To those who have had/attempted a Vbac...

[joymaker]

I had a EMS with DC1 as my waters broke without contractions, waited a couple of days to see if labour would start naturally, when it didn't I was on the drip for 2 days without success. I am seriously considering Vbac and trying to make some decisions about what I want to do. I would really appreciate an idea of others experiences.

What led to your CS (and was it your 1st Dc)?

How long were you in labour?

Was it a success or not?

What pain relief did you have?

did you have an induction?

(I know it's so different for every woman but I'm agonising over all this.) Thanks ever so much

I had a CS for DS1, followed by two VBs. None of them were induced. At the time VBACs were enouraged, as they were thought to be lower risk than further CSs. I'm not sure whether this is still the case.

The CS was due to the baby being back to back, my cervix never dilating past 9 cm, exhausting myself pushing, and having an undiagnosed serious illness. DS1 was born about 16 hours after labour started. I had gas & air, pethidine and an epidural.

Second labour was about 5 hours, gas and air only. I was refused an epidural, but would have had one like a shot.

Third labour was about 3 hours, gas and air only.

Are you pregnant again, or just thinking ahead? What does your doctor/midwife say?

onehandflapping "I was refused an epidural but would have had one like a shot"

That is just shocking because epidurals improve the chances of successful VBAC. (Mysogyny and prejudice against pain relief once again. Resources argument is bunkum. If men had babies there would be the resources )

1st was EMCS for feotal distress.

VBAC - VERY early labour for a couple of days.No induction,no pain relief needed as I failed to progress even into established labour.Had a 2nd CS.

If I were to have any more children (which I don't plan) I would push for a VBAC again.

Good luck!

Sorry OneHand, should have said that I'm 28 wks pregnant (tomorrow) so feel that I have to start thrashing things out.

My consultant I feel would be happy if I had a vbac though would be supportive if I decided to go for a section. I'm seeing her on Friday so am hoping to discuss the more finer points then.

Cs for failure to proceed- I was 12 hours at 3cm dilated. Had syntocin to help but this put baby into distress so had to be turned off.
Vbac was successful but long! I had an epidural but it didn't work in region of my cs scar so only partially helpful. Glad I did itas thought of recovering from cs with toddler and baby is horrific! I was actually booked for cs 2 days later as I was overdue and they wouldn't induce with a vbac. Fortunately dd2 came first.

Lots of midwives were very surprised I had a successful vbac and congratulated me on it. My consultant was very supportive though, we agreed I would not be left for more than 3 hours without progress after my first experience. My worry was I would face a similar experience.

What led to your CS (and was it your 1st Dc)?

1st dc, 31hr labour after sudden rupture of membranes, pushed for 6hrs, transferred and had episiotomy, 3 ventouse attempts, attempted manual rotation, emcs, DD was in deep transverse arrest and asynclitic (facing wrong way and ear first)

How long were you in labour?

With dc2 my waters again broke suddenly and contractions started, strong and regular but after 37hrs his head was ot (same as dd), cervix long and closed and it was clear he was in the same position as dd and failing to apply even pressure on the cervix

Was it a success or not?

Repeat emcs

What pain relief did you have?

Nowt until the spinal for the emcs

did you have an induction?

Nope because all signs were that there was a positioning problem. Confirmed during the cs. I could have had an induction but was already 37hrs post PROM and with suspect positioning and ftp

CS recovery with an older child and baby btw was a breeze. Don't imagine it has to be awful. DD started school 4 days after ds was born and I had a 4 mile school run on bus/on foot to do on top of everything. It was fine.

EMCS with no 1 for foetal distress
planned CS for 2 and 3
Vba3C for no 4.
The CS were a breeze. Fast recovery for no 3 despite 2 toddlers. The vbac left me with ongoing problems and went horribly wrong.
Sorry but you do need to know that.

I had an EMCS for my first child 2 years ago. I was induced at 42 weeks, had immediate hyperstimulation with one pessary inserted, ARM after 4 hours to speed things up, was flat on my back being monitored for the whole time so the continuous contractions were agony - not a positive labour experience (no pain relief, as I tried gas&air but it made me sick so just used breathing /hypnobirthing throughout). The section was for foetal distress - i had dilated to 6cm after 7 hours of labour.

I had a vbac 3 weeks ago at 40+2 and it was great - much faster recovery, which was my main reason for wanting a vbac (having a toddler and a newborn while recovering from a section was not appealing). But also a more positive experience overall.

