Can you/did you have a midwife led VBAC?

[BeaKind]

Hi all! I’m hoping for some advice.

I’m pregnant with my second after having a c section first time round due to baby being back to back and struggling to come out. Then his heart rate was dipping so we all agreed best to have a belly birth.

I’ve had my first consultant appointment and they’ve said I’d be perfect for a VBAC but they recommend on delivery unit rather than midwife led unit and to be continuously monitored with IV access in situ.

I did a hypnobirthing course the first time round and really wanted to go down that route but had to be induced and from there it was intervention after intervention. They struggled to pick up baby on the monitors when I was in any position other than laying on my back. I couldn’t go in the pool, on the birthing ball, on all fours. Nothing other than laying down.

I already feel like this baby is destined for the same labour so I’m wondering if you can have or if anyone here has had a midwife led VBAC with little to no monitoring?

I’ve not yet asked anybody this as I’ve only just seen these recommendations on my summary letter.

Thank you!

Yes, you absolutely can. You might need it to be signed off by the consultant/ consultant midwife as 'birthing outside guidelines' but they can't actually say no. They will inform you of the risks (although they never mention the benefits!) which can sound like them saying no or trying to dissuade you but they just have to say it.

@tinyshoppingbasket thank you! I’m the worst advocate for myself so this is really helpful and giving me some backup. ☺️

Try to find out exactly why the consultant recommended the Labour wars rather than midwife led.

I've recently had this conversatiom regarding intended VBAC, and have been told it's absolutely fine for me to use the midwife led unit. I was told this was because of circumstances surrounding c section, and also because the locations of the wards mean it would be easy to transfer id necessary.

Good luck OP. Following with interest as I would like the same as you. Currently my alternative is to stay home for as long as possible, although bit nervous as hospital is 45 minutes away

@TinyTeacher when I asked the only reason she gave me was due to the rupture of the c section scar but gave odds of 1:200.

The birthing centre is connected to the main hospital so I can’t imagine the transfer times will be long at all.

@Kalodin I will definitely update later down the line when I’ve had some more chats with them. I’d also like to stay at home as long as possible 🙏 how far along are you?

I’m 39 weeks and going for a VBAC attempt. I’ve got birth centre on my notes and it highlights I’m going ‘out of guidance’ but our labour ward is just through some double doors so I feel okay going against the official hospital guidance of labour ward and full time monitoring

@Hollyppp ah thank you for commenting and best of luck! I’m going to meet with the consultant midwife to discuss as the birth centre I would like to go to is also just through a double door to the delivery unit.

I find it slightly confusing that they see odds of 1:150 for Down’s, Edward’s and Patau’s in baby as low risk and deem no further tests, but 1:200 odds of scar rupture is high risk with a need of constant monitoring? 🤷‍♀️

Not long for you to go now hopefully! Let us know how you get on.

Hi

I had a home birth after CS with midwives at my home. Baby is 16 now!

@Hollyppp hey, how are you? How did your birth go? I’m assuming/hoping you’re not still pregnant 😝

Hey!
So I went to birth centre and DH went home for 2 hours to wait for grandparents to look after toddler. I said no to continuous monitoring or cannulation in both hands as per hospital guidance as I wanted to get in the zone.

My first labour was 36 hours so we thought we had a while…

After a hour of labour Back waters went and they were brown and green, got monitored on the floor where I was positioned, heart rate of baby was dipping to 80 and then recovering. Medics not happy. I got put on a bed in labour ward for cannulation and continuous monitoring right away and immediately baby’s heart range plummeted to 40 and stayed there (no recovering) so they had to get baby out in less than 10 minutes due to fetal distress. They tried to attempt a spinal once (so they could deliver by forceps as I was 9cm) but the stopwatch was going and spinal takes 10 mins to kick in. They didn’t have any more time so within seconds I was have a section under general anaesthetic in theatre.
Baby was born not breathing and floppy. Luckily after 10 mins on a ventilator she took her own first breath. Went to Neonatal unit. Luckily I wasn’t awake for this bit as it would have been incredibly worrying.

Meanwhile my husband completely missed the birth and turned up at birth centre and got told to go to theatre. Arrived just as I was finished being stitched up. Bit of a shock…!
soo yeah couldn’t be further from my VBAC hope!!!

Luckily our baby is alive and no brain damage (which was the big risk from oxygen deprivation) and no damage from her Meconium aspiration (the other risk).
thank god for modern medicine. And thank god we didn’t have a home birth as she would have died.

@BeaKind sorry for a negative story! What’s the latest with you?

I will have a third but will go for elective c next time

@Hollyppp wow what a birth story! So glad you’re all ok!! It sounds like you had a traumatic time. Thank you for sharing your story. 🤍

I had a really good birth reflection about my first birth and my only risk factor is the c section so I’ve agreed to go to the delivery suite rather than birth centre. I’m still unsure with the monitoring. I might go with it to begin with and if all ok ask for it to come off. They’ve all been so supportive and said I can change my mind at any point to go for the section, even if I’m in labour.

I can’t believe how quickly everything happened for you. Bless you. Good to know it’s not put you off having another ☺️

Hi @BeaKindhope you are well. I realise a long time has passed since you wrote this! How did you get on? I could have written your opening post!

Not to mention CTG monitoring has never been demonstrated to provide any benefit compared to intermittent auscultation, which is what the midwives typically do at home/birth centre

Hi @showmethegin. I’ve been waiting until I had some time to reply.

With my first I went overdue by 2 weeks and didn’t go into natural labour. At 3am 10 days before the due date of this baby I woke with some cramping. Brushed it off as Braxton Hicks but they started getting more regular. I timed them out of curiosity and by 4am I was having 4 contractions in 10 minutes.

We got to the hospital around 6.30 and I was lucky enough that the one suite on the delivery unit with the pool was available. I was having pretty strong contractions by the time I got in and they tried to get the IV access in me but they were struggling and honestly were really annoying me so I told them to stop, which they did.

I had 2 amazing midwives who totally supported me and guided me unbelievably well to have a successful VBAC with just gas and air. Baby was born around 8.30 so quite quick in the end. I can’t even remember them doing any monitoring. I didn’t even think about using the pool and the most comfortable position I found for birthing was sitting with my feet pushing against the rests.

If anyone reads this in the future please don’t be scared of the consultant led unit. I’m not sure that I even saw any consultants at my birth. It was a perfect birth and really healed me from my first birthing experience. I think in particular hypnobirthing courses can scare you into thinking these are bad places to have babies but they are safe and it’s still possible to have an amazing birth and advocate for what you want.

Happy to answer any questions 🙂 ♥️