Can you be forced to do VBAC?

[Dynababy]

I thought you were entitled to an elcs if you had a emcs with 1st.. Scared I'm wrong though... Is this right or does it depend on hospital etc?

[Nigglenaggle]

I'm pretty sure youre right. There is a risk of scar rupture with VBAC, and while its very small, this means they can't force you. I'm sure they will try to persuade you pretty hard. If anyone does with me I intend to ignore them.

[PseudoBadger]

I've already had the VBAC hard sell put on me and I've only had one appointment so far! I'll be resisting.

[ByTheWay1]

why would you resist though?? I had an emergency CS with the first, then went on to have a straightforward VBAC with the next.. no trouble at all... don't get what the problem is?

[PseudoBadger]

Lucky you. I feel differently.

[amazingmumof6]

it's your decision, no one else's

bytheway I find nd your comment insensitive, judgemental and totally missing the point!

question was can they torce Vbac - answer - absolutely not!

(tbc)

[amazingmumof6]

I find my comment incomprehensible

try again

q was - can they force VBAC? answer is - no, absolutely not!

[Panzee]

Have you seen the consultant yet? I had an appointment at 20 weeks and he had the diary open to schedule a CS! I didn't want to book one but he was more than happy to let me if I wanted to.

[PickledFanjoCat]

Don't worry and stick to your guns!

[amazingmumof6]

had ELSC with 4th , footling breech, no dilemma there

had VBac 3.5 years later with 5th, biggest baby for me, 9lb 14, no probs

I wanted to have it, glad it went well, pat on back, well done me, lucky me

I had no medical/emotional/practical etc reason for another ELSC from either mother or baby's side so VBac was the obvious choice for me

BUT, I could have had ELSC, if I wanted to purely for the fact that I'd already a C/S

[NellyBluth]

I hope not My plan with any future DCs is to cry hysterically in any appointments (easily done when pg) until they get my point. Bytheway, not everyone fancies a vbac. It might be easier, it might not. The same problems might just arise second time around. I don't have a choice of hospital around here, and there's no bloody way I am risking them causing the same problems with another DC as they did with DD.

[IceBergJam]

This is what worries me if I have a second. First was a crash section under a general, we were lucky. I would be scared of something going dreadfully wrong by having a vaginal birth.

OP just keep reafirming your requirements.

[amazingmumof6]

just asked midwife friend,
she's never heard of anyone being forced to deliver VBAC if they wanted ELSC for whatever reason!!

It should not depend on hospital, it's your decision!

she said you should ask to book app next time you see consultant,
should they refuse (very unlikely) you can "appeal" and keep going till they provide you with the care you want

having said that I suggest it's a good idea to be open minded and consider pro/cons of either option.

it sounds to me you still have enough time to make your mind up, but even if you go for ELSC now, you can change your mind later, or baby might just pop out anyway or you might need another EMSC or you might find you need too have ELSC cause of baby's position and so on.

weirdest story regarding this, my midwife told me this:

mum was planning normal birth, baby was head down all the way pregnancy, but was unexpectedly found breech 2 weeks before EDD,
they successfully turned baby head down
next day baby was breech again

another turning session, then back again to breech
desperate to avoid C/S they tried to turned baby one last time - no success

no more chances, ELSC booked

she went into labour, baby still breech, but in very akward position, so had to go for EMSC

she was being scanned as she was lying to be prepped on op table, baby still breech

her waters broke, followed by baby's weird movements

another scan - baby head down and fully engaged!

baby was out before the surgeons had a chance to take the mask off



nice to have a birth plan, but you have to go with the flow...

[amazingmumof6]

nelly to cry hysterically" you crack me up!

[Dynababy]

Thanks for the replies, reassuring!

[itsallinmyhead]

Even if you'd had a VBAC first time round, you could (as in my case) choose an ELCS this time.