Second time around I was paranoid about going so far overdue again and didn't want to CFM as wanted to be mobile. I agreed with my doctor that I'd refuse CFM unless there was a reason for it (eg meconium in waters or worries caused by the intermittent monitoring). She really spelled out the risks of this and wasn't happy with my decision at all.

I took evening primrose oil (orally and vaginally) from 35/36 weeks - the only old wives tale I tried (I had tried them all, to no avail, first time around).

I accepted a sweep at 40 weeks exactly, had a bloody show the next morning and went into spontaneous labour that evening. My waters went (a trickle) quite early on though contractions had started. I laboured at home as long as possible. I was admitted to the birth centre, as planned, but after only an hour there my baby passed meconium so it was straight up to the labour ward for CFM (was again flat on my back as she was quite far down by then so hard to keep the trace). I didn't mind, as I'd always said I'd be happy for CFM if it was needed (especially having had a section for foetal distress first time around). Baby was born an hour later and I pushed her out myself (there was talk of ventouse as she had gone into distress).

I was in labour about 12 hours.

I did hypnobirthing again, so used breathing, apart from 5 mins of g&a at transition (i had panicked at the sight of the mec - thought it would mean another EMCS as DS has passed mec too - the g&a calmed me down).

Re induction, I made it clear I'd refuse any chemical induction or augmentation due to my terrible induction experience first time around and my concerns about increased risk of rupture (my doctor was in favour of augmentation btw). I may have considered ARM if I went to 42 weeks but probably would have gone for expectant management.

Thanks so much to all who have shared their experiences thus far, it really is giving me a lot of food for thought.

mnistooaddictive -after 2 days on syntocin I hadn't progressed beyond 4cm, so I am reluctant to try induction again (particularly with the increased risk of uterine rupture)

It's still so hard making a decision up front though not knowing what way things could go...

As I said on another thread, I suppose what I'm afraid of is the slight increased risk to the baby if I go for a vbac as opposed to having an elcs. Also, if the vbac is not successful I may also be increasing the time it takes for me to recover -because of labouring- if in the end I have to have an emcs (and I'll have a 26 month old and a new born to look after- ShowOfHands glad to hear it doesn't have to be tough though)...and that's not to mention the possiblity of any post-birth complications.-Don't be sorry KalSkirata it needs to be said and I need to add that into the equation.

...But on the other hand I would like to avoid surgery if I can.

Thanks for your well wishes SkinnyV

Flip Good point. Hadn't even considered this prospect (silly of me) as I've always wondered if I'd have had to have had a CS if my waters hadn't gone so soon.

Joy sorry for the ramble earlier - I remember well all the agonising about it (I always wanted to try a vbac but at one point it looked like I'd need an ELCS for breech - luckily DD turned!) so it's good that you're taking the time to gather info/opinions/experiences.

I put my problems first time around down to being induced. For me, if my body went into labour when it was ready then I thought I'd have as much of a chance of a successful vaginal birth as first time around (the circa 75% statistic that my NHS leaflet quoted). My doctor agreed (we just disagreed on things like CFM as a standard!).

good luck with it all! Either way, you'll have a lovely newborn (3 week old DD currently asleep on my chest ).

Don't be Flip I'm so grateful for your honesty.

I asked my consultant why she thought I hadn't been able to give birth naturally as many women do to back to back babies and she said she thought it was because I was induced. That's why I wish I'd been braver and waited.
I now think I may prefer not to be induced or have ARM as you mentioned unless I am fairly (yet to be decided upon, grrr) overdue and all is well.

Aw, yes Flip regardless of how they get here it is all so very worth it in the end...Congratulations and thanks!

Hi, you have a wealth of information on this thread already but I thought I would add my experience ...

Emcs with ds1 - got to 8cm, foetal distress, op and recovery fine.

Very keen to avoid cs with ds2, got an independent midwife with a view to spending a long a time as possible at home during labour before transferring to hospital with a view to starting off in a relaxed environment and having a natural a birth as possible. Ended up going 10 days over and my waters broke during an appt at hospital for high blood pressure. Got to 7cm then stopped, baby was chin up, back to back, passed meconium, in slight distress, so ended up with another csection. And spent most of my labour hooked up to monitors. Would it have been any different if I had spent the time at home, I don't know.

So, no matter how much you plan, only thing to expect is the unexpected! And I echo what Flip says, baby will come out no matter what you decide on, and that's the most important thing :)

Oh, and recovery at home with a 3 year old was absolutely fine.

Elective CS with first because breech. Successful VBAC for second. I was induced at about 39.5 weeks using drip only because I showed signs of pre-eclampsia. I can't remember how long it took! I think the drip started around the middle of the day, it took a few hours for labour to be established and DS was born about 11pm. Only used gas and air - was fine, never occurred to me to ask for anything else.

