"Support for imminent VBACers" thread?

[pendulum]

Hi there,
I am 38 weeks today and planning a VBAC after my el CS for breech.

I haven't spent much time on the ante natal threads because I couldn't keep up with them! But now I am on mat leave and due date is approaching I would love to chat to anyone else hoping for a VBAC in the near future.

Is there anyone else out there, or another thread I can join? (Am just heading to docs to check baby position but will log in again later!)

Thanks
p xx

[BetsyBoop]

I'll happily join your thread

I'm 32wks & hoping for a VBAC at the end of Oct

Will post more later, just about to go off swimming with DD (20months)

[diplodocus]

Can I join, please. I'm also 32 weeks and hoping for a vbac at the end of Oct after an emergency CS for obsturcted labour and foetal distress.

[madness]

not preganant but wanting to wish you good luck. my first was emergency cs, second vacuum extraction, third a doddle.

[Klaw]

I'm a VBACer and a new Doula. There are a few of us Doulas on MN, including some that are also VBACers so we would definitely check in on this thread and offer support and encouragement.

Research normal birth, make a sound birth preferences list, have confidence in yourself and know that you CAN do it!

Ask as many questions as you need.

[pendulum]

Hello, am back from docs and happily the babe is head down- just got to keep it there now!

Hi Betsyboop and diplodocus, good to meet other hopefuls since most of the people in RL seem to think I am a bit mad. Thanks for the support, madness, can I ask for any more details of your VBACs? (e.g. do you have views on why one ended with lots of intervention and other was easy?)

Hi Klaw, I have been lurking for a long time on various VBAC threads and have greedily consumed all the info put up here by you, lulumama and others- thank you, it has been really inspirational.

A bit more about my plans.... I have hired a doula which is giving both me and DH a big confidence boost. I plan to stay at home until active labour is well-established then transfer to hospital. I am under consultant care and have been pleasantly surprised by their reaction to my wishes for management e.g. they have agreed to intermittent monitoring. I know this is a bit of a gamble and it's possible I may end up wishing I'd taken the CS but with an active toddler I feel it's something I've got to try!

[Klaw]

Good news Pendulum, keep baby there now with Optimal Foetal Positioning!

Sounds like you are doing the best thing to plan your VBAC and I'm sure that you will have an empowered birth even if circumstances change things along the way.

As for your question to Madness, I'd also be interested. My VBAC was 'assisted' with forceps and I believe that if I'd not had the constant monitoring from the outset and had had a Doula things could have been a lot more positive.

Next time I hpe to plan a HBAC!

[Luxmum]

Hello,
Can I please join? I'm just over 38 weeks, and hoping for a VBAC. I had a scan yesterday and teh baby has moved from back to back to the proper front position, and the cord is no longer round its neck, so everything is going wonderfully to plan. I'm planning a very calm, hypno birth, not sure if it will work out as my Dr and the hospital is very big into their machines and monitoring and CS's. But we shall see!
Packing my hospital bag this week, so busy sneaking in more chocolates.. I too couldnt keep up with the Sept anenatal thread, so a new one should be easier to follow. Has anyone decided on names? I STILL havent..

[pendulum]

Hi Luxmum! Great to hear from someone as near to D-Day as I am My due date is 21 Sept but to be honest it can't come too soon for me, I am really heavy and uncomfortable!

How does the hypnobirthing work, I know there are CDs and books out there but how do you practise it in the hospital?

Names have been the easy bit for us, we don't know if it's a boy or girl but have chosen Iris and Alexander. I love both and am fairly sure this will be our last child so will be sad about whichever we don't get to use! What do you have on your shortlist?

[lulumama]

I am also a VBACer, my VBAC baby is now 2

like Klaw, I am a doula, and i am especially interested in supporting women wanting to go for VBAC

i shall lurk and offer support and positivity, if that's ok!

[leo1978]

My big sis had a VBAC. She was so determined to do it it was untrue! She ended up having a very quick labour and nearly gave birth with her sunglasses still on her head!

