get advice from millions of moms -
Timeline
See what’s coming up for your child
...and not push me into having another C-section only because I am past the 40 weeks due date. We are relocating and I have to transfer my pre-natal care. Any help/leads would be much appreciated!
Thanks.
(Finally, Moms from SF! Weirdly enough I have had to troll websites looking for answers to this question but judging by the utter lack of response, it was starting to feel that mothers who want to attempt VBACs do not exist in the city. Yay for mamapedia)
Thank you all for the leads. Yes, St Luke's does not do VBACs anymore...guess it is not lucrative enough for CPMC ;)) I am going to pursue Sage Femme (we are on PPO, so I may as well make the most of it), and UCSF. My only reservation with UCSF was that it is supposedly group-care - meaning you are shuttled between midwives and OBs?? Is this true? I had this experience with my first at UCSD (in San Diego) and it was a little nerve wracking bc my baby was breech and some of the midwives freaked out, other knife-happy OBs stepped in trying to force us to have a C (I was 2 days past the due date!!) and all the while the OB that was supposed to be taking care of me (a seasoned vaginal breech doc) was busy with other patients...ultimately there was a fair amount of confusion. Since I will have to under GA for a repeat C (insensitive to epidural) if it comes to that, I want to make sure that in the rush that the surgeons usually seem to be in, they don't slice me open without anaesthesia.....
Any particular OBs at UCSF that are strong enough to stand by you if you are past due and baby's heart beat is aok?
Thanks for the responses though - gives me somewhere to start. Good luck with your births!
St. Luke's Women's Center- Dr. Norrell. She's fantastic!
I would have said St. Luke's and the women's health center, but I guess they aren't doing VBACs anymore. You could call and double check. They also have recently adopted a policy about inducing after about 41.5 weeks. CPMC has the reputation of being a "doctor's hospital" for births, and UCSF has a better reputation for allowing natural births. If you need to use insurance and have a PPO, there is a free standing birth center, Sage Femme that takes insurance.
Hi R.,
UCSF is a certified nurse midwife-based practice. I'm 4 days away from my due date with my second and planning a VBAC (they are the only hospital in the area that encourages VBAC versus a second C-section, plus they have good post-delivery pediatric care). They told me that they would let me go to 41 weeks, 6 days before inducing me and would not require me to have a C-section only because I was overdue. I have, however, decided that if I get to that point, I will be having another C-section. (Been there, done that induction thing, and it was ultimately the reason I had to have a C-section the last time. Personally, I refuse to be tortured only to still undergo major surgery.) My midwife is Sharon Weiner, but they are all good and provide thorough and thoughtful care.
I hope this is helpful!
I can also recommend a great pediatrician for when the time comes (Janet Sollod at Stonestown Pediatrics).
-Amanda
Laura Norrell at St Luke's. :)
Edit: OOPS! I forgot about the VBAC thing. St Luke's isn't doing VBACs at the moment. I'd go to UCSF; try to see the midwives there. Avoid Dr. Thiet and you should be fine.
I second Dr. Norrell at St. Lukes. I had a totally unmedicated birth past my due date.