I chose c section second time.....got my epidural on demand but just did not want to risk doing labour and ending with a section anyway.
I have for d recovery much easier with planned c section.First baby was huge.
This baby was smaller so maybe I could have pushed her out but frankly I am happy with the c section....healthy baby. Recovery fine. Not as tired this time. Walking 3 to 4 days afterwards.good luck with your choice.

I had a vaginal delivery with ds1, then ELCS with ds2 who was breech. Had VBAC with dd1 was induced as 9 days overdue, in labour 9 hours had epidural.VBAC with ds3 went into labour spontaneously, in labour 12 hours had epidural.VBAC with dd2 induced because waters went 2 days previously and no contractions in labour six hours had gas and air.

just had a vbac about 26 hours ago!

1st time around i was in labour for about 2 days! i had contractions before my waters broke, everything went v slowly (prob because DS back to back) ended up on drip/epidural and emcs when DS heartrate worried them.

vbac - was in labour for about 12 hours ish and it was a success.

i didn't really have any pain relief during labour. it went kind of fast! I'd used a hypnotherapy cd for relaxation/breathing and it really worked to keep me calm. i had gas and air for about 2 contractions but i couldn't breathe it through my nose so it just annoyed me and made me dizzy so i threw it away in the huff!

i had to have local anesthetic at the end because DS2's heart rate dropped and he was helped out for the last bit with forceps.

still feel a lot more mobile with episiotomy than after cs and was home in a few hours.

really glad to have had a positive experience, had a v nice midwife and DH and i had hours of skin to skin after the birth and just relaxed. feeling lucky today!

irregularegular -all that on only gas and air, great.

insanity -wow. I think if I'd had had a previous vaginal birth I know I would be feeling much more confident about the success of a VBAC (statistically there is more likely to be a positive outcome). Curious to know why you didn't have an epidural with your DD2 was it because it was an easier labour and you could do without, or something else?

Pitmountainpony- I can completely understand what your saying and that's the thing, I'm confident everything would run smoothly and be well if I opted for an ELCS as I am having the same consultant as I had and who performed my EMCS the last time and she's fantastic.

jaggy so glad everything went well for you, congratulations!

Well with dd1 and ds3 they were considered a trial of labour and consultant wanted me to have an epidural in case I ended up with EMCS due to scar rupture.Consultant would have preferred ELCS anyway as that was his preference but I prefer the easier recovery of a vaginal birth. With dd2 I had a different consultant who never mentioned the option of an ELCS and didn't consider it to be a trial of labour (his feeling was I had proved I had successful VBACs and that was what he expected again) so I didn't have any persuasion to have an epidural and opted for gas and air. I think it probably was an easier birth anyway.

I had an EMCS with DD1, and was hoping for an ELCS for DD2 but was refused all through my pregnancy, they insisted on VBAC.

Once I was 41 weeks I was basically told 'of course you can have an ELCS now if you want' (!?), as they didnt do inductions for VBACs. So I was booked in, but went into labour before then.

First labour was 26 hours, second was 9. I did have forceps with the second.

I actually found the recovery from the CS easier. I really struggled with double incontinence (result of forceps?), piles and episiotomy after the VBAC - this is just me though and other women may not have any of this. And I was more active sooner after the CS.

I don't regret the VBAC though. Its a difficult decision - good luck whatever you do!

Thanks for explaining insanity

I had emcs with dc1, vbac failed and GA emcs with DS2 (both of nearly died), dc3&4 elcs.

I found CS delivery awful, I hated the pain the following day, I'm not very good at taking it easy and so like to get on with getting back to normal ASAP. I never had episiotomy or forceps or anything like that and didn't need stitches after my VBACs so I was back to normal within a day or two.

i had a emcs with ds due to failing to progress. i eventually got to 9cm but he had shifted position so ended up with emcs. 20 months later i gave birth to my dd. tried a VBAC and was given sweep in the morning, went into labour that evening and had the most painful contractionas ever. Got to hospital and they gave me an epidural when i was only 2cm as was in so much pain and lost control!! after epiduaral kicked in they broke my waters and there was meconuim (sp?) in them. They left it a bit and then said that my contractions were so strong they might rupture my scar, also her heartbeat was dipping so we decided to go for another EMCS. It was much nicer as i was only in labour for about 4 hours before having it. So was not so tired etc.

recovery with a toddler was ok but i had loads of help for the first few weeks.

good luck!