Oh FFS is Vbac really better than another section?

[Flum]

Trying to work out if it is worth holding out or not.....

Congratulations Flum Is there a birth announcement somewhere?

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Oh... Can you tell us anything? Is everyone healthy?

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Fair enough. As lonas everyone is fine.

Thanks for letting us know.

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Have catted who?

Had a elected C Section which was horrible and because I couldn't get out of bed straight away had a lot of pain. 15 months later had a VBAC which was the most fantastic experience I have ever had - all natural with no pain killers - WOW! Perfect. I think I managed it due to being focussed on breathing, in the bath with essential oils for hours! Everyone is different so you really have to ignore everyone else (make you scared of rupture), look inside yourself and feel what you think is right for you at the time.

22 months between my c-section and VBAC

I had a very similar experience Kangaroo and I agree it's up to you as an individual. Some people have good, some people have not so good experiences. It's great holding your little miracle for the first time though, whichever way you give birth! It's ok to have varying opinions too. x

YOU uqila

Didn't get it.

I totally agree, if YOU feel stongly about which you want to do, go for it and tell everyone else to bugger off.

Had a vbac 10 weeks ago. In hindsight, wish I'd had an elective cs. My body just does not want to dilate (never got further than 3 cms last time) took 36 hours to get to 6 cm this time. Had an epidural which only worked on one side. By the time it came to push it was after 48 hours and I was just too damn tired for it to work. Tried very hard but ended up in theatre. Finally they gave me a spinal, then failed with the ventouse and used forceps.
It was all so horrid dh left in tears before I started pushing. I think about the birth every day. So depressing.

((tonton)) that sounds so traumatic. I hope you have people to talk to about it every day, if you're thinking about it every day.

After all the stories I've heard, my feeling is to give it a go if I'm allowed (probably won't be, if BP acts up again) but have it in the plan to move fast to c-section if things get dodgy. I'd rather have a section than a major forceps stressy sort of birth, anyday - especially at my age. My last 'emergency' section (wasn't really, just me giving in eventually after being told for two days that induction wasn't working) was amazing: it was the birth of my first child, and I cried, and I held her straight away, and thats all that mattered.

Hello been lurking for a while but just thought I would say I am sorry you had this experience, this happened to me with my DD2 after 30 hours of getting nowhere and every intervention possible I ended up having a emcs.

My body just does not want to dilate (never got >further than 3 cms last time) took 36 hours to >get to 6 cm this time. Had an epidural which >only worked on one side. By the time it came to >push it was after 48 hours and I was just too >damn tired for it to work. Tried very hard but >ended up in theatre. Finally they gave me a >spinal, then failed with the ventouse and used >forceps.

My DD2 was OP (a stargazer) and this was the reason my labour was so long and slow, looking back at my notes and doing some research I realised it was not my body that was failing, but just the pressure you seem to be under when you are in hospital conditions. I am not saying this will help you but it helped me understand what had happened, when I had DS3 I stayed at home as long as possible. This definitely helped because by the time I got to hospital there was hardly any time for interventions (by God the consultant tried!!). Anyway I did have a VBAC2 and it was the best thing that I could have done.

It does not surprise me that some womans labours are so painful and slow in hospitals, when a woman goes into labour natural instincts would be to be comfortable and safe, instead you are more than likely to be flat on your back, be surrounded by beeping monitors, people sticking their fingers inside you, drugs etc etc. With DS3 everything slowed up and got more painful as soon as I entered the hospital.

I am not saying this will help but maybe when you are feeling a little stronger you could read your notes and see what actually went wrong.

Ali xxx

tonton, what an awful experience

I'm surprised they let you labour that long for a vbac though

I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you, tonton, and others who have had bad VBAC experiences. I also thought they tend to put a time limit on VBACs?

I have been following this thread for some time, as I have a personal interest in the question, and it really is a case of FFS! It is such a hard decision to make! (sorry this may be a bit of an essay)...

I am currently 31+ weeks pg with my second child, my ds was born well over 5 years ago by em CS, premature, fetal distress, I was only 1cm dialated and had barely had any contractions. So labour is an unknown quantity to me for a start. I found the sudden arrival of ds to be one of the strangest things - it's just hard to describe the surprise at there suddenly being a baby in the operating theatre, which was whisked away to SCBU after maybe being shown to us for less than a minute. It certainly did affect bonding (for me - others may feel this differently) as I felt like I hadn't really had a baby - I am aware that an elective would be different, as hopefully, nothing would be wrong and baby wouldn't be taken away.

