ELCS vs VBAC after previous ELCS

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Hi all,

I had an ELCS 3 years ago, purely through choice. I had a great experience with recovery other than my bump taking ages to go down.

I am now undecided whether to opt for a VBAC or another ELCS. All of the fears I had regarding birth are still there (terrified about being induced and ending up in a labour lasting days and days, episiotomy etc.), but there is the huge benefit of recovery being much easier after a straight forward vaginal birth, especially now that I have another child to look after!

Any advice or experiences people can offer would be greatly received 😊.

I had a C-section with my first. Semi planned as it was decided a few days before due to some growth issues.

I also have ulcerative colitis and was in a big flare so decided on a C-section for my 2nd which was booked in. I went into labour about a week before and decided to roll with it. No problems, all went really well.

The midwife was quite amazed I had a vaginal birth as it's not common to change after a section.

I'm glad I've experienced both.

I would have another c section. At least you know what to expect. My recovery was sooooo much easier the second time.

I would suggest you discuss this with your midwife. Maybe she'll be able to help and stir you in the right direction x

I had a second elective and it was 10x better than my emergency. There’s no guarantees a vaginal birth will be straight forward and be a quicker recovery. My recovery was much better with my second section than my first.

This! Me too

I had a second elective section mostly because I wanted to avoid an emergency section which happens a lot with vbac (25%). It was a great decision for me. I was also able to arrange my sterilisation to take place during the procedure. I had a good recovery and was discharged the next day. I had no problems looking after either of my elective c/section babies - feeding, nappies etc but my husband was very hands on so that helped a lot.

My first C-section was elective and I had a good, straight forward recovery. I think my friends who have had vaginal births were all able to get ‘back to normal’ much quicker though. Eg driving, exercising and going for long walks.

I don’t doubt my recovery with a second section would be fine (maybe slightly harder with a toddler wanting to be picked up!), but I’m just wondering if it would be better with a VBAC! 😂

I think you might find that you will be able to get back to those things quicker with a second c section too (not guarantees obv!) I was driving quicker etc the second time. I think it would be impossible to tell which recovery would be quicker as you just don’t know what’s going to happen. But I didn’t really have that as a main focus in my decision. (Also a few of my friends have ongoing problems down below from vaginal birth so at least you know you wouldn’t really have that with a c section!)

I've not had a c section, but am opting for one for my second due to complications from my first vaginal delivery. Ended up with a bad tear and a very long recovery (I'm still not 100% nearly 2 years later).

I say this purely because you should be aware a vaginal birth is unpredictable. I was very unlucky (3-4% chance of it happening), but wasn't prepared for that and it took me a long time to come to terms with my injury and recover while looking after a newborn. That said, if I'd had longer between pregnancies to recover I would opt for vaginal in a heartbeat as I loved the hormonal aspects of birth and the dream of having minimal recovery is also very appealing.

In your shoes, I'd consider how long your scar will have had to heal (to better understand your risk) and decide how much a vaginal means to you.