Has Anyone Had a VBAC

Updated on February 14, 2008
A.B. asks from Cherry Hill, NJ
17 answers

I am almost 5 months pregnant with my 2nd child. I had to have a C-Section with my first child due to "arrest of labor". I would like to try for a VBAC this time around. Has anyone had a successful VBAC they could tell me about?

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L.N.

answers from Pittsburgh on

My sisters first child was born via C-section. He was 10 lbs 7 oz. Her next two were VBAC, everything was fine.

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J.S.

answers from Philadelphia on

I have had two successful VBACs. I would never opt for a c-section. I chose one hospital over another because the one would not do vbacs. My first child was an induced vaginal birth- 39 weeks. The second was an emergency c-section at 33 weeks due to placenta previa. The next two (one of them just 3 months ago) were VBACs. If you have a good doctor and they think your a good candidate for a VBAC, I say go for it! Recovery is so much easier. (Especially if you will be chasing around a toddler).

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R.B.

answers from Harrisburg on

I had to have a C-section with my first son after being in labor all day and then pushing for 2 hours with no progress my son ended up being very large 10lb,11oz. I made sure my doctors did the incision so I could have any other children VBAC and they did. My Dr's were very supportive when I was pregnant with my other son and the fact that I wanted a VBAC. My second son's labor went great and I had a successful VBAC. My Dr's watched me during labor which helped ease my fears of potential problems. Good luck.

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D.H.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I had a C-section due to breech with my second child and went on to have two more vaginal births.

I'll answer any question you have. From what I remember, at the time, one of the the main concerns with going VBAC was being very cautious with Pitocin...inducing labor too quickly was cause for concern with uteran rupture. But I had my two after a C and my sister had one VBAC as well. And she had TWO C-sections prior to her VBAC.

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L.H.

answers from Philadelphia on

I to had a c-section with my first, then when i got prego with my sec i wanted a vbac. Everything was fine. But i just wouldn't go into labor and the doc. tried to tell me it was because of my first c-section. I don;t belive that. BUt any way. As long as there are no comp along the way you should be able to.I waited 7yr before my sec one and they wouldnot even induce labor.

Well best of luck.

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M.N.

answers from York on

I am a certified doula and have supported many women through successful VBAC's. I would highly suggest that you look into hiring a doula. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me privately.

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E.C.

answers from Scranton on

I had a C-section with my first baby who is now 10, 4 months after having him I found out i was pregnant. I did have a vbac with her, not only that she was breech. I have had 5 kids and 4 of them were VBAC

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K.V.

answers from Philadelphia on

First, congratulations! Second, I personally have not had this concern, but a friend of mine has. She had twins the first time and REALLY wanted to have a vbac with the second. She figured she'd have the most success with Hypnobabies.I am to this day astonished at just how well she did. It is long, but I've copied her birth story for you (and others) to check out.

