Strenght and lenght of contractions and scar from previous C-section

[Franci]

Hi.

I'm giving birth at my local hospital in February. Last week we went to meet one of the English speaking midwives. She answered some of our questions and she is going to give us some prenatal classes in the next weeks.

My husband left the place feeling very enthusiastic. He thought the situation was going to be much worse...he was already picturing me laying on my back with no mobility etc.

On the good side she said that I'll be able to move around as I like, she was talking about positions to open the pelvis and yoga style breathing etc. so my husband was hooked.

But she also talked about the fact that I'll be monotitored constantly and that maybe I should discuss with the doctor the necessity to have a pelvis scan (not sure which one she was thinging a CT scan, MRI or a simple ultrasound) to determine if my pelvis is too small, since I'm very petit (5 feet 1") . Then when I ask about the second stage of labour, if I was going to be allow to take my time, she said, yes, depending on baby condition and mine, but, since I have a previous C-section, my scar cannot tollerate very strong contractions for very long time...

Really? Is it really the case?

In my first birth I had non-stop contractions for 12 hours. If something like that repeats this time I'm guessing it's like going directly to C-section for them.

Of course I'm planning to go to the hospital as late as I can.

But I was wondering if anybody can explain to me if there is really a major risk in case of very strong contractions that the scar will not hold.

thanks

[Climbergirl]

My MW assistant told me at the last appointment that they had a VBAC client labor for 4 DAYS.  I really can't answer your question, but I think 4 days is a long time!  She got her VBAC and they said she was very happy about the outcome.