Anyone else not dialate with DC1 (c section) but had a successful Vbac with DC2?

[Alice3766]

Hi, I’m wondering if anyone has had a successful vbac after failure to progress with DC1?
I still have not 100% come to terms that I had an emcs (I am in therapy) and now that I’m expecting again I want to understand if there is even the slightest chance of having a baby vaginally or if C-section is going to be „my“ thing.

With my first I went into labour naturally a few days before due date (24th) and after almost 2 days at home we went to the labour ward on 26th - I was 4cm so they kept me in. I was coping with Gas and Air and codein quite well mainly standing upright but after 4h and a change in midwife shift they checked and I was still at 4cm.. so they broke my waters. Shortly after baby was in distress so I had to sit/ lie sideways on the bed. This was too painful for me to bare.. we tried a few times of me standing or squatting but baby was in distress.. so back to the laying position again. Not being able to work with the pain was so unbearable that I requested an epidural this was about 4h after they broke my waters. This is also when they decided to use the oxytocin drip to speed things along.. in the next 4h the drip was put up and down depending if baby was in distress or coping. 5am still no progress so the decision for a C-section was made.. however since the wait time for the OP went from 1h to 2h to 8h in total I was put back on the drip to see if maybe „something progresses“ - by that point I had completely given up (epidural stopped working, so midwife kept topping up and I could no longer move, because of impending op I wasn’t allowed to drink water - they had put me on a hydrating drip, but a dry throat and mouth is awful) in short I was in agony and just angry and upset. apparently when they checked me at noon on 27th I was at 2cm..
baby was also back to back and when he was born (via C-section) he did have a slight cone on his front left side. my husband also believes the cord was wrapped around baby. I just can’t stop and wonder „what if“ I hadn’t agreed to having my waters broken, or done x or y.. Overall though the care and post natal care was good - I know it doesn’t quite read it..

thank you for reading this far - I believe it had to get out! Anyway, is there anyone out there who too went into labour naturally with DC1 but failed to progress/ didn’t get past Xcm but with DC2 had a successful Vbac?

thank you so much for reading this far ❤️

Sorry to hear you had such an awful time.

I had a similar birth story in that I went into labour naturally, but didn’t get past 3 cms after 24 hours, ended up with emergency C-section. My midwife insisted that I had a pelvic X-ray at my 6 week check at the hospital to see if there was an issue with my pelvis and there was, the angle of my pelvis meant I’d never be-able to give birth naturally. With dd2 I had an elective Csection and it was fantastic. No worrying about when I was going to go into labour, no pain, just a quick csecion and a really quick recovery. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but just wanted to give you another view, incase you do have to have another Csection. Good luck

@LizzieSiddal thank you for your prompt response! I’m glad to hear that you had a great experience 2nd time round and interesting that your MW suggested an X-ray! A bit late now in my case I guess 😅 but interesting nonetheless! Thank you so much for sharing ❤️

I had a very similar labour to you OP, started naturally day before due date but three days later after drip and epidural I was still only at 3cm, ended in emergency section and baby came out with a huge cone on his head (it did come down quickly). The surgeon who did the section actually told me as he was stitching me up that my pelvis was the wrong shape for childbirth, that he’d never have got out that way even if I’d fully dilated, and any future children I should have an elective section. It does make me sad but ultimately the most important thing is that baby comes out safely and healthily.

I laboured at home for a day before attending hospital where I was found to be 0.5cm dlilated.😢
I dilated 0.5 cm a day for 3 days having contractions every few minutes before having an EMCS.
I opted for a VBAC 2nd time round but did not dilate again but due to decelerations on the CTG caused by the cord round DD’s neck I had another EMCS but quicker that time.

Hello, sorry to hear what you went through.

I had an emc with my first for failure to progress and did go on to have a vbac, but with my first labour I’d dilated pretty much fully before my son got “stuck” and it had ended in emc.

