VBAC question: how much did your vbac baby weigh?

[Ninunina]

Hi, I'm 25 weeks pregnant with DD2 and I'm hoping to attempt a VBAC this time round. Last time I had an ELCS at 41 weeks due to babies head not engaging and my consultant worrying about shoulder dystortia. I had a scan yesterday and baby is measuring 1 week ahead so I'm now worrying that a big baby will mean another ELCS due to risk of scar rupturing. So basically I'm quite interested to know how much your babies weighed if you've had a VBAC. DD was 3.77kg (8lbs3) at birth and I'm 165cm tall so not a small baby, but not massive.

Just had a VBAC yesterday morning. My DS who was a c/s for breech weighed 8lb3 at 39 wks and DD2 was 6lb10 at 38 wks. For comparison DD1 was 7lb1 at 39 wks. I had had a growth scan 2 days before DD2 arrived so was somewhat reassured that she wasn't massive but have to be honest I was still pretty nervous. Was ok in the end - some stitches but recovery will be so much easier than a c/s so pleased I did go that route.

7lb 10 - quick straightforward labour on due date and no stitches, I was really lucky. I felt back to normal after a week, and so relieved not to have the long cs recovery with an energetic 2yo to care for. My first was elcs for breech, I spent the whole pregnancy worrying about history repeating but have learned that two pregnancies can be completely different. It's early days for you and you may find that the baby's in a good position and not huge at the end. Good luck!

My DD2 vbac baby weighed 9lb 2oz. It was expected that she would be on the large side as her elder sister weighed even more, but nobody ever mentioned that this might create a problem with the scar rupturing. I did have a very long pushing stage (over 2 hours) but I don't know if this was because of her size, position or just how I am built. I am not particularly big - slightly above average height but only a size 10. I ended up with a 3rd degree tear too, but actually it healed very well and more quickly than the c-section scar. I would mention your concerns to the midwife, but bear in mind that growth scans can be very inaccurate.

DS was 8lb4 and EMCS at 40+16 as his head was twisted. DD was 9lb3 VBAC at 40+19 (I'm a late baker!). I had a 3rd degree tear with DD as well, although I think this was more to do with then getting the forceps out, than her size. No way was I going to let that happen, so I pushed her out on the next contraction. Oh yes and her head was on the 95th centile as well

Although it could have been worse, as the week before I has her we were told she was at least 10lb (as was mentioned above, not all scans are accurate!).

It's quite reassuring to see that there were larger babies being delivered by VBAC. Hopefully my consultant will be OK with it.

In my experience it depends on the consultant and how jumpy they are about vbac in the 1st place. Ds1 was 9lb 7oz and elcs due to breech. I was recommended immediately to always have elcs due to size. I'm currently ttc dc2 and will not be having a elcs. When I talked to midwives and another consultant about this they all said they'd never heard of a correlation between rupture and big babies. One mw even referred to the consultant as a bit hysterical about it - he has a rep at the hospital for 'once a section- always a section'. Remember that the consultants job is to advise, not dictate what you do. Talk to the midwives, read up on your options (I found looking at kings hospitals policies and guidance online very refreshing compared to the dated practices at my local hospital) and go with what you feel comfortable with - good luck.

In my experience it depends on the consultant and how jumpy they are about vbac in the 1st place. Ds1 was 9lb 7oz and elcs due to breech. I was recommended immediately to always have elcs due to size. I'm currently ttc dc2 and will not be having a elcs. When I talked to midwives and another consultant about this they all said they'd never heard of a correlation between rupture and big babies. One mw even referred to the consultant as a bit hysterical about it - he has a rep at the hospital for 'once a section- always a section'. Remember that the consultants job is to advise, not dictate what you do. Talk to the midwives, read up on your options (I found looking at kings hospitals policies and guidance online very refreshing compared to the dated practices at my local hospital) and go with what you feel comfortable with - good luck.