VBAC question

[pandora69]

I often hear people saying that after a long but normal first birth, a second birth will be quicker as the body knows what to do. What I am interested in is how does the way the body behaved during the first labour affect subsequent labours if the first labour ended in caesarean?

I went into labour 8 days late but without intervention, and was in labour for 40 hours with first child, during which I dilated to 10cm. Baby was back-to-back, and did not turn. She also got very stuck behind my very full bladder, which I was not able to empty due to pressure from the baby on my urethra. (Might have been useful if the midwife had noticed this earlier .) I endured 4 hrs of unsuccessful second stage, before a failed ventouse then full crash c-section. Both daughter and I were very poorly for a while.

What I am curious to know is how the fact that I dilated fully naturally will stand me this time. Will my body be better prepared? or will it just be a fact that if I have argumentative huge headed babies who won't get into place when I tell them, I am just doomed? I am not averse to a well-planned elective section, but would much rather have a calm VBAC. FWIW I managed the whole shebang with nothing more than a TENS machine and a good visualization technique.

a woman after CS who did not dilate, is considered as a primipara- I.E. having her first birth (vaginally, of course).

HOWEVER
you did dilate fully and that is great. Just make sure you position her right (do things to achieve optimal feotal positioning, not that difficult!) and there are loads of other stuff you can do to help her and yourself avoid a birth like the first one

I have had 2 VBACs after a similar situation you describe with DC1. And yes, they were calm: TENS with DC2, a spot of acupressure and a few good gulps of gas and air for the last pushes.

Got in the bath for pain relief in early labour with DC3. Things progressed swiftly and I pushed him out whilst still in the bath less than 90 mins later (still had gas and air).

Obviously there are no guarantees, but I am a great believer in having a positive frame of mind - if you think you can or you can't you're probably right. Both times I was surrounded by people who also believed I could birth a baby vaginally.

Go get that hypnobirthing course

I'm about to have my second baby and at my VBAC consultation with the consultant midwife she said I had a very good chance of a successful VBAC as I had fully dilated last time and was pushing when we had the section.

Apparently statistically we've got a better chance of success than women that have never had a baby as our bodies have been tried and tested for the first bit and shown to work. Do you get consultant led care this time? It might be worth talking it through with either the doctor or your midwife to reassure you. Good luck!

Yes your body will be better prepared, and your mind will be too. There won't be any doubts in your mind that your cervix will dilate, which is a common worry with people aiming for a VBAC. And fear and worry are not good for a labouring woman.

With ds1 I dilated to 9cm with ds and then had a emerg section, so my mw said there was a good chance my second stage could be on the longer side because my body hadn't done that bit before.

However labour with ds2 was 4hrs from start to finish and the 2nd stage was about 20-30 minutes.