Has anybody had a C-Section with their 1st DC, then go on to have a vaginal birth the 2nd time around??

[OneProudMummy]

Hello everyone.

When I had my first baby I needed an emergency C-Section as my waters broke before labour began & there was meconium in it.

I'm pregnant with my 2nd now & my midwives have said that because I've already had one C-Section in my life I can elect to have another, without there being an emergency.

So now I'm torn. I was terrified of the thought of giving birth when I was pregnant the first time & I never had that feeling that I was missing part of the experience, when I was told I needed a CS, part of me was almost relieved!! However, a part of me wouldnt mind giving a more natural birth a go.

So now I'm just curious as to know whether anybody has had a CS with their first baby & then gone on to have a vaginal birth after that & if so, how was it?

Replies would be very appreciated.

x x x

there are loads of vbac threads

dd1 was elcs for macrosomia, i went on to have ds1 vbac1 (he was back to back and i was in labour for a long time - eventually i managed to push him out just before they wheeled me off for another cs.)
dd2 was vbac2, labour was fine, but she has brain damage and cp due to birth hypoxia.

if you go for vbac - i'd recommend you comply with the NICE guidelines regarding cfm.

i'll not have another vb, but that's a personal decision. i do encourage others to try for vbac if that's what they want - but i'm a fan of cfm for obvious reasons.

I had an elective first CS (on medical grounds, it was a footling breech) and two vaginal births. My health professionals were very keen on me at least having a trail of labour.
I actually would rate all three of my births reasonably positively.

I have to say the issues about not being able to drive for 6 weeks afterwards really biased me towards trying for a vaginal birth.

There is loads of info about VBAC out there if you want to weigh up pros and cons. Sure someone will recommend websites etc.

I had a cs at 34 weeks (severe pre-eclampsia) followed by a full term VBAC. It was definitely the right decision for me - I was lucky to labour relatively easily (no labour the first time round, so had no idea how it would go) and a second degree tear, which was a million times easier to deal with than cs wound.

I let the HCPs do anything they wanted to me, as I also had pre-eclampsia the second time round so thought it was safest to go with a medicalised birth. I was a bit worried about that part but it was fine, I had telemetric (wireless) monitoring and was upright the whole time, didn't notice the cannula after about the first 5 mins, amd ARM really did get things going! Managed with TENS and gas and air.

The whole experience was great, but the best bit for me was the recovery. I was on the observation ward the first night because of PET, all the other women had had cs, and it was so wonderful to be able to get up easily and look after dd painlessly. Then when I got home I could pick ds up, drive etc.

My second child was an ELCS because he was a footling breech. I have had three vaginal births after him. In fact I only got offered an ELCS for dc3 with numbers 4 and 5 it was assumed I would have vaginal births.

I had an emergency section for D and just has DS (7 weeks) vaginally. He was a very fast labour (25 mins from 5cm to birth!) and was dragged out of me by forceps. I am still in a lot of pain now whereas the section was only painful for a week and I was drivoing after two weeks whereas I still can't drive now . I would opt for a section over vaginal birth everyday but that is just due to my own situation.

Sorry for typos. Should have previewed!

First DC - EMCS recovery 2 weeks. Quite painful first 2 days.
Second DC - VBAC recovery 2 weeks for stitches and then 6 months before sex was OK.
Third DC - ELCS recovery 2 weeks. No pain really at all.

I don't regret my vbac and I am glad I had that experience as the elation I got after the birth was unprecedented and didn't come with the CS, but I just couldn't face it again. For reasons unknown, epidurals don't really work on me and so I have this enforced natural birth which wasn't pleasant (pushing and afterwards was a doddle, but it's just the labour that really really hurts !) And then the stitches (owwwie, and
it took me ages to feel OK down there).

As I said I don't regret the experience. And I was lucky to have a healthy child, and I would do it again.

Good Luck.

Had an EMCS with first. VBAC second time round - the first 12 hours were wonderful then he went back to back and last 3 hours were really painful (couldn't have epidural because hospital didn't believe I was in established labour).

I don't regret it and if I was to do it again I would go for a natural birth again because it does give you a lovely feeling afterwards and the immediate recovery is quicker.

The only drawback of natural birth is that they don't take the pain you experience afterwards particularly seriously - I had an episiotomy and couldn't sit down for about 2 weeks. At least with CS they give you proper pain relief.

I know someone who had a home waterbirth after 3 sections.

I also know someone who has had 5 sections so don't listen to the myth that you can only have 3 sections.

I have had an emergency section and then 2VBACs. I wasn't in labour when I had my section. With the next pregnancy I was offered another section but I really didn't want one. I had her vaginally but had to go to theatre to have the placenta removed as the cord snapped when the midwife pulled on it.

Driving my baby at a week old was an amazing feeling after being unable to drive after my section for 6 weeks.