Good VBAC Books/resources?

There is a great book out there called misconceptions. It is not just about vbac, but does have a section on it, along with a ton of other great stuff.

M.,

I had a VBAC with my third child. I was bound and determined that I was going to deliver naturally. I had a cesarean with my second child and felt I was pushed into it by my doctor. With my third child I ended up switching doctors at 34 weeks because she insisted I have a epidural in case they had to do an emergency c-section. I found a wonderful doctor who supported my decision. I ended up having my baby boy naturally with no problems. He was a 13.5 pound baby too! So I guess the best advice I can give you is to find a doctor who supports your decision. One that is confident in his/her abilities, and only will do a c-section if there is no other way. That made all the difference. Good luck!

Ask your ob-gyn for suggestions. Ask them questions, lots of them about your specific case. Books are great for general knowledge, but no one knows your uterus and previous surgery better than the doctor who cut into, held it, sewed it back up. They can tell you what they saw, what they specifically did and what the possible stressors would be for active labor. Books are great for general info, but talk with your ob and get the facts about your body so you can prepare for your delivery, whatever that looks like. Congrats on the 2nd baby!!! Have a happy, healthy delivery and baby!!!

Hi M.,

Congratulations on your upcoming birth! I can say as a local labor doula that I recommend checking out the ICAN website. It is full of great resources, statistics and the like. It sounds like you are already informed as it seemed you knew that a low transverse incision is a good bet for VBAC. Best of luck to you and if you want a bit more tailored information from a local, feel free to email me personally.

Best wishes,
T. Nelson CD (DONA)

I just wanted to send some support your way. My first son was a c-section because he has a heart defect. Since then I have had two Vaginal births after C-section with no meds. IT was hard but worth it. You can do it! The second time I had a midwife deliver in Group Health hospital in Seattle. You don't have to be a member of Group Health if you see this group of midwives. They are with Northwest Heatlh Care clinics. They were amazing!

My first was also breech and I had her C-section. My following 2 were VBAC and I loved, loved, LOVED doing the VBAC's! I felt so much more connected to the whole process! I did have epidurals but hey were light and I still felt very much in control. I encourage you to google "VBAC vs repeat c-section". I found a plethora of good websites with all kinds of information. Good luck as you decide what's best for you!

S.
www.hazelaid.com
All natural, organic, handmade hazelwood necklaces for the relief of eczema, acid reflux, and teething pain for babies and their families.

Hi M., Congradulations on your pregnancy. I had a successful VBAC 25 years ago with my son (second child). My daughter was breech and required a C-section after earlier attempts to turn her failed. We did not actually schedule the C-section, but were prepared for it when I went into labor and no progression was made during labor. Anyway, I also had a small horizontal incision which made a VBAC more of a possibility. My doctors were supportive of the VBAC. All went well and I was glad to have the experience of natural child birth but to be quite honest, I felt it was easier to recouperate after the C-section. I was home 1-1/2 days after my C-section. My natural birth required an epeziotomy (sp?) which was more of a concern to me in the seeks after delivery. Also, my labor and delivery was 23 hours of hard labor while the C-section was only about 4 hours of hard labor. Guess I'm kind of a wimp although prior to the vaginal birth I thought I was a bit tougher. Anyway, guess I can say that both deliveries were fine by me as they netted healthy babies and that's what its all about! Good Luck, J.

I too am going for a VBAC, where are you located? As far as I know if you are in Oregon only Portland and Ashland will do VBACS, as far as hospitals go. I am not a big fan of ultra sounds and if you are not either then ask NOT to have the 20ish wekk one, but have one closer to your due date. I had the 20ish week one and at that time was told that if I was delivering then I would have to have a c-section and then had to go back.

Good luck!

I had a Vbac 3 weeks ago at home in a tub!!!!!
it was great!

the advice I have would be choose the birth atendant that meets all YOUR needs, every one is different. DO NOT SETTLE FOR JUST ANY DOC OR MIDWIFE. YOU NEED TO CHOOSE WHO IS BEST FOR YOU. (and remember,you can fire them at anytime if the relationship isn't working for you! )Vital!

I liked that my midwife was confedant and suportive. But her mood wasn't a Vbac at home at all costs. it was a healthy baby and mom at all costs. so I trusted her judgment and was calm going into labor. I knew she would transfer me if and when it was nessesary.

Vbac was rewarding and chalenging and satisfying. I highly recoment trying it if you are able.

my baby was 8.4 and healthy!
I was completly pleased with our experience

best wishes for you and your little one.

I noticed that you live in the pdx area. I am in Eugene. When we have our next baby I want to have "it" at Mckenzie-Willamette and not at the Riverbend hospital. I had a C-Section with my son and in order to have a VBAC - I would have to go to RiverBend because of the NICU for any complications. Anyway - what I am getting at is that you may need to ask your ob about the hospital. I didn't know if you city has more than just the one hospital. But if you have a preference on a certain hospital you may want to ask if you can do VBAC's at them. Good luck and Congratulations on baby!!!!