I had had a very straightforward, if slow labour in pool, and got to 9cm, but I think due to the length of time they broke my waters. My contractions pretty much stopped and they hooked me up to the drip, I insisted on a epidural but there were concerns about his heart rate so ultimately it ended in section. They had difficulty pulling him out and said he was rotated slightly and really “wedged in.”

When I had my second it was during covid, and we lived a long way from family so was desperate to avoid a section with no support. My midwife was happy to support vbac as had dilated pretty far the first time.

labour was much much faster second time round, and my daughter was back to back and I needed an episiotomy and narrowly avoided ventouse, and I lost a lot of blood. I did also get sepsis so had to be readmitted for I’ve antibiotics.

Given the awkward positions I do wonder if my pelvis is also at an awkward angle like Lizzie’s.

if I had to do it again, with hindsight I’d go for the section.

I hope you get the outcome you want x

I was induced, almost 2 weeks over due. Had an epidural, similar to you needed to be on my side so epidural wasn't working properly. Failed to progress beyond 6/7cm. EMCS due to DC in distress. Was in hospital for days a
with baby in neonatal for some of that.

Second DC labour started spontaneously (was overdue again) and within 3 hours DC was delivered via VBAC on gas and air only. Was home within 12 hours. Brilliant experience compared to my first.

@WaltzingWaters thank you for your prompt answer too. Interesting again about the pelvis. No dr or mw ever mentioned this to me! All I remember is the obstetrician telling me I have a 75% chance of Vbac - but that was right after she told me I had to have a C-section and was clearly very upset.. So I’m guessing she just mentioned some sort of statistic just to make me feel better..

Had a similar labour insofar as my waters went naturally at 40+2, but they stuck me on the drip to speed things up as there was meconium present (the local midwife led unit tried to send me home but that’s another story). I too stalled at 4cm and DD was also b2b. I took the section when it was first offered at about 16hrs post my waters going. Despite me happily agreeing to the section at the time I felt shit about it after, like I’d failed. No other women in my family had needed a section so I’d taken it for granted I wouldn’t either- my mum had twins vaginally fgs and she’s no better at dealing with pain/discomfort than I am!

A lot of my negative feelings around the section came from poor care in the postnatal ward, and the label of “failure to progress” on paperwork- I really did feel like I’d failed. Combined with the post birth hormones, it was a perfect storm for feeling shit about myself. However a birth debrief showed me that DD was in a poor position and her head just wasn’t in the right place to make any inroads despite the drip, time etc. When they’d tried to move me into a better position I vomited on the midwife because of the pain.

Now I know you’ve asked for VBAC experiences and I didn’t have one with DS four months ago. That was a rough pregnancy with delivery after 37w following recurrent losses and I just wanted him out as safely and smoothly as possible. What I will say is that that was entirely my choice and the option was there for a VBAC if I’d wanted. I also found my elective section incredibly healing, for want of a better term. It was a completely difference experience to the EMCS, and I think the fact that I chose that route and felt ready to advocate for myself in the postnatal ward was a massive part of that.

I know I haven’t shed much light on the question you’ve asked, but I hope the similarities in our labours will help you stop beating yourself up about your first birth. We were both dealt a crappy hand and made the best of a shitty situation.

Firstly I am sorry you had such a rough time the first time around!
I am a midwife and I see many successful vbacs (stats are like 75%) also ime many end up in emergency section so I think if you go for vbac you need to be open to both outcomes. However due to increased risk, the drip is usually only used for as short amount of time and lowest amount possible so you would not be labouring for days on end.
Your best chance is to remain mobile for as long as possible (and ideally until you are more than 4cm dilated). Because of the vbac you will be put in a high risk pathway in labour ward, but hopefully you can request wireless monitoring and a nice atmosphere conducive to labour. They will offer breaking the waters if you are being induced for any reason (to speed things up) but as you probably know if there are no other risks is best not to interfere!
On the other hand, if you are not up for it and can deal with a possible longer recovery then planned csection is usually very calm and a much better experience than emergency csection.
Hope everything goes well x

I had a cat 1 emcs with ds1 - traumatic. Ensued full on consultant care when pregnant with ds2 which ended with a very normal and very usual vbac.

