Any successful VBACers?

[txgal]

I am currently struggling a bit with this decision. My first was a nonemergency Csect. and I really want to VBAC this time but am finding it difficult to find an OB that is truly supportive ("Oh yes you can try for a VBAC as long as you have a picture perfect pregnancy") what does that mean? What pregnancy is really picture perfect? My next step is to interview a homebirth midwife. I would like to hear more about how you ultimately made the decision to VBAC. My main concern is that I don't do this out of selfishness and wanting the perfect mother earth birth experience at the expense of my baby's health. I hope that all made sense, sorry for the rambling.

Lydia

[MsMoMpls]

Do some research around here, there are lots of wonderful VBAC stories. Wanting a natural birth isn't selfish- it is the best thing for your baby first and foremost.

I had two C-sects for failure to progress, both babies late and over 10 lbs. That on top of the fact that with my third I was over 40 and one of my incisions was a single layer rather than double, I had almost every strike against me. I found a midwife that was willing to work with me, requiring me to limit my weight gain and aim for an early birth. With my first son, I was 21 and was in labor nearly 24 hours. With my second, 16 years later, I was in labor 40 hours!!! I had been working with a midwife and a doula and had every advantage and although my c-sect was less severe, it wasn't great that I was exhausted.

When I was 36 weeks pregnant with Zach, I started pumping, doing chiropractic and accupuncture and Evening Primrose Oil vaginally. (Oh, and lots of sex.) I went into labor 2 weeks early, about midnight. I called my doula by 4, was on my way to the hospital by 6 and delivered by 9. It was absolutely undescribably wonderful. I wish I was young enough to deliver 8 more. Once it was over, my midwife admitted that I was the biggest long shot they had ever taken on. 2 weeks early, Zach was my tiny one at 9lbs 4oz. And with the eaze of a natural, no medication delivery- my nursing went so much easier. With my two other ones I dealt with jaundice and severe nursing struggles and was supplimenting with formula with both of them by the time I left the hospital. Not Zach.

My kids are all very healthy and I doubt that their deliveries will really matter much in the long run but I am so glad that I made the effort. I love my natural birth experience. Find someone that believes in your right to a natural birth, someone that really believes. Good luck.

[AllisonK]

I agree that you should do lots of research. ICAN is a great resource the website is www.ican-online.org they also have a very high volume yahoo group (it's listed under community).

My first was a "emergency" cesarean section at 10 cm. I was induced for pre-ecclampsia and three days later they told me my DD was breech as I was pushing. So I went under general and had my beautiful little girl. She's now four.

I later had a hospital vbac. It was a very difficult and exhausting experience. Not the actual labor but getting the vbac. I ended up switching providers at 37 weeks. My son was born at 38 wks 4 days after several days of prodomal labor. I stayed at home with my DH and my doula before we left for the hosp (about 1/2 hour away) I arrived at 5cm and had my little boy about 1 1/2 later. It was an amazing wonderful ezperience. I chose a vbac because I did not want to go through another cesarean. I knew that I could birth a baby.

I am now pg with number three and we will be planning a HBAC. I struggled with the idea of a homebirth with #2 but decided that it was not right for us. Now I know that a homebirth is absolutely right for me. My DH was a little hard to convince but once he read a few studies he was ok with it. I absolutley want a wonderful, empowering birth. That is not the only reason I am choosing a HBAC but I don't think that it is selfish to choose the kind of birth you desire. It is your body, your baby, and your birth. You are the one going to remember it for the next 80 years and you are the one who needs to make the right choices for you ad your family. Sorry now I am rambling, I tend to get going on and on.

Check out ICAN it was a great resource for me when I had my hosp vbac.
Allison

[Faithsmom]

I am planning a VBAC for this baby. I joined Ican online and have been reading a bunch!
I found Ina May Gaskins guide to childbirth Extremely helpful and empowering. I am seeing a midwife for this pregnancy and plan on attempting VBAC in the hospital. If you want to talk, PM me. It seems we are in the same boat!

[2+twins]

Check the VBAC board here on MDC too. Lots of support there. But I'll 2nd (or 3rd) the suggestion for going to ICANN. I know that's a tremendous resource for lots of women.

Don't forget how important the gift of labor is to your baby's health. So it's in no way selfish for you to want to do that. You should work towards the birth of your dreams - that's what will be best for all of you.

[kyle98sean02]

I wanted too with my 2nd, was told I could until a few weeks before delivery. Apparently the dr. and hospital decided together off of my ultrasound my baby was going to be too big and since I couldnt push my 1st out, it wouldnt work. I was upset but intimidated by them and didnt fight back so i had a second c-sect. Now I am probably not going to find anyone 1/2 way willing and the birth center wont even consider me as a patient. If I had it to do all over again, i would have fought so much harder last time. I wish I was on ican then.

[KKmama]

I had a vbac with Z. Obviously, I intend another one. I'll probably have more to say further down the road... I just want to post some support to you and encourage you to ask your questions of your caregiver NOW.

[KKmama]

I wanted to write a bit more...

I found for me, that a lot of "having a successful VBAC" is mind over matter; it's being as positive as possible about it happening (and I am *not* a Pollyanna-ish kind of person).

*Do* try to find a supportive caregiver. *Do* try to get any "negotiation" done *very* early in your pregnancy (eg, for me, a big thing was getting them to promise that I would be allowed to go to 42 weeks before submitting to a repeat C... I had Z at 41 weeks, 5 days).

