DiscoverThe VBAC Facts® Podcast with Jen KamelE15 A Psychologist's Journey Navigating a Hospital VBAC Ban with Dr. Denise Jaimes-Villanueva PsyD
E15 A Psychologist's Journey Navigating a Hospital VBAC Ban with Dr. Denise Jaimes-Villanueva PsyD

E15 A Psychologist's Journey Navigating a Hospital VBAC Ban with Dr. Denise Jaimes-Villanueva PsyD

Update: 2025-05-16
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What do you do when you are pregnant after a cesarean and the only hospital in your community has a VBAC ban? Come hear the story of Dr. Denise Jaimes-Villanueva PsyD of Santa Barbara, California as she shares everything she endured to avoid compulsory surgery.

From the challenges around finding a provider in a community where the influence of the hostile VBAC climate permeated to the financial and emotional factors that influenced her decisions, she discusses the journey of processing the grief of her births, what she would do differently, and the lessons she learned along the way.

Her story illustrates why the refrain, "just find a supportive provider or hospital" is often trite and why every hospital with a L&D unit in the US should support and offer VBAC, as the American College of OB/GYNs has explicitly stated since 2017.

  • 00:42 Welcome Denise!
  • 02:03 Her First Birth
  • 14:21 Navigating VBAC Bans
  • 24:12 Hiring Midwives to Labor at Home
  • 34:58 The Toll of Hostile Climate VBAC Planning
  • 36:46 Lessons She Learned
  • 50:18 Processing the Impact of Those Births
  • 54:40 Trusting Providers is Still Hard
  • 57:45 Her Message for Parents
  • 59:54 Her Message to Clinicians
  • 01:01:28 Her Message to Policymakers

If you have a question about a prior episode, a topic you'd like me to feature, a guest you'd like me to interview (including yourself!), or a "VBAC win" (birth stories, policy changes, advocacy/legal victories) you'd like to share, go to https://vbacfacts.com/podcast.


Music produced by (Analogue)/(prod. Analogue).

Instagram: @prod.analogue

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E15 A Psychologist's Journey Navigating a Hospital VBAC Ban with Dr. Denise Jaimes-Villanueva PsyD

E15 A Psychologist's Journey Navigating a Hospital VBAC Ban with Dr. Denise Jaimes-Villanueva PsyD