I didn’t have a VBAC but I will say that my planned c section with my second baby, made me feel better about my first EMCS.
I had feelings of sadness (for a different reason) but that unwavering feeling of failure and disappointment about my first Labour / EMCS totally left and the section was beautiful.
A totally different experience and very healing.
So if you do opt for a planned C section, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Sorry to hear of your experience. I had similar- went into labour naturally, waters broke naturally and after 24 hours I was still 3cm and in agony with back to back contractions. Given epidural and the drip but only made it to 5cm by 32 hours and developed sepsis which was passed to baby so emcs it was. I was gutted for years. I agnonised over my decision with dc2 but eventually opted for elcs for fear of it happening again. I decided I’d prefer the known to the unknown. It was such a calm experience and my recovery was much faster as I wasn’t exhausted and dealing with an infection. I’m sorry I haven’t really answered your question but I can emphasise with the feeling of being gutted with having failure to progress.

Also this op. After my elcs I no longer felt gutted about my emcs.

The midwife actually said she’d never heard a surgeon say that to anyone before about pelvis shape, but I’ve heard a couple people say the same since.

Thank you everyone for responding! Just in case someone has the same question in future I did ask me up having a successful Vbac (although assisted) and Labour was fast.

Congratulations @Alice3766!

Congratulations and thank you for updating as reading this thread has helped me tonight.

I'm 37 weeks and hoping for a VBAC but also have elective booked in for 40 weeks as I've refused to be induced this time around and they want baby out by 40 at latest.

I had the usual natural start/drip/fail to progress/fetal distress and emcs story as a lot of posters. I had a PPH during the surgery. My takeaway from that was just being very grateful to have been in theatre at the right time and as I'm high risk for PPH again, I want things to be as controlled as possible so have said at the first sign of failure to progress with this one, I would like them to move to the section.

I've spoken to 5 different doctors this pregnancy and there has been a range of views and opinions so I'm choosing to trust my gut with it as realistically nobody can really say how things are likely to go anyway.

Anyway, hope you're in a lovely newborn bubble and here's to joining you on the other side of things soon! 🤞(as I'm getting very uncomfortable these days 🤣)

Thank you @MissScarletInTheBallroom and @SpoonyFish !

@SpoonyFish I am sorry to hear you had a tough birth with DC1! What I can say from my experience is: every woman, baby, pregnancy and labour is different!

I knew I wanted to try for a Vbac if pregnancy/ baby etc risk is low and assessed the situation with my consultant at each appointment towards the end of pregnancy.

One other thing that helped me was to also keep in mind that it’s the baby’s decision how they’ll be born (if they lie breech then it’s a section, similar to when I’d go over due by a week and nothing had happened). We also decided against induction. I also didn’t want any oxytocin drip during labour in case it doesn’t progress.

One thing also to consider is: will I be disappointed if I go through labour and end up with a section again?

Anyway this is how it went:

38+4 I started losing mucus plug
nextvday at 3am i noticed very mild contractions that continued throughout the day. They were less than period pains and very irregular..
at about 6pm they started ramping up a little but irregular.
10pm waters broke - called hospital they told me to come in. Contractions started ramping up and becoming frequent and couldn’t speak through them.
11pm arrived at hospital- was checked and told that I was barely dilated.. but contractions came in fast and furious - in intensity and frequency.
only a few hours later I was at 10cm and baby born at around 4am.. (did have episiotomy and ventouse). So basically from admission to birth it was 5h! I was in shock how quickly it went considering the last birth being almost 3days and failure to progress..

but what I am going to say is that having experienced both, to me I can now say I don’t feel any different in my sense of achievement or love for my children! Birth is birth no matter how. I hope this helps.