Availabilty of VBACs in the Seattle area

With the recent report that the Cesarean Section rate has reached an all-time high in the United States (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_12.pdf), women find themselves more and more likely to have to ponder the question, can I have a VBAC with my next baby? One would think that the choice to give birth vaginally would be a matter of personal choice, one that a woman would be free to make without coercion, but evidence indicates otherwise. Some hospitals ban VBACS all together, while others say they allow them on paper, but discourage them in practice (see blog post: Legal Actions Against VBAC Bans and Seattle PI Article).

ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network) provides a directory of facilities and their policies regarding VBAC. The following has been taken from their website for local hospitals servicing Seattle families:

Evergreen Healthcare: Kirkland
De Facto Ban

Harborview Medical Center - University Medical Center: Seattle
Allowed

Kindred Hospital: Seattle
Allowed

Northwest Hospital and Medical Center: Seattle
Allowed

Overlake Hospital Medical Center: Bellevue
Allowed


Providence Everett Medical Center: Everett
Allowed

Stevens Healthcare: Edmonds
Allowed

St. Francis Hospital: Federal Way
Banned

Swedish Medical Center - First Hill: Seattle
Allowed

Swedish Medical Center - Ballard: Seattle
Banned

University of Washington Medical Center: Seattle
Allowed

Valley Medical Center:Renton
Allowed

By clicking on each facility from the ICAN directory, you can read more information that can give you an idea of the attitudes of the facility and the staff would attend VBACs.

Some facility level intervention rates are available through the Great Starts Guide to King County Hospitals. Their success rate will be a good indication of how supportive the facility and staff truly are to vaginal birth.