My hypnobabies vbac success story

... We were getting ready to leave and of course the twins decided to wake up. So I tried to get them back to bed. I was up there rocking them for about 20-30 minutes and had quite a few contractions. I think they knew something was up and they wouldn’t go back to sleep so they got to come downstairs and watched a show with Aunt Jen. The contractions were not bad at all and I just relaxed through them. We got to the hospital around 3:30am and they checked me and I was 2cm dilated. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor to check his heartbeat and then I walked around. They checked me again at 4:30am and I was 3 cm dilated. They pretty much left me alone after that. I walked, took a nice hot shower and sat on the birthing ball. Dan was great through it all and there for me. I still was feeling great and breathing through each contraction. The midwife came in at 7:30am and said that they were probably sending me home. She said it is better to go through the early labor at home but wanted to check me first. My contractions were still about 3 minutes apart at this time. She was very surprised to see that I was at 7cm! She said I looked so relaxed and calm. Things slowed down after that but I still was feeling great. The contractions were getting a little more intense but nothing unmanageable. I would want Dan to be next to me for each one and he would help with the relax cues and his hand on my shoulder. In between he would tried to lay down and rest but as soon as he laid down another one would come and he would have to jump right back up. I also remember that I made sure to keep my whole body relaxed during the contractions. I would face my hands palms up and make sure my shoulders were relaxed. I continued to walk, took another hot shower and sat on the birthing ball. I also leaned on Dan and just went limp a few times. Through this all Dan was great at keeping the nurses away from me during each contraction and being there for me to use the cues and help me relax through each contraction. He was also sending text messages to family to keep them updated. He did this instead of calling so I would not be distracted. The nurses and midwife kept commenting on how calm the room was. I was finally fully dilated at 1:30pm. I started using the exhale breathing and was in a squatting position. This felt good but after a while my knees started to really hurt. They needed to check his heartbeat so they asked me to turn around. This position actually felt a little better. After about an hour they told me that since it was my first vaginal birth I would probably not be able to use the exhale pushing to get him under the pelvic bone and my bag of water just would not break. We were trying lots of positions. So I had to use the “blue face” pushing but I still listened to my hypnobabies pushing cd and was able to keep my body relaxed while doing this. Since my bag of water would not break, it was keeping his head from really engaging. So I got up for a little bit and tried to use the bathroom. Once I got back into bed I had about 3 more contractions and my bag finally broke. The midwife knew I did not want any intervention but I think next time I might tell them to break my water while pushing. This was around 3:30pm. I had a few more contractions and finally got his head under the pelvic bone. I felt his head coming down and out and it was such a great feeling. He was born at 4:06pm and the whole birth was amazing. It was such a wonderful feeling to feel him come out. They put him right on my chest and waited for the cord to stop pulsating before Dan cut it!! He weighed 9lbs 2 ozs and was 21 inches long. His head was 38cm!! It was my perfect vbac hypnobabies birth.

Hope that helps!

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L.K.

answers from Reading on

I have had a successful VBAC. My son, who's almost 21 now, was too big to fit through my pelvis so I had to have a c-section. My OB/gyn said my second child (now 14), could be VBAC as long as she wasn't too big also. I was monitored because my son was almost 9 pounds (8 lb, 13oz.). I had a couple of ultrasounds to check size and they determined that I could have her VBAC. So, I did. My OB/gyn is pro that kind of stuff. My daughter was actually not that much smaller than my son but she was just small enough (8lbs, 9oz.) that I was able to deliver her without a c-section. With my son I did have borderline gestational diabetes and my blood pressure which is usually low, skyrocketed towards the end of my pregnancy so I had to be on bed rest. With my daughter I had no gestational diabetes,but still had to watch what I ate, and I worked up to the day before I had her. I was induced the day before my due date because they were worried that she might get too big if I went over the due date and then I might have had another c-section. It was wonderful to have both experiences. It makes me able to relate to both types of pregnancies. I also didn't have an epidural because my gynecologist said that labor can take twice as long or can stop for awhile.It makes sense to be sure this is right for your situation and it helps if your OB/gyn is supportive. Don't know if any of this is helpful but I hope so. At least it gives you another experience to think about.

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K.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I had a VBAC and it was one of the best decisions I made. My first delivery was a planned c-section. When I found out I was pregnant again (5 months after my c-section), I decided I wanted to try the VBAC. I was lucky because my OB/GYNs were incredibly supportive of my decision and they gave me the official go ahead. Because of the risks associated w/ a VBAC, your doctor will have you call them earlier in the labor process, so they can monitor you a little more closely. My OB was there with me every step of the way and was so attentive to my special case. She actually hugged me after I gave birth and said that she was so honored to be with me for this delivery because it was just so special. She said that she just knew in her heart that VBAC was the right decision for me and she was so proud that I stuck with it. If you can do it, and there are no other complications in your way, I say go for it. Definitely consult with your doctor and get their buy-in on the VBAC. Make sure they have all the details regarding your c-section so there are no surprises along the way. And make sure your doctor agrees that you are a good candidate for a VBAC. Otherwise, good luck!

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C.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

Yes, I have, I was terrified at the thought,(my first child is 10 years older than my 2nd) but once I came to grips that this was the way to go, it was much less scary. The best part was the recovery time, short, sweet, showered quickly and felt amazing. I hope you find this a tad bit encouraging.

