To those who have had/attempted a Vbac...

[joymaker]

I had a EMS with DC1 as my waters broke without contractions, waited a couple of days to see if labour would start naturally, when it didn't I was on the drip for 2 days without success. I am seriously considering Vbac (28wks pregnant tomorrow) and trying to make some decisions about what I want to do. I would really appreciate an idea of others experiences.

What led to your CS (and was it your 1st Dc)?

How long were you in labour?

Was it a success or not?

What pain relief did you have?

did you have an induction?

(I know it's so different for every woman but I'm agonising over all this.) Thanks ever so much

Hi. My 1st child was born by emcs due to foetal distress. Had a long latent phase and only made it to about 5 cms when she became distressed.
For my 2nd I opted for a VBAC. Started getting contractions in the morning. Got to about 9cm's by 10pm. A change of staff examined me again and suggested I wasn't quite 9cm's and recommended a c section. I wanted to push even though not fully dilated which I guess didn't help. Don't think baby was coming down.
Sometimes I now think I agreed to section too soon. I guess you just have to trust doctors. In any event baby was 9lb which tbf was probably quite big for me as I am only 5 ft 1.

Although I ended up with a section anyway I am still glad I gave it a go. This time I know I will have to have a section as they consider an elective safer after 2 previous sections.

My eldest was breech so I had an elective section; my second was head down so I opted for vbac. I had a sweep two days before as I was 8 days over at that point. Labour was restricted because they were monitoring my scar for rupture so I wasn't allowed to go in the birthing pool as I had wished. I laboured for 8.5 hours, after about 6 hours they thought I wasn't progressing and gave me the option of a c-section or continuing for an hour, I opted to continue but they prepped me for a section including an epidural (we had started to talk about pain relief just before this, then epidural became the only option), as it turned out I progressed to 9cm in an hour and had her naturally. A fantastic experience, I have no regrets.

My friend had two labours, both back to back, her first ended up an emergency section, the second a vbac. Both awful labours, but she doesn't regret going for the vbac as the recovery was so much faster, especially with a toddler to look after too. I can second the faster recovery, and being able to drive was fantastic.

DD1 was born by crash c section after induction and about 18hrs labour, 8 cm. Lots of problems with her and me, scbu for 10 days, but eventually all OK. Had pethiden, g&a, epidural beforehand (general for the cs).

DD2 - was aiming for a home vbac (had an independent midwife as I really didn't trust the local hospital after the dd1 cock ups). Went into labour naturally at 40+4, had to transfer into hospital after about 15 hours labour (just heartrate dropping a little, transferred just to be on the safe side, fine). Had been pushing for hours and little progress, so didn't care by that stage. No pain relief until hospital, although some g&a would have been nice! Episiotomy at hospital and baby straight out (g&a and a local anesthetic). Idiot doctor nearly pulled my womb out as well - luckily IM dived in to stop him. Discharged self and home again after a few hours, which was lovely. Subsequent horrendous womb infection from stitches, and they all came out after 2 days, took 1 year+ to heal, still not totally right.

So yes, vbac was a success on paper. Would I do it again? No way on earth. Elective CS all the way. But, and this is a big but, there is no way of knowing what the subsequent problems you might have are (if indeed you have any). So you should make your decision based on what you personally prefer (i.e. the experience of 'natural' childbirth, versus being able to plan for a CS), and assume it'll all work out well.

Also, if you plan to have more than 2 children, and definitely if you plan to have more than 3, trying for a VBAC is strongly recommended. Good luck!

1st labour, failed induction due to pre-eclampsia. Crash section dues to worries over my health.

