Hello ladies! I'm new to the group. I had a quick question..
This is my second pregnancy. I'm due at the end of September and currently seeing Dr. Randy Hunt, at Southcrest in BA. At the appointment I had in May, I talked to him about a VBAC and he told me that, because I'm high risk, -if- anybody would take me, it would probably only be OSU Medical Center. Since most of my issue is a heart defect that has been surgically repaired, I had an echo done. Last week I talked to my cardiologist and asked his opinion, and he said since my pumping function is holding up supremely well (functioning at a 'normal' person's level), he sees no reason for me not to attempt a VBAC, as long as my baby hasn't inherited the heart defect.
I'm supposed to be getting a Level-2 US to check for a defect in the baby's heart in the next month, but I need to have a doctor picked out to transfer to (my gut instinct is that the baby is healthy), since apparently Southcrest no longer supports VBACs. I live near the 61st and Lewis area, so pretty close to St Francis and the OU hospital.
Anyway, do you ladies know of any doctors who would likely take on somebody with a corrected heart defect for a VBAC? The only reason I had my C-section last time was because my son had a heart defect. I'm pretty determined to at least go into labor naturally this time. =( I felt really cheated out of the experience the first time around. Thanks in advance!
Helen
Hi Helen!
I am one of 3 mom's from the OKC area that have driven to Tulsa to use Dr. John Thompson for VBA2C. All 3 of us have loved him and were successful in achieving our VBA2C!! He's fantastic, excellent bedside manners, knowledgeable, informative of all options and lets the patient call the shots. Honestly can't say enough wonderful things about him. I switched to him at 24 weeks, my riend switched at 22ish weeks, and the other mama in our VBAC support group switched at 20ish weeks. He's excellent and all of us had wonderful experiences delivering at St. Franci- The nurses there were AMAZING! The best I've had with any of my deliveries. They spoke very highly of Dr. Thompson and all of them worked very well with him and vice versa.
You should definitely give him a call! He spends about an hour with you on your first visit going over his philosophy on VBAC and gives you tons of info. Be sure to bring your hubby to this appt :)
If you have any specific questions about him, please let me know! I'd love to share my experience :) Good luck in your search for a privider! VBAC is AMAZING! Mine was one year ago and I am still in awe over the experience :)
Another doctor in Tulsa who attends VBACs is Dr James Ross. He delivers at Southcrest.
I have not heard that Southcrest no longer supports VBACs. However the main problem is that your doctor may be one of the 80% of Oklahoma docs that are insured by PLICO, the state's physician liability insurer. In 2005 they banned their doctors from attending VbACs.
That's not to say that your doctor might not have valid concerns, just that even if they are VBAC-supportive often their hands are tied.
What was the reason for your cesarean, was it related to your heart condition? I'm glad things are going well so far for you this pregnancy! :)
Please let us know if you have any other questions and I encourage you to plan on attending our upcoming ICAN meeting. I'm going to post the information for that in a separate thread.
I myself was dx last year in Aug w/a CHD at age 26. I had a large Primum ASD & a cleft in my Mitral valve. I had at that point a 1 yr old (born via e-c/s because the cord was wrapped 4x around his neck up by the placenta). I think hearing more of the details of my experience may help you looking for your options, so I'll be unusually lengthy. :)
Last year in March we started TTC#2 but my cycles had just returned from bfing & it took awhile for me to even ovulate again. In May we moved from Claremore to Collinsville/Owasso. I had for some time been having some noticeable health concerns. I also had trouble w/my cycles in the past as well. My old ob put me on Clomid to get pg w/my son. So I again was concerned and started looking into things. Since I was 17 I've had a goiter & bw showing hypo-thyroid levels. However, my chiro at the time never followed it up & my old md didn't either. I went to see him about this time last year after researching & educating myself on Thyroid Disease. He did another round of bw. Through some horrible delays caused by his nurse I ended up just getting a copy for myself from the lab. My levels were considerably off. However, the next day the nurse finally called to say "everything checks out" when asked her specifically about my exact #'s & told her I had a copy she said that dr felt there was no reason to treat it. So I promptly found myself a second opinion. Actually Dr. Geren got me in that same day & I was a new patient!
