Please share your vbac stories

[LittleAndOften]

I'm expecting dc2 in November. I had dc1 three years ago and it was a difficult birth - 24 hours of labour after waters broke, induction with epidural, ending with emcs under general anaesthetic (after 18 failed attempts at a spinal). The ante-natal classes I had been to referred to nothing other than the ideal natural birth, so naively I was woefully unprepared for a c-section, or indeed anything going wrong. I missed the birth altogether due to the GA and it took me a long time to accept my "failure" as I saw it, because my expectations had been so different.

This time I am determined to have a vbac. I feel that the choices I was encouraged/persuaded to make last time led to the emcs outcome and I want to have the chance to be in the birthing centre, try a water birth etc, try with just gas & air - options I never had before.

I am told I will be under a consultant and the mw said I won't be able to go to the birthing centre, I'll have to go on the ward because of my history and age (I'm 40). I will be offered elcs but I strongly want to have the chance to try for my ideal natural birth in a relaxing environment.

Am I being unrealistic? Are there grounds on which I can argue for the birthing centre (hospital wing has beautiful birthing centre on one side and ward on the other)? Or do I need to accept another medicalised birth?

Birth reflections is a meeting with a senior midwife and doctor if a dr was involved in your birth. It can be done in slightly different formats but it usually involves going through your notes. I found it helpful to get things explained, I remembered things I had forgotten eg being given 30 mins to consider my options before making a decision and I also received apologies.

I do not like this idea of a 'hierarchy of birth' - the idea that some births are inherently 'better' than other. IMHO it does not matter how a baby comes out. I had 3 ELCS - all for very different reasons and all after careful consideration for the health of myself and the baby. I felt a failure after the first until I came to the realisation that it is what you do for a baby once they are born that matters not how they came out. There are pros and cons to all types of birth and no one can predict what will happen to an individual . You can only look at statistics and listen to opinions (expert or not!). Once I got my head round the idea my ELCS were very positive.

@lorisparkle I completely agree with you. My desire for a vbac is purely personal and I'm not judging anyone else's choices. I do think that the emphasis during ante-natal meetings on having an ideal natural birth to the exclusion of everything else did contribute to how I felt about the whole thing. It does frustrate me as most mums I know had some form of intervention! You're right about the baby being the most important part though

So yes I'd like a vbac but above all I'd like to be the first person to meet my baby this time, by whatever method, and not be asleep for the whole thing!

@LittleAndOften I would have loved a VBAC- a tiny part of me wishes I had been able to have a 'normal' delivery but I have accepted it now. If you do end up having to have an ELCS then you can have so much more control and input than when I had them and many places support you in going home much quicker.

My first was intervention after intervention, gels, ruptured membranes, syntocin drip, then epidural, baby in distress and emcs. I didn't feel a failure just very glad she made it here safely. (I had pre-eclampsia)

2nd was told won't be allowed go past due date, would have constant monitoring, defo not mid wife led care, no birthing pool but would be allowed try for vbac.

I had 2 sweeps in the week coming up due date, no health issues, pains started at 1 day overdue, very erratic and manageable from fri-sun.

Monday sent DH to work, was driving to my folks and got first contraction by the time I got there I was 5 mins apart, still very manageable. Got to hospital around 12pm got checked, was 1cm and told to go walking, came back up around 2.30pm saying i wasn't feeling great and had got to 4cm.

She went to ring labour ward around 2.45pm to see if they had a bed... I had one massive contraction while she was on the phone, waters broke (like in the movies...everywhere) rushed to labour ward and 3 pushes with a bit of gas and air and she was born at 3.01pm. It was quick and painful but I'd do it again tomorrow. Had a good few stitches after it due to the speed but it was great to be able to hop up and walk around after.

Have just found out I'm expecting no. 3 and I'm hoping for the same again!

Best of luck OP.