[thehairybabysmum]

Hello can i join in...im due 6 oct and after sccan at 34 weeks that showed placenta moved (was covering cervix at 20 wks) and baby head down was told i can vbac if i want to.

I agreed to go for vbac but am actually still undecided...i feel like im constantly mulling over pros and cons of VBAC vs elec c/s but no nearer reaching a decision. Doesnt exactly help that thhose pesky hormones mean i can barely decide what to have for dinner never mind an actual important decision!!!

I think its the fact of trying to decide between two unknowns...i.e just cos my (emergency cs) recovery was ok last time doesnt mean it will be this time...plus i will have a 22 month old to deal with as well. But a normal birth could end up as a full instrument jobby...i think this is my worst fear about VBAC.

Sorry ladies to waffle on but maybe you can all help.

For now i am down as going for a VBAC although i have an appointment for 41 weeks at hospital to book a c/s if i go that far overdue.

Oh and also to complicate things i have SPD.

[Taichimum]

Can I join? Very early days for me only 16 weeks but I have just booked with a group of NHS home birth midwives so I am heading for an HBAC.
I feel quite empowered by this decision and hope that this keeps me out of the endless spiral of intervention that a lot of VBACers seem to have forced on them.
I am sure all you ladies have a birth plan and know what you want to happen. Good luck! I shall watch this thread with interest to see how you get on. I like pendulum am interested in hearing the details of peoples VBAC's.
Pendulum thats great you don't have to be continously monitored. Don't worry if people think you are mad. You can always tell them I am having an HBAC and then you will seem positvely rational

[lulumama]

if i may, i recommend Ina May's guide to childbirth and Spiritual midwifery ( ignore the midwife bits if you want!) to everyone!

they are marvellous books for reminding women that their bodies are built for this, and routine intervention is not always necessary

in my experience, a positive and determined mindset and also being educated about birth is really helpful...as is having the information to make informed decisions, say, to refuse CFM or to request a HBAC

a doula can also be helpful

[TheQueenOfQuotes]

"they have agreed to intermittent monitoring."


I refused intermittent monitoring with DS3 (my 2nd VBAC) - instead they checked with a dopple (just like the one your midwife uses) every hour or so - I was advised that if you go for "intermittent" CFM (is that what I mean???? you know the one that they strap onto your body and leaves you practically immobile for that period) that I'd be unlikely to get mobile again as once you're lying down in the midst of labour it's pretty damn difficult to get back up again.

I simply went in there in labour with DS3 - gave them my notes (with my carefully prepared birth plan at the top - which included no monitoring except by handheld device ) and apart from the "statutory" warnings about risks they let me get on with it - it was AWESOME - DS3 now 14 weeks old and I'm still buzzing

[pendulum]

Congratulations on the birth of DS3 QoQ, it is when I hear people talk enthusiastically about their births in the way you just did that I get excited about doing this!

Just to clarify, I have specified that I want the monitoring done with a sonicaid, which I think is the handheld thing. Agree that once on a bed I am unlikely to get off again! However, I can't pretend I am not nervous about the small risk of rupture (especially when I read the occasional stories on here by people who experienced it) and, if there is any whiff of trouble, I will agree to CFM.

Can I ask if any of the ladies who had successful VBACs had epidurals? It seems to me that it is important to be aware of any scar pain, which would seem to rule one out, but the hospital's protocol is that they are safe for VBAC (perhaps because they inevitably involve CFM?) I am going to try my hardest to avoid one but a close friend told me yesterday to "get it in quick unless you REALLY love pain" (gulp)- as someone who has never experienced labour, that makes me a teeny bit nervous....

[lulumama]

you should try to avoid epi for several reasons

firstly, it will most likely confine you to a bed, also you will need CFM and a drip so that makes mobility very difficult

can mask scar pain, and pain that does not stop between ctx, which can indicate scar rupture

it relaxes the pelvic floor, which can stop baby;s head rotating correctly for the birth, necessitating forceps / ventouse with episiotomy

also, i managed my VBAC with gas and air and a smidge of pethidine, it was too quick for anything else

get in a mindset about the pain, that it will hurt, but you can cope ! make sure your DH / birth partners understand what is normal in birth and that grunting, groaning, shouting, screaming are normal, as is calmness, and deep breathing. it is what works for you !