Now, right here I going to say that I had a scheduled appointement with Dr. James Ross. I had been wanting to switch to him for a while, I have several friends who have delivered with him and we all LOVE Dr. Ross!
Back to Dr. Geren, at my first appointment he looked over my bw, confirmed that I do indeed have a thyroid condition (later we established I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis) & he also noticed a heart murmur. When he asked me about it I said it was news to me. So he said not to worry too much, probably an "innocent murmur" & that we keep a watch on it. So I was started on Thyroid replacement meds & told to hold off TTC until my OB gave the go ahead.
My husband & I went to my "get to know you/establish care" appt w/Dr. Ross shortly after this. We discussed my hopes for a VBAC & went over my medical history (specifically my first birth). He said I was a wonderful VBAC candidate. He also gave me some guidelines on when to TTC w/concern to my Thyroid.
That was in July last year, in August Dr. Geren decided to send for a routine echo just to confirm everything was okay w/my murmur. Well, needless to say I think I shocked Dr Geren because 30mins after my echo at SouthCrest I had Dr Geren personally on the phone telling me I had a hole in my heart that was going to need repairing.
So after a TEE & Heart Cath w/the cardiologist I was sent to see the local surgeon. He wanted to possibly replaced two of my valves w/mechanical ones (which would mean no more pregnancies for me) & that I should consider waiting up to 5 years for my surgery & have as many kids as I wanted (btw this what I did NOT do). So I went back to Dr. Ross to discuss everything from an OB view. He said if/when I had more children I could still VBAC w/him. That I wouldn't be "high risk" but I would be a "higher risk" patient. Meaning I could still VBAC, he could still deliver me but I would need a higher level ultrasound and would see Dr. Beeson, the high risk ob a few times. Well in November while I was still weighing everything I made a consultation appt w/Dr. Beeson. I SO glad I did! He highly recommended I see a Congential Heart doctor and get their opinion (the closet CHD group is in Houston). Dr. Beeson's own son had many major CHD's and had his surgery & care out of the same group. Dr Besson also gave me lots of info regarding VBAC & specifically VBAC's w/Dr Ross. I came away very encouraged in my choice with Dr Ross & my desires for a VBAC.
The Doctors out of Texas Childrens Hospital have since taken tremendous care of me. I had Open Heart Surgery to repair my defects in February of this year down in Houston. I have since seen Dr. Ross & he is still in favor of a VBAC for me and my husband & I are finally back to TTC #2.
All of this is to tell you I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Ross to you. I would at least suggest talking with him. You can tell him I referred you if you like. He is moving his offices from SouthCrest to Saint Francis South. So he is out of the office all of June but his offices will be open the first of July at Saint Francis South. I don't have the new number handy right now but can get it for you.
I hope this helps and would love to chat with you sometime.
Sarah
I'm seeing Dr. Thompson. I'm not high risk, but he does deliver out of St. Francis (his office is attached). I don't know if he takes high risk patients, nor do I know about Dr. Ross. Those are the two that everyone says to go to, so if I were you I would look up info on both of them and their hospitals and ask them both. I've heard wonderful things about Dr. Ross, but I wanted to deliver at St. Francis and use an OBGYN. Now that I know he's moving to St. Francis South, that maybe would have affected my decision (but I have a family full of doctors and nurses...and they would have screamed at me for not using a OBGYN). I do really like Dr. Thompson. He is very caring and so is his staff. Like I said, I would check out both hospitals and both doctors if I were you. :) Good luck and keep us posted.
Hello!! Looking for a good VBAC doc!
- hsmilnak
on Jun. 11, 2011 at 5:22 AM