"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

Thanks klaw, every bit of positive advice I get makes me more determined, although it is bloody scary!

paranoidmummy

have you seen this birth plan template?

Klaw gave me tne link, I found it really good for helping to formulate your thoughts on what you want & to get your wishes down in black & white for everyone to see.

It really helped me when I had my recent "mode of delivery" 36wk consultant appointment - TOLD them no CFM, and they've even agreed to let me use the water pool for pain relief in stage one (usually a "no-no" at my hospital for VBAC)

wow, that's excellent. thanks betsyboop. I'm sorry and quite but what is CFM? I'm guessing its constant foetal monitoring but is it that horrible machine i was strapped to last time after they used the drip? is it still safe not to have this? are there alternatives? I'm sorry to sound so naive, I've still got a lot of reading up to do i think.

also how many people here are attempting without a doula? I am but now I'm ummming about getting one. any advice... AGAIN (sorry)

paranoidmummy

you are right CFM = Continuous Foetal Monitoring - I had it last time too & hated it...

I've got a doula to support me this time, which I think will make a huge difference, as I can concentrate on labouring how I want to & my doula can "deal" with the medical staff (I had a really irritating m/w last time )
(also partly because DH works 4hrs away during the week, so if things happen quickly I'm not on my own)

There is a very small risk of uterine rupture with VBAC (various figures about but somewhere in the region of 0.5%, most of which don't cause a serious problem) and the theory is that CFM will pick up the early signs of it happening due to changes in babies heartbeat. However this assumes that someone is watching the CFM trace & not popping in every half an hour to check it like happened to me last time... Also other practitioners (eg Mary Cronk as below) say there are other ways to detect the start of potential problems.

However the only clinical evidence in relation to CFM is that it has been shown to lead to more interventions (forceps/ventouse/ c/s) see the cochrane report

So yes if I'm honest there is a tiny bit more risk in not having CFM, but in my view more than out weighed by the increased risk of intervention if I do have it. Also they can still do intermittent monitoring (doppler or pinnard stethoscope) every 15mins & of course if there was a hint of a problem showing from that I would go on CFM, just don't want it done as the defacto standard.

Hope that helps. Some people don't find CFM too restrictive, but I hated it last time (I also had drip in left hand & BP cuff on right arm, so effectively tethered to the bed )

oh betsy, thank you for all your help . yes that is EXACTLY what i had last time and it made me feel so irritated as i just couldn't move! Tbh I don't think I ever needed to be put on the silly drip anyway and I think it was them all being impatient and wanting to get me out of there. I am NOT letting that happen this time.

Determined to get all the advice I can and know exactly what I want. The info from all of you is helping no end .

As you said betsyboop, if anything starts to show up as baby is distressed then obv I would do everything to ensure he/she is ok but I just don't want to go in there thinking that it is going to be anything than a normal labour. Many others have done it before me!!!!

Can i ask how you go about hiring a doula? Costs etc? Sorry if that's a bit personal for people to want to answer on here but I know I couldn't afford anything too expensive. Plus I would have to talk it through with dh as I don't want him to feel i'm trying to replace him. As I said I'm still unsure on whether I'm going to have one. Part of me feels that provided myself and dh are both completely sure on birth plan and our rights then we can do it on our own.

Oh i don't know, I'm not even halfway through yet and I'm already moaning on about the birth shame on me

have a look on doula UK

I found mine through there (sort of) - made contact with the only one vaguely close, which (I didn't know at the time!) turned out to be Lulumama She put me in touch with a newly trained doula (who hadn't registered with Doula UK then, but is now) who lives quite close to me. As she's a trainee (I think they have to do something like 4 births to be fully "qualified") it only costs £150, which is a bargain IMO.

If you've any specific qus on Doulas I'm sure Lulumama or Klaw will be more than happy to help you.