Read the stuff that *you* will find helpful. Silent Knife scared and depressed me. (I wasn't happy about having a C in the 1st place, but I believe that it was truly necessary, so I was "happy" to have had it... however, I didn't want to have another C which was *unnecessary*.) The VBAC Companion (Diana Korte) was my favorite VBAC book. Ina May Gaskin's stuff was really great, too.

ICAN was very helpful when I was in the research stage, but when I got toward the end, I really wanted to coccoon myself. The cesarean support thread on MDC helped me work through some of my feelings about my C. And having a doula and a supportive OB (who's had a VBAC herself) really made the difference for me. I got bits and pieces everywhere; take what helps, and leave the rest.

I don't know how many of us "April VBAC'ers" there will be, but maybe as our pregnancies wind on, we can support each other.

[LizD]

You've got to be *very* choosy with your OB or midwife. I don't know what it's like where you are, but in S Florida the climate is such that VBACs are very rare. All of my doula clients who've planned VBACs with OBs have ended in planned cesareans. Their docs get them to 39 weeks and usually say something like, "your pregnancy has been perfect/textbook/ideal, so why wait? Why take a risk?" Put like this, it is hard for women to refuse, and since there are very few other options, there's not much else to do. So probe deeply to be sure your doc is not just giving lip service to the idea. Good luck! I have a VBAC client in November and I already have a feeling her doc is priming her to start thinking cesarean.

[KKmama]

I have a VBAC client in November and I already have a feeling her doc is priming her to start thinking cesarean.

This is exactly why I said to try to do any "negotiations" early. I had a problem which had to be monitored during my last pregnancy, and I think I would have wound up with an OB no matter what because of that. We don't have a lot of choices for care in my area... it's basically OB or homebirth midwife, and I didn't want a homebirth in the 1st place. You really want to find out exactly where your caregiver stands *loooong* before the 3rd trimester (when you may feel pretty hormonal and emotional, and it becomes difficult to switch to another caregiver).

I found it was very important to get informed on the "call" practices at my OB practice (eg, before I was pg, I mistakenly believed that "my" OB would be at my birth, whereas in reality, they rotate call). So then it became important for me to have appts with the other OBs and discuss VBAC with them. One was not very supportive at all, but she was the junior dr., and the 2 senior drs. overrode her. (She said something silly like if I hadn't had the baby by 38 weeks, I needed to schedule--38 weeks for *me* is practically a preemie ).

My doula was very, very experienced. She knew all of the drs. in my practice and all of the nurses at the hospital (and there was trust and rapport there). When we interviewed doulas, I found that some were rabidly pro-VBAC (generally because they had had VBACs themselves), and I felt like they were projecting their own experiences onto me. A couple of them told me that if I really wanted a VBAC, I had to have a homebirth. Initially, I had wanted a doula who had had a VBAC herself, but then I realized that for me, experience was more important, and so was the ability to separate herself from my experience.

You also have to decide for yourself pretty early where you stand on VBAC and just ignore the "noise". I was willing to have a repeat if I didn't go by 42 weeks (which is quite a bit later than most drs. like). I was willing to have a repeat if there was *any* risk to me or the baby. (And I informed myself on what the risks really were.)

A lot of the noise I've gotten IRL is from women who've had a C with their 1st and do not want to consider VBACs themselves for subsequent children. I did not expect that...

[txgal]

Thank you all for your replies, they have been a big help and given me lots to think about. It is funny how things work, after getting so discouraged after seeing my doc, I turned on a Baby Story and there was a successful VBACer, then I come here and the front page story is "A Vbac your way". both of which really inspired me to continue with my wish for a non medicated birth. I will continue to talk to my OB, but am also looking into a HBAC. Another thing that concerns me about my OB is that his back ups are anti VBAC and he will not agree to be oncall just for me. So it would really be luck of the draw when I went into labor. I guess this is why pregnancy last 10 months, you need that much time to get everything in line.

Lydia

[KKmama]

Txgal, look into all your options, and decide what will be best for you.

The jr. dr. at my practice told me that she gave me less than 30% chance of VBACking. This is so silly, because I *knew* the research, and i *knew* my own situation, and I *knew* she was totally talking out of her a$$. You really have to not let those people affect your head. (And fortunately, in my case, she was very much jr. and the other drs. overrode her.) But man, it's so discouraging to hear when you're pg. If you hear it now from your dr., it will only get worse, from my experience. (Sorry to be such a downer.)

I think there are some good stickies in the VBAC sub-forum of Birth and Beyond with lots of information. My background is in science, and taking a good hard look at the research helped me a lot.

[Mommy To Baby Roni]

Have you tried getting help with finding a good provider in the "Finding Your Tribe" forum? I live in a very mainstream town and, through that forum, was able to find a local Yahoo group of like-minded moms. Some are even doulas and midwives. Through them, I was able to find a great new o/b - one who is does vbacs (not that I've had a c/s, but it's almost unheard of around here to find an o/b who does them) and supports natural childbirth.

Have you considered a CNM (certified nurse midwife)? Among other things, it's a midwife who can deliver in a hospital, gives you the option of pain remedies if you choose and usually takes more of a midwife's approach to childbirth vs. the "managed birth" that most dr's and hospitals practice.

The more knowledge you have, the more power you will have to be able to make your own decisions, instead of a dr making them for you.

[aprilushka]

I'm planning to HBAC. I've been on the ICAN list for about two years now and have been thinking about it for a long time. After watching a lot of women go through pregnancies and births on that list over the past couple of years, I can say that those who've had the best experiences and outcomes, on average, at least started at home. That, in combination with the research, makes me think homebirth is generally the safest and most peaceful choice for a woman with a uterine scar. The anti VBAC politics in the medical world are only getting worse, unfortunately.