[BetsyBoop]

okay here's my story

DD was still breech at 37wks - had a successful ECV - only for her to turn breech again 2 days later....

booked for an elC/S at 39+3. Went in for pre-op clinic at 39+0 - was sure baby had turned day before, but was informed it was "impossible" for such a big baby (they were expecting 9.5+lbs after growth scan) to turn so late, until the m/w palpated me & then sent me for a scan to check & I was right

therefore c/s cancelled & much wanted natural labour back on

waters went at 39+4, however DDs head had not engaged at all. Went in to get checked out (dueto risk of cord prolapse) & BP was 177/110 (had been creeping up for a few weeks before this) so I ended staying

DD also starting to show signs of distress, so given option of either immediate c/s or syntocinon drip to start contractions. After 6hrs on drip although I had been contracting beautifully DDs head had still not come down & my cervix had done nothing Reluctantly agreed to an emC/S

With hindsight (wonderful isn't it) being strapped to the bed with drip, CFM & BP cuff can only have hindered my attempt at labour - DDs head was hardly likely to move down without gravity to assist....so I was probably doomed before I started....

no. 2 is due 30/10

This time I'm hoping and praying for a ceph baby who engages at 36wks So far so good as at last m/w check on Monday gone baby was oblique but ceph (at about 5 o'clock) so m/w was hopefully he/she should settle fully ceph in the next few days (was breech at last check & I was starting to think "here we go again")

I've also enlisted a doula & made a start on my birth plan - main points on it are keeping mobile, no epidural (infact hopefully no chemical pain relief - hoping to manage with TENS), no CFM, no induction/augmentation. I've also got the VBAC hypnotheraphy CDs, only time will tell if they help.

well that's about it, sorry this has turned into a book....

[lulumama]

betsy.. it is coming round quick, isn;t it?

[BetsyBoop]

here are a few useful links from my collection

I don't claim to have "found" them all - a lot I've come across on mumsnet, but I thought it useful to get them all in one place

VBAC in general
www.childbirthconnection.org
www.caesarean.org.uk/
www.vbac.co.uk/
www.vbac.org.uk/
www.storknet.com
www.aims.org.uk/


birth plans
users.picknowl.com.au
www.storknet.com


optimal positioning
www.homebirth.org.uk
www.spinningbabies.com/

"natural" induction
www.caesarean.org.uk/0

[BetsyBoop]

it certainly is Lulu

at the moment I'm b ecoming even more determined to go for VBAC, not sure if/when the nerves will kick in

[lulumama]

excellent links!

i had the wobbles at 34 weeks..they lasted one day!

[pendulum]

I found paying the doula's not inconsiderable deposit strengthened my resolve....

[ejt1764]

Hi, can I join too? Am going for a hospital vbac - edd 2nd October!

First delivery was a failed induction, followed by a failed assisted delivery - very long and traumatic at 4 days start to end, and a very long story, which I'll spare you ... ds is 5 on 4th October, and it took a long time for me to get over it ... hence the large gap! (well, that and 2 MCs last year)

I have been a bolshy and difficult so and so, and have been booked to deliver in the midwife-led unit - and have got a star by my name to use the pool!

I have spd and coccydinia too - and, tbh, they have helped me in my battle to be accepted as a booking for the mlu, as I've been having regualr hydrotherapy, and have found it really effective for pain relief from the spd!

Thanks for the links - they're fantastic!

[ejt1764]

oh yes, and we have also booked a doula ... ...

[alicet]

Can I join too ladies? I am like thehairybabysmum in that I am still undecided. In fact I HAD decided on an elective section but am uncertain again (see my other thread http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/1365/383812 which explains my last delivery briefly and also why I have started to prevaricate!).

I would appreciate being able to talk to other women who are going through similar things in the hope that it might help me to make up my mind... I am due on 9th Oct.

I have a consultant appointment on Tues when I'm supposed to have made my decision although I don't think this is set in stone.

Hello ejt!