Also check out the links near the bottom of the thread for loads of useful background reading. As you say sorting out in your own mind what you want & don't want is key IMO

i would have loved to be your doula, but the distance was a bit too great .. it was fate that your doula appeared when she did and so close by !

i will however, look forward to a minute by minute birth story

oooh you little star!I have looked on website and are a few in my area. going to discuss with dh tonight. quite excited, thank you

happy to help paranoidmummy

As you said, I just want to be treated as a "normal" labour - I've got "For Trial of Scar" on my notes, drives me mad that they use this term. Like they are expecting you to fail.

The first para of my birth plan says "Although I am a VBAC labour I do not want to be treated any differently from any other labouring woman. Please do not treat me like a potential rupture of scar. I wish to have as natural a birth as possible, with minimal medical intervention." - feel free to plagerise

Lulumama, I would have been more than happy for you to be my doula too, but like you say just a little bit too much distance between us.

excellent opening paragraph !

hope you find someone paranoidmummy x

betsyboop - you go girl .... - oh, and on the using the water front (I did when I had dd 19 days ago), if you want to push in the water, the midwives cannot make you get out ... if you want to stay in there, just refuse to get out!
I was fortunate in that there's no 1st stage / 2nd stage "rule" at the trust where I delivered ... which shows you in a way that it's perhaps an arbitrary rule, made up for nobody's benefit!

paranoidmummy - you can do it .... I refused CEFM ... but was monitored (in the pool!) with a sonicaid every 15 minutes or so (1st stage) then every 5 minutes or so (2nd stage) - midwife had problems fitting it in between contractions!

I intended to have a doula at the birth ... anticipating a longish latent stage at home - but in the event, things happened so quickly, that I never got around to phoning her! (my birth story is here if you want to have a look!)

betsyboop - i definitely like that line and I may have to steal it
I'm starting to feel quite empowered!!!

ejt - your birth story nearly made me cry (could be the pregnancy hormones!) you muct be so proud of yourself! hope you and little one are well. have also been contemplating an acupuncturist if go overdue as I went 10 days over with ds1 but wasn't sure what it entails!!!

The acupuncture for each session was as follows:

Each session, I had needles in my hands, feet and back (about 8 needles in total).

Session 1: Needles on my back and feet were hooked up to the electric acupuncture machine - but impulses very gentle - about 20 minutes on the machine.

Session 2: Needles on feet, hands and 2 of those on my back were hooked up to the machine - stronger impulses ... and for about 40 minutes.

Session 3: as session 2.

I also had the in-and-out needles at each session to strengthen me up.

Being hooked up to the machine wasn't pleasant - but it obviously did the trick. My acupuncturist did warn me that if the baby wasn't cooked enough, that the treatments wouldn't have any effect ... but that was a risk worth taking - ds was 16 days late!!

I'd definitely recommend it ...

Hi

I have been sent here by pendulam.

I am due 1st Dec and have one dd born by section in Nov 03.I had another dd born naturally in April 05 but she was stillborn

I am hoping for a VBAC this time as I would love to give birth naturally to a live child as I feel that it may give me some closure?

My cons is very supportive and has agreed to see me on 3rd Dec at his first clinic if I had not had baby by then. He said if cervix is softening he will induce but if not it will be another section as we both dont want me to go overdue (it being a very anxious pregnancy and just about making it emotionally this far)

So I plan to have some brisks walks before due date and hopefully get things going....

welcome chocolatepeanut, so sorry to hear about your loss

fingers crossed for a safe natural delivery for your little peanut.

thanks ejt

At my hospital the pool for VBAC at all is a no-no - so I had to fight to be allowed to use it at all

At the moment I don't want to actually deliver in the pool, so not bothered that they are restricting me to stage one only, but who knows how I will feel on the day? I figure that if I don't want to get out they will struggle to make me (but I guess the m/w can always pull the plug )

hi chocolate peanut ... lovely to see you! You are doing all the right things to make this go right ...

betsy - mw can't pull the plug if you're sitting on it! ...

Hello all, thanks for the info - I've now started to put together a Birth Plan which I hadn't been able to get my head around before.

