Oh I wish I knew what I wanted! ELCS or VBA2C? Or how to stop googling complications of childbirth.

[mazzystartled]

I am 37 weeks with DC3.

EmCS with DC1 (reflexed head, OP, asynclitic presentation) after a bit of pathetic doped up pushing). Very positive about it all though.
Dithered for entire pregnancy with DC2, angsted terribly about the options, eventually had elective C/S at 40+4. One of the most horrible experiences of my life, no medical trauma but a 11 & 1/2 hour wait for my turn on the list, which I found very stressful indeed.

This pregnancy have blithely ignored all thoughts of birth until now, when I guess I probably need to try to decide what to do.

My fabulous obs consultant and the equally fabulous consultant midwife have said they are happy to support an attempt at VBa2C, on the MLU (3 mins from delivery suite), no cfm unless I want it, use of birth pool if I wish. Astonishing! This is a massive change of protocol for them but they felt the most recent evidence suggests no significant increase in risk of uterine rupture from a VBAC.

So on one hand I think, hey I will give this a whirl. And on the other I think, how will I feel if I end up with a PPH or a retained placenta or a stuck baby (again. it's unclear whether the shape of my pelvis contributed to the gettting stuck last time) and - shudder - forceps delivery?

I just cannot decide what to do.

Amazing they will let you onto MLU and into pool.

Don't worry about PPH or retained placenta no reason to think it will happen and if it does as you say 3 mins from delivery suite.

re: stuck baby - the fact that he was OP and you were doped up etc would have contributed to this, do you know what position this baby is in?

You have to do whats right for you, but why not give it a go?

i think go for it ( but you know I would say that! ) there is no reason to think the malpositiong would reoccur and am presuming there was nothing out of the ordinary noted at the elective re position

you have your caregivers on side, which is a massive plus.

knowing what i know about your first labour, there might well have been contributory factors to your baby getting stuck

also, i do believe you would possibly regret not going for it, especially under what would seem to be optimum circumstances

It is amazing that they are so positive.

DH too.

We are also all agreed that first sign of trouble we'd move to C/S.

I am just far too good at horrifying myself with internet reading.

It's such a personal decision. I had a stuck baby first time around and then the second time around it happened again! Well, not exactly. The second time the baby was seriously unhappy in the second stage so after what seemed like an age I had an emcs (under GA this time) and she had not descended and was in the same position as DD1.

When I tell people that they ask me whether I regret trying. The answer to that is a resounding "no". My second labour was really quite exciting, it all seemed to go so well and I was coping with it all. For the 6 minutes I was in the pool that was lovely too. I have no doubt that if the baby could have come out vaginally she would have, and that I would have coped with the pain etc. To be honest it makes me feel pretty proud to have tried.

Don't Google. Your caregivers know what they are doing and the fact that you are in an MLU means that if things were to take a dramatic turn (as they did to me) you could be in the labour ward/operating room within minutes. How long it takes the doctors to get out of bed and turn up is a different matter, though! (I vaguely recall wailing "where the hell are they??? It's not like ER, is it!" )