Advocacy

In August 2016, Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Los Angeles banned vaginal breech birth. This is, unfortunately, a common scenario in American hospitals. Dr. Rixa Freeze wrote this letter encouraging GAMC to reverse the ban.

You are welcome to borrow from this letter as you advocate for breech options in your own community. 

Before sending the letter, Dr. Freeze spoke with Glendale's maternity department. "I phoned Glendale's Maternity Services today, and they said that the decision came from the governing board of the hospital, not from their own department. In other words, the ban came from hospital administrators, not from the people who are actually caring for pregnant women."

In response to this breech ban, the Los Angeles community organized a "Rally Against Vaginal Breech Birth Ban" on Sep 7th. 

If you are being forced to have a cesarean section due to breech presentation, consider requesting that your hospital sign this "Consent for forced cesarean section." This consent form was developed by Dr. Stuart Fischbein, a physician who attends breeches, twins, and VBACS in the Los Angeles area. 

If you are given no choice but a cesarean section for your breech baby, that is not truly consent. It is coercion. It is also against the law in most countries. In this situation, you should demand that your provider sign this consent form acknowledging that you are being forced into the surgery. 

Your hospital will likely refuse to sign the form. In response, you can initiate a conversation about why it is not ethical or legal to force you to consent to an unwanted surgery.