The VBAC Facts® Podcast
The VBAC Facts® Podcast
Podcast Description
Join VBAC Facts® Founder and CEO Jen Kamel as she shares everything vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) including the shocking medical evidence, breathtaking birth stories, inspiring advocacy victories, and sobering legal cases.
Jen and her guests will both celebrate the triumphs as well as highlight the many opportunities for improvement in our health care system. Come learn what is possible so we can work together to create a world where everyone has access to respectful, evidence based health care.
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Since 2007, the focus of VBAC Facts® has been to provide objective, accurate information about VBAC and repeat cesarean to parents, professionals, policymakers, and the court so decisions can be informed, ethical, and just.
VBAC Facts® does not provide any medical advice and the information provided should not be so construed or used. Nothing provided by VBAC Facts® is intended to replace the services of a physician or midwife or to be a substitute for medical advice of a physician or midwife.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast covers a myriad of topics related to VBAC, particularly informed decision-making, patient autonomy, and ethical considerations in childbirth. Episodes dive into specific issues like VBA2C feasibility, dispelling VBAC myths, medical coercion experiences, and critical analysis of healthcare guidelines, providing listeners with research-backed evidence and personal narratives.
Join VBAC Facts® Founder and CEO Jen Kamel as she brings you evidence-based discussions about vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) including the shocking medical evidence, breathtaking birth stories, inspiring advocacy victories, and sobering legal cases.
Jen and her guests will both celebrate the triumphs as well as highlight the many opportunities for improvement in our health care system. Come learn what is possible so we can work together to create a world where everyone has access to respectful, evidence based health care.
—————
Since 2007, the focus of VBAC Facts® has been to provide objective, accurate information about VBAC and repeat cesarean to parents, professionals, policymakers, and the court so decisions can be informed, ethical, and just.
VBAC Facts® does not provide any medical advice and the information provided should not be so construed or used. Nothing provided by VBAC Facts® is intended to replace the services of a physician or midwife or to be a substitute for medical advice of a physician or midwife.
Confusion and fear over lawsuits drives health care in the US and even more so within obstetrics and midwifery. In the midst of defensive medicine as default, many clinicians miss the one decision that provides ultimate litigation protection.
Hermine Hayes-Klein is single handedly changing the landscape relative to litigation within maternal health care. An informed consent expert and international civil and human rights attorney, she specializes in the abuse of women and birthing people by the maternal health system.
We will discuss:
- the cognitive disconnect among healthcare providers regarding informed consent during pregnancy and childbirth
- legal cases that illustrate widespread rights violations
- her recent $1.73 million jury verdict
- the legal and ethical mandates that protect pregnant women’s rights
- the role of lawyers in enforcing these rights
- conventional wisdom like “you’ll never be sued for a cesarean” and “liability concerns makes us do it”
- how doctors will be held accountable for not respecting patient rights
- why “birth can’t be planned” is insulting
- how juries recognize trauma as an injury that matters
- why clinicians should support women’s choices even if it scares them
Additionally, Jen talks about her upcoming VBAC training for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and answers a reader’s question about prior uterine dehiscence and future uterine rupture risk.
00:00 Welcome To Episode 17!
02:07 Next VBAC Facts® Training
03:58 Reader Question: Prior Uterine Dehiscence
11:23 Telemedicine VBAC Consults
12:44 Introducing Hermine Hayes-Klein
14:06 The Violation of Informed Consent
17:34 “You’ll Never Be Sued For Doing a Cesarean” And Other Myths
18:57 Perverse Liability Incentives
20:12 VBAC Resources
21:06 Doctors Will Be Held Accountable For Not Respecting Client’s Rights
21:42 Rinat Dray’s Forced Cesarean
25:33 $1.73 Million Dollar Judgement
26:39 Cognitive Disconnect in Maternity Care
31:18 “Birth Can’t Be Planned” Is Insulting
32:11 Sample Birth Plan Language
32:31 Hooked Up & Induced, No Medical Reason
33:15 Running, Sobbing, Sleepwalking
33:44 Diagnosed with “Adjustment Disorder” Instead of PTSD
34:07 “The Kind of Abuse That Happens To Women Every Day”
35:00 “The Baby’s Healthy, Why Are We Even Here?”
35:49 Babies Need Their Mothers To Be Healthy
36:11 Juries Recognize Trauma As An Injury That Matters
36:50 Hold Doctors Accountable For Doing What The Law Requires
36:59 Next Case Challenges, “You Are Not Allowed”
39:12 “The Very Real Risks of Cesarean Are Dumped Onto The Birthing Patient”
39:46 Birth Trauma Not About Mode of Delivery
40:22 Who is Liable for Complications?
41:17 “Liability Makes Us Do It” Is A Lie
41:42 VBAC Facts Courses
45:06 Should We “Go Slow?” Are We “There Yet?”
46:26 The Law of Informed Consent Means…
46:56 “Keep Telling Them That They Have To Strap Down For The Belt”
48:26 What Violating Informed Consent Looks Like
49:46 Bodily Autonomy “Goes Both Ways?”
51:15 Let’s Be Clear About Maternal Death
52:33 News Articles When Women Die During Childbirth, Often, It’s Cesarean
53:30 We Are Pro Evidence Based Care and Informed Consent
55:21 OBGYNs Should Support Patient Decisions, Even If It Scares Them
57:01 When An OB Realized Her Informed Consent Process Was Coercive
58:24 OB’s Testimony Regarding Informed Consent
01:00:32 Women and Birthing People Are The Captain Of The Ship
01:01:13 Rights Exist Even In Rural Hospitals
Have a comment or question for the podcast? Want to suggest a guest we should interview or a topic we should discuss? Go to https://vbacfacts.com/podcast to give us your feedback!
Music produced by (Analogue)/(prod. Analogue).
Instagram: @prod.analogue
- How to Navigate Forced Cesarean Threats with L&D RN Lexi Abeln, Birth Monopoly Founder Cristen Pascucci, and Hermine Hayes-Klein │ VBAC Facts® Professional Membership
- An Attorney’s Guide to Navigating Informed Consent and Refusal with Hermine Hayes Klein │ VBAC Facts® Professional Membership
- Nina Simone: Mississippi Goddam │ YouTube
- The story behind Nina Simone’s protest song, “Mississippi Goddam” | American Masters | PBS
- “Midwife Delivery Death Trial” judge comments: Home birth is a constitutional right | VBAC Facts®
- The Truth About VBAC™ for Families | VBAC Facts® Course for Parents
- E5: Autonomy, Authority, Coercion & Consent: Who Decides in Maternity Care? │ The VBAC Facts® Podcast – Apple Podcasts
- Sign up for your copy of the VBAC Planning Checklist! | VBAC Facts®
- Consulting for Parents, Professionals, Legal & Policy Teams │ VBAC Facts®
- Professional Speaking with Jen Kamel │ VBAC Facts®
- Sign up for your copy of the Uterine Rupture Report! | VBAC Facts®
- VBAC Facts® Professional Membership | VBAC Facts® Continuing Education
- 3 Surprising Things National Guidelines Say About VBAC – VBAC Facts® Downloadable Handout
Disclaimer
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