I've had 2 vbacs. (DS1 was born at 42+1....started with a home birth but failure to progress led to going into hospital, drugs, and eventually an ECS.) DD2 was born at 39 - delivery was an absolute dream. OH missed it as he was taking DS1 to grandparents. DS3 was born exactly 40. He came out blue ...not really sure why. He was fine after a few minutes of scare....Delivery wasn't as perfect as one before - because the midwife made me lie on my back when I didn't want to. I am convinced my natural birthing position is upright. Not on my back. Both vbacs would have been even better if I could have stayed at home I believe....the journey to hospital was hell. Very painful. However, I'm still pleased with the outcome. I didn't want continuous monitoring and was told I didn't have to have it as long as I understood the pros and cons. I didn't have as many drugs with 2 and 3 and this definitely helped me cope better with the labour because I wasn't so off my head! Lol.

I haven't had a Vbac but just wanted to share my experience.

My DS1 was born by Emcs. My waters had broken and I was contracting every 5 mins, about 4cm dilated. The monitors picked up that his heart rate was dropping rapidly so I was whisked away for a crash section. I was warned that if they couldn't get the spinal block in quickly it would be a GA but thankfully there was no need.
The whole thing was pretty traumatic. The atmosphere in theatre was so tense and DS didn't cry when he was born. Needed resuscitating but luckily was fine after a few minutes.

Despite being eternally grateful to the medics I swore if I had another there was no way I wanted to be in that situation again. I felt like a piece of meat and so utterly helpless. I also felt that I'd been misled during my nct classes as before my CS I naively thought the 'natural' birth ideal was just a case of wanting it & trying hard enough.

I chose to have an elcs 2nd time around as I wanted to feel in control and minimise the possibility of an Emcs.
I can honestly say it was an amazing experience. Everything was explained before hand. The theatre team were so relaxed, music playing, laughing & joking.
We'd chosen to keep the sex as a surprise so DS2 was held up to us so that we could see he was a little boy, then was put onto my chest for skin to skin. DH cut the cord and 20 minutes later we were in the recovery room - it was a completely calm and healing experience after DS1 and completely the right choice for me.
Good luck with your Vbac. Just thought I'd share a different perspective for anyone who might read the thread and be considering their options as an elcs is often a very different experience to an Emcs.

It’s so true. An ELCS vs EMCS is like night and day.
It’s a very personal decision. I was so desperate to have a better birth experience. My first birth really pushed me down the road of PND and I wanted to do everything to avoid that, and for me personally that was to aim for a vaginal birth.

Good luck OP in all your decisions and conversations

I’ve had vbac 1 and 2.
Vbac1 was back to back and whilst dc was ok, it seriously messed up my undercarriage and I was in for 5 additional days for treatment and physio post birth. I was about ten minutes away from emcs due to failure to progress when I managed to push him out (I had been on a drip for 12 hours with 1-1 care to try to move things along). In hindsight emcs may have been wise.
Vbac2 was worse. The monitoring equipment wasn’t working so the mw was supposed to be doing intermittent auscultation. (Please insist on cfm.) dc3 was brain damaged due to hypoxia and has cerebral palsy as a result.
In all honesty, I should have just had elective CS, but I was told that there were no clinical reasons to do so.
Consultant said no more vb.

Sometimes I think we all think the grass is greener. My vaginal birth left me with a tear up to my clitoris, an episiotomy that got infected and burst before it healed, a prolapsed bladder and bowel, and a battered baby from the forcep delivery. I would have killed for a c section at the time, but obviously in retrospect I'm aware it would not necessarily have had a better outcome - you just don't know!

Vaginal delivery is honestly not the holy grail. I understand that people have birth preferences - I definitely didn't get mine! But having felt like you failed the first time (you definitely didn't!) you could be inadvertently setting yourself up to feel that way again if it doesn't happen.

Be firm in what your preferences are, but make sure your determination for a VBAC doesnt get in the way of you getting the healthiest physical delivery for you and your baby.

Best of luck

Thank you for you posts. You are really making me think very carefully about my options. And yes, a healthy baby and mummy are the most important things!