Have you heard the joke about the man who refused help during a flood?
There was a huge flood in a village. One man said to everyone as they evacuated, “I’ll stay! God will save me!”
The flood got higher and a boat came, and the man in it said “Come on mate, get in!” “No” replied the man. “God will save me!”
The flood got very high now and the man had to stand on the roof of his house. A helicopter soon came and the man offered him help. “No, God will save me!” he said.
Eventually the man drown. He got by the gates of heaven and he said to God, “Why didn’t you save me?”
God replied, “For goodness sake! I sent a boat and a helicopter. What more do you want!”
I was reminded of that joke when contemplating the musings of Shannon who is planning a home VBAC after 4 C-sections. Not surprisingly, Shannon is having a difficult time finding a homebirth midwife who will care for her. Indeed, several have already turned her down. But Shannon is sure “God [is] still wanting me to continue with a midwife.”
That’s a truly amazing coincidence when you think about it. Isn’t it great that God wants for Shannon exactly what she wants for herself!
I believe God designed our bodies and He designed our bodies to birth vaginally. There is a place for doctors when they are needed, but I do not believe pregnancy is an illness. I believe too many interventions are taking place by doctors and their staff that are creating an epidemic of c-section births. I also believe that one day they are going to answer to God for it.
It’s downright miraculous that God’s plan mirrors Shannon’s plan so well.
So why have homebirth midwives been turning down Shannon’s plan for a home VBA4C? Homebirth midwife Diana initially agreed to provide care, but:
About six weeks ago Diana had a VBAC client in labor that started screaming in pain and grabbing her incision site. With any VBAC client there is a risk of uterine rupture and they made the judgement call to transfer to the hospital, which resulted in an emergency c-section. The client did NOT have a rupture, but the fear of losing the mother or the baby was very traumatizing for the midwife.
Evidently it had occurred to Diana that a patient could sustain a uterine rupture at home and disaster might result. And then:
Fast forward a few weeks as the wait was on for the birth of Diana’s precious grandbaby. Finally, the mother went into labor on November 30th, but it ended in tragedy. The baby was stillborn. Horrifying!
At this point Diana declared that she could not participate in a VBA4C, but she did offer Shannon names of other local homebirth midwives. Unfortunately, on the exact same day that Diana’s grandbaby died:
one of Diana’s fellow midwives had attended a funeral for baby that was the result of a uterine rupture.
She wasn’t interested in attending a home VBA4C, either. Along came Sallie:
Much to my surprise she said she would take my case. She even told me a story about a birth she attended of someone who had a VBA4C in which the baby was over 11 pounds to encourage me that it can be done. So, Sallie will be my new midwife.
But here’s the best part:
[Sallie] wants to take Diana to lunch and try to be an encouragement to here during this traumatic time. Also, there are always two midwives present at a birth nd she wants to see if Diana will be the second midwife in my case. I just love the compassion that midwives have for their patients and fellow midwives.
So God sent Shannon a boat and a helicopter, but she’d rather take her chances with Sallie.
I guess the prophet Jeremiah was right when he said: There are none so blind as those who will not see.