Good morning, I have the fortune of having 5 children. My firstborn son was born natural. But with my 2nd child being breech with the water being broke I had to have a c-section. And then I had 2 more children natural. And then with my last child I had to have another c-section. So it is possible to give a natural birth again. I had no complications at all.

Hi M.--I'm late to the party, but here's a couple of thoughts ...

I recommend the book, if you can find it, by Michel Odent: Birth Reborn.
This book is just wonderful for reading, plus it really for me made So Obvious how much (in what would otherwise be a normal, safe birth) birth trauma and baby distress is just because of the stress of (and the stresses particular to) hospital birth ... and of course then they 'rescue' the baby from the medical distress that wouldn't have occured if the mom had been properly and well supported ... anyhow, it is a BIG confidence booster in the natural ability of women, this book. Odent is wonderful (a French doctor who trusted the local midwives enough to learn from them and then become an advocate).

I didn't have a C section ... but only because I left the system (I was working in medical statistics for a hospital at the time!):

I left my OB a month before I was due with number one because despite being a homebirth mom herself she was required by her hospital contract to induce if a motherbaby went more than a week "overdue," and of course inductions make C-sections HUGELY more likely, and I was pretty sure I was going to go late (there had been a recent study in Australia that said the average first-child gestation for natural birth women--Australia still had a big enough population of them to do a meaningful statistical analysis--was 11 days "post" due ... which meant that mathematically, statistically, a first time momma in an American hospital is screwed on the induction/Csection question, and old wives' wisdom told me that gestation is 9x your cycle, and my cycle was 35 days). I found a midwife.

After the birth, I counted, and there were five separate things that happened that would have been likely or automatic triggers for C-section had I stayed (starting with me going FAR over a week "late").

So then I became a(n-only-when-asked) natural birth advocate ;).

I read Midwifery Today magazine for several years (since I was having kids for several years ; ) ). I cannot remember whether it was in one of those articles or a video I saw, but someone had done a statistical analysis of uterine ruptures, and they are not statistically a very much bigger risk for VBAC (especially with the less-risky cut) *if one accounts for the variable of pitocin (or other inducting drugs).* The risk for uterine rupture during VBAC without induction was very small (the risk for uterine rupture during VBnotAC, without induction, is of course very nearly zero). If you run an analysis of uterine ruptures looking at pitocin(etc.), uterine ruptures (VBAC *and non-scarred-uterus*) are almost universally associated (the numbers I'm remembering were like over 99%, but I may be remembering through a haze of anger at the obviousness of it all) with hormones to "stimulate" "labor."

The numbers are hard to deal with because of course the whole "trial of labor" doctors "let" women do (completely at the doctor's discretion and convenience) in a VBAC rarely goes "well" (stress slows down and can literally halt labor, as all doctors technically know but common "best practices" seem to discount) ... so the "trial of labor" is nearly always "aided" by an inductive drug "to speed things up" (speed in labor, especially medically induced, means more pain and less feeling of control, both of which, again, literally stop the natural birth hormones) ... so VBACs are in fact, un"aided," very nearly safe (with the non-dangerous original scar location), but hardly any of the stats would read that way, because breaking out the pitocin wouldn't even occur to most researchers, because induction ("help") is an assumed factor in a VBAC, to most medical professionals.

This was an article I just found on the web that seemed to have some reasonable numbers if you want them (with way less of an advocate voice than I have ;) ):
http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5926,00.html
She didn't post the numerical difference in risk for induction/non-induction in VBAC, but she noted that there was one.

Myself, in your position, I would probably choose a midwife in a location two minutes from a good hospital but not in the hospital (nurse midwives are still, in hospital hierarchy, required to let doctors have the final authority, even newly trained ones who just happen to be on rounds or whatever ... with baby number three I had a good but disheartening discussion with a nurse midwife I was thinking to use in Washington).

Pray (or your version thereof) ... women know if something is wrong, and know if it is OK to trust their bodies, if people give us room to sit and listen to ourselves/the Divine (I'm Catholic, so "God" to me :) ). Only you(/your support people) will really know what will be the best choice for you ... what will make you feel supported and safe, what you will choose to have be the safest choice for your baby, what is Right.

For my births, being out of the hospital was not only statistically safer but felt safer to me. Your situation, the statistics are a little different, and what feels safe is of course completely individual ... God bless you and yours in your journey! I hope whatever happens you feel like you were safe and supported.

M.,

I wanted my daughter to be a VBAC, and talked with my doctor about it. She was all for supporting what I wanted. Later in my second pregnancy we met with the doc that actually delivered my son. She reviewed my case, and due to my failure to progress doc #2 said that we had a 50/50 chance of being able to deliver my daughter naturally. That wasn't good enough for us, and both of my kids were C-section babies.

For us it turned out to be a good thing. I was too small for my son to fit through me, and my daughter had the same head circumference as he did at birth.

If you want a VBAC tell your doctor/OB that that's what you want. If it's possible they should be supportive of you.

Good luck,
Melissa