I have read and read everything I can, and it seems that the advice out there is that a VBAC is safer than a repeat CS, and had almost decided on a VBAC. I saw the registrar this week (consultant was off sick) and again, was told that they would certainly encourage a VBAC, however I would have to have continual fetal monitoring - "could I move around?" I asked, and was told that I would need to be semi-recumbant, which seems to me incredibly restrictive and goes against the grain of what I would like a VBAC to be. I can't imagine I'd be able to succeed if I'm worrying about a readout all the time and not able to move around.

However, I will hopefully be seeing the consultant in a couple of weeks to confirm about the contiuous monitoring/ability to move/walk/be upright during a VBAC. Those kind of restrictions, and the fact that childcare for my ds would be easier to arrange with an elective CS may actually sway me towards a CS.

So I am still in two minds about it. However, the sense of achievement and triumph after a natural birth is so very attractive to me, as that was missing for me so much last time, and if there were a guarantee that yes, I will be able to do it and everything will turn out fine, then I would go for the VBAC without hesitation. Hearing positve VBAC stories certainly helps.

I noticed that the original poster, Flum, has already had her baby Congratulations, whichever way it happened in the end! I do hope everything went well.

Hi Happybird

Continuous monitoring does lead too more intervention and it is very restrictive. They say that the first signs of scar rupturing is baby going into distress, in fact it is your pulse and blood pressure changing that is the first indicator. The risk of a rupture happening is tiny (0.5%). I would personally avoid monitoring - remember it is your choice if you want to be wired up NOT the consultants.

Sorry hoppybird

Hoppybird, Toady is right - it is your choice - although you have a better chance of intermittent, as opposed to continuous, monitoring if you can use a MW-led facility as an average labour ward may just not have the staff available to monitor you every 15 mins or whatever.

I think Mears has posted a few times that even continous monitoring shouldn't mean lying down - the wires can be long enough that you can stand or sit on a birth ball next to the bed.

Toady and Carolina - I guess if wires are long enough to allow movement, I would be halfway happy, but being tied up to a monitor does feel like a predictor of doom and failure, and not something positive that will help during a birth. I will certainly speak to my midwife about monitoring, and find out what they have done with past VBACs. I certainly feel that the registar I saw, although claiming to encourage a VBAC, didn't really have a huge amount of understanding about my concerns.

hoppy bird, if you do decide to try for vbac, then stay at home for as long as you can, that way they won't be able to fiddle with you and make sure your birth partner is a strong voice for you. I have had 3 brill vaginal births after 2 sections. the last one was at home ( the best of all). my eldest ds is 7 and youngest dd 6 months. I was adamant that I wouldn't be continually monitored, they didn't like it, but use intermitent ones and all was good

I had a vbac 12 months after my em section. The birth experiences couldn't have been more different. Vbac was a piece of cake compared to failed induction and em section. The labour with ds1 by em section was the most horrendous experience of my life - I have never been so utterly terrified. The birth of ds2 by vbac was the most fulfilling and rewarding experience of my life. The downside of vbac was the nasty tear which seems to have deadened things a bit for me "down below". However, I have been assured that things will get back to normal in time (ds2 is 7 months).

Good luck with whatever you decide.

My NCT teacher told us you don't get a medal for not having pain relief. And I think the same goes for not having a c-section.

You have no idea how much people may have suffered and worked to have their baby. The delivery isn't the achievement, the healthy baby is. And I produced two beautiful girls, despite having risk factors to the contrary.

I had an emergency c-section 6 years ago after a 40 hour labour (including over 2 hours pushing)and it was a horrific experience, mostly because my daughter was extremely ill.

The mental scars were horrendous and it took 6 years to get pregnant again, on the strict understanding that I would have an elective this time.

However, I had a horrendous pregnancy and spent the last 5 weeks in bed with terrible abdominal and muscle pain. My womb was enormous (and I'm not). It would have gone on longer til my section date at 39 weeks, but luckily my waters broke after 7 hours of contractions at home (took the mattress a week to dry out, despite there being loads of duvets under me at the time)at just 37 weeks. We immediately sped to hospital at midnight, and I was monitored, met the surgical team who gave me the option of c-section or VBAC. And I seriously thought about it but decided I was too exhausted from all the pain to go through with it. The midwife was relieved because she didn't like the CTG.

When they did the operation they discovered that the entire right hand side of my uterus was covered in adhesions (which explains the pain) and the c-section was done entirely on the left. My previously head down baby had swum round and become breech again (all that water to turn in). So I had made the right decision. Thank goodness. She was okay, I was okayish and the experience actually holds some joy for me. And the birth was just over 2 hours after my waters were broken.

A caesarean is not an easy option, you shake on the table, you can feel every cut (but no pain), you feel sick and scared. But the knowledge that you and the baby are alright outweighs all that. I know.

It took 7 weeks to recover. But I was better immediately after the section than in the 5 weeks before it.