The right to give birth in a birthing centre

[Jenniflower]

Ok so I have a random question. See how we're always going on about our right to birth where we want? Well most of that is always in reference to home births. If need be I could argue any point of what my rights are in reference to a home birth but about a birthing centre? What if you're turned away because you have Group B Strep? Or because you have a high BMI? Or because you want a VBAC? All things that you still have the right to do at home but do you have the right to say that you want to go the birthing centre even in they've turned you away and your midwife is saying no. In addition, do you have the right to birth in a pool in the hospital if you've been told no? Is there any fighting room with these circumstances? Or is what they say goes because it's their area not yours?

There's a woman I would really like to help with this but I can't seem to actually find the information anywhere so I thought I would bring this to you wonderful ladies. Any help would be great.

 

[aob1013]

I had group b strep and was refused a birth centre birth i wish i had stood my ground.

Next time they said i would have to be induced or have an elective

Well, bugger them!

 

[Freya]

Birth centres have a narrow margin for women they do accept, it's v frustrating when my local centre is threatened with closure and need the births!

As far as I'm aware you can not negotiate a birth centres decision, you can of course ask a consultant to sign you off on your notes to support a birth centre birth, it's the only thing the midwife centres will bend on. I guess they need to cover their asses!

I was turned away during labour of dd as they believed I needed antibiotics via iv. Which they don't have on site.

As for rights to a water birth, it depends on if one is available at the right time. I pissed the hospital midwife off at dd birth because I refused induction. Strangely no birth pools were available after my rant at them.... the one midwife clearly wanted her revenge! If you mean someone is being refused a water birth in the planning stage, like due to gbs, there is a great gbs thread on here providing support for still allowing water birth despite gbs+ status. I'm sure whatever reason given by medical staff, there will be some counter research in support. The NICE guidelines under pin Nhs policy, but the Nhs have there own interpretation of the guidelines so it's worth going back to the source, NICE, and reminding medical staff what the guidelines actually are!

Xxxx

 

[Jenniflower]

Yea I could easily argue every case I've put down the problem is trying to get the consultant to understand this which doesn't sound like it would be happening. I want to find a way to go over the consultants head much like many of us do to achieve our home births. I feel this women should be allowed her birth at the birth centre and just because her BMI is 35 they're treating her in a horrible way. The midwife actually said she may not be able to get out the pool in time if there's an emergency because of her weight! I think that's horribly offensive. Last I checked there are women far smaller than her who have SPD that have a harder time moving than she would.

 

[indigo_fairy]

Yea I could easily argue every case I've put down the problem is trying to get the consultant to understand this which doesn't sound like it would be happening. I want to find a way to go over the consultants head much like many of us do to achieve our home births. I feel this women should be allowed her birth at the birth centre and just because her BMI is 35 they're treating her in a horrible way. The midwife actually said she may not be able to get out the pool in time if there's an emergency because of her weight! I think that's horribly offensive. Last I checked there are women far smaller than her who have SPD that have a harder time moving than she would.

That's EXACTLY what they told me last time, when my BMI was 35. That was their only reason. I wish I had fought my case back then because the ironic thing was I was labouring in a room with a birthing pool totally free and empty, that they told me I couldn't use. My BMI this time is 31, but now their reason was previous c-section.... jeeesss if they'd given me the pool first time round maybe that reason wouldn't even exist!

Sorry I can't really help but I'm sure your lady would be fully capable to get out of the pool, as I would've been. I found it impossible at the time to budge them.

 

[Bournefree]

Hi Ladies - I'm going to hold on for a sec, as I need some time to give the fullest answer I can, from a legal perspective in the time I have. It is pervasive, and gets into lots of different areas of law

Some food for thought in the mean time~:
Do you make your own decisions.. and how do you come to those decisions?
How do you give consent to medical treatment?
Why do you feel it would be ok if a consultant "signed" it off?
Do you think for instance that an individual such as a Jehovah witness can refuse say a blood transfusion in a life threatening situation?
Do you think that if you arrived at a G.P surgery with a head injury they would "turn you away" and simply not treat you at all?

I’ll be back. Sorry to not be able to give a quick answer..
XxX.

 

[lozzy21]

I asked a midwife friend and she said the reason they wont let you have a water birth in her hospital if you weight over 15 stone at the time of labour is the manfactures guidlines say thats the maximum weight.

Also if you decide to have a home birth with one of the things you stated you are told that you are doing it against advice and should something happen to you or your baby because of said risk they are not liable since your doing it against their advice. In a birth centre since its nhs property they have higher risk assesments and health and safety rules. They usualy dont have as many midwifes as a hospital so should a complication arise and you need more attention because of a complication you may be taking a midwife from another mother putting her at risk too. Ok so you cant allways forsee risks but if you know some one is at a higher risk of complcations you would be failing in your duty of care towards her and other woman to let her birth some where that wasent equipt(sp?) to safely deal with her labour.

It would be like preforming an operation in a gp surgary.

 

[Mervs Mum]

You definitely CAN negotiate although you'd have to be made of tough stuff! If you felt on balance it was the most appropriate place for you and they refused, if you then said you'd be having a potentially unassisted home birth instead they would be likely to prefer to have you in the BC than at home.

 

[chuck]

Isnt the birth centre thing a matter of insurance?

They do not have OB's/access to certain treatments/interventions that a hospital does so they have to have more strict criteria...certainly more strict than a homebirth but that's because if you choose to put yourself in a medical centre (for want of a better term) you have to abide by their legislation to some extent just like you have the right to refuse any treatments etc?

 

[kiwimama]

Surely if you turn up in labour at a birth centre, they can't forcibly kick you out? I just imagine going to the birth centre, them saying "no, we told you that you can't birth here because of ..... (blah blah blah) and we are getting an ambulance here to transfer you to the hospital." Then the ambulance turns up and you refuse to get in, I can't imagine they would be allowed to pick you up against your will, chuck you in the back and you get carted off.
As a pp said, you would probably have to be made of tough stuff to ride out the torment they would give you over refusing to leave, but I can't imagine they would legally be able to kick you out and refuse you treatment, especially if they are part of the NHS.