I ended up being an impromptu birth partner for my friend on Saturday as she went into labour while her husband was away. 4 1/2 hour labour, natural delivery - it was an inspiration but also daunting. It seemed like it was an ideal birth but was still pretty scary! And it made me anxious about whether my body and I can acheive that. Not sure if it's made me feel better or worse about my VBAC to be honest but it was certainly an experience and honour to be able to support her.

Kitsilano - well done on getting your head around a birth plan. Also congratulations on being a birth partner for your friend ...

You don't have to worry about whether you and your body can do this ... your body knows what to do ...

I'd recommend the natal hypnotherapy vbac preparations CDs - I used them ,and I found them excellent just to get me in the right frame of mind.

You can do this!

ejt "mw can't pull the plug if you're sitting on it!" didn't think of that.
Encouraging you say the natal hypnotherapy CDs helped as I've been using them too, fingers crossed they do the same for me

thank you ejt, it sounds much less scary than i had envisaged. may i ask how overdue you were when u had it? I know its a long way off but I'm thinking of booking them for when i am exactly 40 wks t try and start things off. if not may book a sweep first followed by the acupuncture???

i know that i am a long long way off form really needing to think about this but i am petrified about the birth this time round. i keep having nightmares that my baby's heartbeat goes down and that it all goes wrong. i'm not sleeping at all. sometimes i wonder if i should just book an elective c section cos i am being selfish in case it goes wrong again? oh i don't know, i'm sorry to sound stressed but i didn't feel at all nervous about birth with ds1 but now i am just so scared it will go wrong after my last experience

paranoid mummy - you could have been me 18 months ago - the birth of ds was very traumatic, and I started to have flashbacks and nightmares about the birth (this was during my last pg, when I had a mmc - spotted at the dating scan).

What helped me then was speaking to a midwife counsellor - there should be a service at your trust - and you can often self-refer. It'll help to talk through how you're feeling face to face with somebody. As it happened, I spent more time talking through the 2mc I had, rather than dealing with the previous birth trauma - but I managed to sort my head out enough to be able to cope with thinking about the birth this time around - it helped me to become much more focussed - hence why I turned into a bit of a bolshy madam where my birth wishes were concerned. That's not to say that I didn't have my wobbles - there was more than one occasion where I thought "Oh, sod it" - and almost booked an elective. But I'm so glad I went down the vbac route, as it's helped me lay a lot of old ghosts to rest.

As for timing, I had the first treatment on the edd given to me by the hospital (28th September), and had her on the day before my edd (1st October). When you find an acupuncturist, make sure you go to one who specialises in women's health - mine does, so had done this before. It would also be helpful to have acupuncture before you go for the "induction" treatment, as it will help you to relax and will energise you.

Oh, and if you do decide to go for an elective, don't beat yourself up about it ....

oh ejt thank you. I think I will def look into it. I had two mc's this yr as well which i don't think has helped with my paranoia! I am mtg with my cons in 2 wks so I will ask to be referred and see if he is any good too! My mum had him when she was pregnant with me!!! (I'm 24) so I'm very shocked he is still alive and working??!!!

The acupuncture does sound fab, I'm going to start ringing around this wkend to find one locally who specialises in it. Won't book it til i've met with my cons tho! Do u know if i can find acupuncurist price guidelines on the net at all?

ps. how is you lo?

Hello,
apropo to nothing very much, I had my VBAC last month - a big boy 4.2 kg and he was a week late so was induced. The birth was fab ' took 5 hours start to finish and it didnt hurt a bit - well, the birth diudnt but the contractions did. God bless epidurals.. My natal hypno tapes helped a bit, the drugs helped alot better, but the c scar was not an issue at all, and I was so chuffed about having a natural birth, and was up the next day despite tearing and needing 7 stiches. So for anyone of us vbacer who still havent popped - good luck. It,s great!

Lulumama,or anyone else sbout that is knowledgable about a natural delivery after a bad mulitple birth c-section,are you about? i need to pick your wise brains please