2nd labour I knew I wanted a VBAC and never considered a CSection(although I was openminded enough to know that it might become a necessity iyswim)

No pre-eclampsia this time which made life easier, Labour started naturally, given syntocin to hurry things along after a few hours. Constant monitoring due to previous csection meant I was less mobile than would be ideal. Gas & air doesn't work for me so no pain relief as I didn't really want an epidural

DD born at 4pm, home by 7:30pm. Overall was a much much better experience. I'd encourage everyone to go for a VBAC as long as their health care team support it.

buxton You make decisions at the time in terms of what you think is best with available guidance. I know what you mean though, somethimes I wish I'd held out just that little bit longer before being induced -after my waters had broken- even though I was far from feeling forced (I feared getting an infection)

agora1- DC1 was back to back, I really hope DC 2 won't be though.

LoonyR- I have a great consultant thankfully.

Rational B, I can really understand your conclusion after what you went through.

As I've said in another thread, I suppose I'm afraid of the slight increased risk to the baby if I go for a vbac as opposed to having an elcs. Also, if the vbac is not successful I may also be increasing the time it takes for me to recover -because of labouring- if in the end I have to have an emcs (and I'll have a 26 month old and a new born to look after)...and that's not to mention the possiblity of any post-birth complications.

...But on the other hand I would like to avoid surgery if I can.

Hi joymaker, I'm shamelessly jumping in on your post here as I'm in the same boat and find myself going round in circles...
Had an EMCS with dc1 at 36wks due to pre-eclampsia, failed induction and worries about both my BP and his heart rate. They subsequently discovered dc1 had tied 2 knots in his cord and I have since been told that he wouldn't have survived labour, add to that the fact that I had a very speedy recovery from the surgery, was up and about in hours and home/pushing buggy etc in a matter of days, the experience was really pretty good!

However, I really feel like I'll regret it if I dont at least try to avoid another CS. Am now 30wks pregnant, no signs of PE so far, and have a very nice consultant who says the delivery decision is all mine.... She did however warn me that there are limited success stories for completely 'natural' VBACs. As I understand it, you cant be induced after an emcs so labour has to be completely spontaneous, and therefore if you get beyond 40wks then CS is on the cards anyway; you have to be constantly monitored with vbac, so no active birth; it's highly likely to be a long labour and also likely to be assisted in some way and according to the consultant, one should definitely accept the pain relief! I also have a deep fear about potential complications for the baby due to the knots in dc1's cord which would never show up on scans, and will have a 20mth old to look after when the baby arrives so would love to hear if there are any other people that have had positive VBAC experiences!

"you cant be induced after an emcs"

Actually, this depends on your hospital policy or even on the consultant themself! I was induced for DD3 (DD1 was an emcs, DD2 forceps) but the hospital I went to would not use pessaries for induction, I went straight onto the synto drip with an epidural. Their reasoning behind it was that the syntocinon drip can be stopped immediately if needed, and the residual drug is cleared very quickly from the body. With a prostaglandin pessry, once the drug is in, it's in and you cannot quickly remove it.

My induction with DD3 was by faaaarrr the best of my 3 births

I agree with Poledra re induction in a VBAC. It depends on the consultant (and of course your own history/health) The first consultant I saw would not induce. The one who came on duty at 11am put me straight onto syntocin - dd2 born at 4pm.

Poledra thanks for your your reply. i'm not keen on induction because it didn't work for me the first time but also because there is an increase risk in uterine rupture.

MrsAmos- Feel free around in circles was the way I was going until yesterday. I'm really getting some clarity thanks to MNetters . You might want to look in 'Childbirth' as I also posted there so as not to miss anyone.

My EMCS (which wasn't an emegency in that my DC1 was stable all through the time I was on the drip and at delivery thankfully) was also a positive experience, I think that's why I'm finding it hard to rule it out completely.

My fear is I'll miss something obvious or vital. I'm seeing my consultant on Friday.

Thanks joymaker, will look in Childbirth now! Good luck with the consultant, really interesting to hear about the induction stuff too-I would also rather avoid it, was not a nice experience last time at all, but will def bring that up with my doctor. Interestingly she also told me it wasn't always better for the baby to go through labour-which isn't what the doctors and midwives were telling me last time when they said I had to at least try, despite there being a high chance that I'd end up having a CS anyway. Let us know what you decide!