I had a traumatic birth with DD which (I've now realised) has meant I've avoided having any more DC...until now must be mid-life crisis

I'm 37 weeks pg with DS1 and have opted for an ELCS. The consultants tried to change my mind on every occasion I attended ante-natal appointments but I have known from early on this is the best option for me.

I hope you're able to take some comfort from my situation, as I had heard that I would be refused an ELCS but have now been given my date.

Good luck

[Tinkerisdead]

You cant be forced to have a vbac. Initially any woman whonhad a previous section could request another but the NICE guidelines on elcs and vbac now state that ANY woman has the right to ask. If you are refused you have the right to ask to be referred to a new consultant and different hospital if you wish.

I asked for an elcs after my first dd1 was born by emcs. What I will say is print off the guidelines to familiarise yourself with risk factors for youvand for baby. Be sure of your own reasons and articulate them well (do not say it makes it easier to get dc1 taken care of than labout). You will be asked if you want a trial of labour. Where they wait for you to go into labour and see how you progress with the right to still request a cs. I also took info on trial of labour as i didnt want it(studies show that that a TOL can marginally increase a risk of uterine tearing).

I should add that i did cry too but i hadnt planned on that. I was given my elcs just as i asked for despite fainting when i got to the hospital and waking up in labour!!! Cs carries its own risk and i was perhaps flippant about that as i'd already had one and knew what to expect. However this time i developed pulmonary embolisms (clots on lungs) as i wasnt given a course if injections afterwards so please please ask about an aftercare plan and get them to agree the anti thrombosis injections post surgery. Ive been really poorly, but i'd still ask for an elcs again!

[amazingmumof6]

itsallinmyhead sorry, but I suspect you may have misunderstood what VBAC is
you can not by definition have a VBAC first time round, it means Vaginal Birth After C-section!! sorry, I had to point that out

[itsallinmyhead]

Aren't I embarrassed! bloody thinking I understand all these acronyms...will teach me not to think I'm so smart

Thank you amazingmum

[ByTheWay1]

No you can't be forced to go through a VBAC.... but "planned" caesareans sometimes do not go to plan either.... make sure you have a plan in place in case of early labour too. (my first birth was a planned CS - she came a week before the surgery date, was breech and needed an EC instead)

as to my first comment , I took stock of all the known risks of both procedures and decided what was best for me and my baby. The statistics were provided to me by the hospital when I asked and refer to studies done in this country which show that VBAC was the safer option for me and my baby IN THE UK .

(please do not make decisions based on US statistics where more CS are performed as a matter of course... unless of course you are in the US - then ignore...)

[amazingmumof6]

itsallinmyhead no worries, it did make me laugh though!

I gotta ask what did you think it meant?

[itsallinmyhead]

amazingmum please don't embarrass me by asking ....seriously, I knew it meant vaginal birth but really didn't think about the AC...kinda just thought a well vag birth it is haha...

[PickledFanjoCat]

I didn't know either! I thought it was just vaginal birth. Dunno what I thought ac was... Arse cheeks?

[amazingmumof6]

sorry itsallinmyhead I just had to know! nothing to be about!

the first time the consultant asked me about my thoughts about a second C section and what I thought about a VBAC I genuinely thought he said V-back, referring to some glam hospital gown with a V cut back....
I thought it was weird he wanted to know my opinion about hospital fashion, and mumbled that I didin't mind

then I found out what VBAC meant...oops

[itsallinmyhead]

I'm just very thankful you explained amazingmum

Glad it wasn't only me pickledfanjohaha.

Dyna sorry for hijacking your thread.

[hellsbells76]

Frankly (I'm a student midwife, had two vaginal births myself, one at home with no drugs so I'm as hippyish and pro 'natural' as anything) I wouldn't have a VBAC myself. The continuous monitoring, the twitchiness of the midwives terrified of rupture, the low threshold for EMCS...nah, just give me a section and have done. They will absolutely give you the option - 'ELCS for previous' is a very familiar term on the ward. Don't panic :)