Planning a 'Different' Kind of Birth

Settle in for a long read, I apologise in advance!

I am a massive natural birth advocate who has, due to circumstances beyond my control, never experienced a natural birth! I had a Caesarian for each of the boys for different reasons and it is something that while not technically 'regretting' it, I'll always wish things had turned out differently. But, I'm coming to peace with the fact that it is just part of my motherhood journey.

Due to having two previous Caesarians I wasn't really interested in attempting a natural birth again (for the record, I know VBA2C's have been done and I applaud those amazing women that have done it, but for me and my circumstances, not worth the risk), one of the main reasons being that we're now living in a regional area and the facilites at our local hospital would not have been favourable if something untoward had happened. Sure enough, during my first appointment with my Obstetrician he said that he wouldn't be comfortable supporting me through a VBA2C (Vaginal Birth After 2 Caesarians) so we'd book in for an 'elective' C-section. I was expecting this so negotiated with him to have the booking made as close to, if not after my due date to give the baby as much precious 'womb time' as possible (Most 'elective' C-sections are done at 38 weeks). He was fine with this and I was so impressed with his confidence in my opinions and thoughts. He listened and took copious notes!

A few weeks ago a friend gave me some information about Maternally Assisted Caesarians, in which the mother plays a key role in delivering her baby during a Caesarian section. She scrubs in and is kept sterile and after the Obstetrician delivers the head and shoulders, she reaches down with her sterile, gloved hands and delivers her baby the rest of the way and straight onto her chest for immediate skin-to-skin! How amazing! I knew as soon as I read the article that that would be my ideal birth situation, as the immediacy of skin-to-skin contact after birth is so important for mothers and babies and something I had missed out on with both of the boys.

After talking it through with my Doctor at my last appointment I was so encouraged (yet again) by his willingness to listen to my opinions and viewpoints. He seemed very keen to talk and read more about the procedure, which he'd not heard of. He was very supportive of immediate skin-to-skin and when I said that I was unsure of the hospital policy because our eldest children were born at a different hospital his response was 'stuff the policy, let's see what we can do!' I mean really, he could have knocked me over with a feather after that!

The appointment ended with him asking me to email him all my info, plus a birth/breastfeeding plan that we can go through at the next appointment. I'm beyond excited to even be discussing this with him, the possibilities are just too much to contemplate sometimes!