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P.E.

answers from Allentown on

It's been a long time. I had my first child in 1988 c-section. I had my 2nd child 1991 VBAC. I almost had to have another c-section because she was being very stubborn and still is to this day. I won however and wouldn't have changed it for nothing in the world. I personally wanted to experience the V delivery since I did not like the recuperation period of the c-section.

Now I have another child 2004 and that was another c-section. I would not dilate and they could not get any movement from her. This c-section was completely different from the first and the doctors were amazed at my recovery because I would not take the medication after birth and i was walking around like nothing. I believe it is mind over matter.

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J.M.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Hi A.,

I haven't personally had a v-bac, but I would like to if I ever have baby #2. Also, I have several friends who have had one. My Doula had 4 children - her first was born via emergency c-section after failure to progress and her other 3 were all v-bacs. My neighbor had an emergency c-section with her first baby and had natural births with her next two. A girlfriend of mine just had a baby and it was a v-bac. My suggestion is to find a Dr who is supportive of your decision and won't be too quick to do a c-section. You may actually have better luck with a midwife than a Dr for that. I used the midwives at Magee and really liked them. I also know that they offer a vbac course at the midwife center in the strip district.

J.
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J.R.

answers from Allentown on

I'm a doula, and have attended several VBAC clients. None have had any problems with labor--physically. I had one client whose labor completely stopped when she saw her OB because the OB was so negative about the situation. Her labor picked back up a while after her OB checked her the first time in the hospital. The second time it took longer to pick up, and the third time it just never came back. The point of me telling you that it to warn you that you need to feel comfortable to labor well--so if your Dr. is negative about VBAC, and you want to do VBAC, then you need to find a different Dr.

BTW, I had "arrest of labor" with my first baby. I was at 9 cms for 6-7 hrs. This was after taking over 24 hrs to get to 9 cm. But I didn't even do Pitocin--I just waited with the incredible support of my husband and doula. And my daughter was born vaginally. Most cases of "arrest of labor" are actually "failure to wait" on the part of the care provider. I'm not blaming you at all for this--I think that I probably could have been convinced I needed a cesarean with my first if the Dr. had tried to make a case of it at about 2 or 3 a.m. At 7 a.m. the previous day when I had mild-ish but frequent contractions and so I went to the hospital to be checked and was 3 cm, I was still of the mind set to say "I'm doing this naturally, let's go home." At 3 p.m. when contractions were stronger and I went back to the hospital and was 6 cm I was able to say "yay, progress, now were is that Jacuzzi?" But by 3 a.m. after being at 9 cms for 5-6 hrs? I would have probably given up if someone had suggested that I should. I would have been devastated...but I probably would have consented. But my daughter was born at 4:41 a.m. with only 20 minutes of pushing.

www.babybodybirth.com

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H.F.

answers from Pittsburgh on

With my second one, we tried for a VBAC. Unfortunately, due to complications with the baby (he tied the cord into a knot and then wrapped it around his neck and then around his body). Knowing it was to be a VBAC, my doctors and the staff of the hospital monitored me closely. My first had been a failure to progress baby (after over 12 hours of labor and with my water broken, I never got past 3 cm dilated and her head never engaged. There was also a question as to whether or not her head didn't engage due to the opening in my bones down there being a little small.) With my 3rd, I didn't really have the option of a VBAC given my medical history of Gestational Diabetes and complications with the first 2 births.

If I had to go back and make the decision again for my second one, we still would have tried for the VBAC. As long as you are closely monitored, the advantages are worth it. Of course, being closely monitored means that they should be able to catch most complications.

Discuss it with your doctor. Part of making the decision is knowing if it a viable option for you. It may not be depending on how they made the internal incision on you uterus. Most of the time, however, it is a viable choice. I would recommend talking it over with your doctor and coming up with a birth plan that works for you based on your feelings and on your doctor's recommendations. If it is a viable option, I would recommend trying the VBAC but have in place a backup plan for a C-section in case of complications or failure to progress. Include in the birthplan the types of drugs/anesthesia you would prefer as well.

Although mine was not a successful VBAC, I hope my experience and thoughts help. Good luck with the birth of your new little guy or girl.

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R.J.

answers from Allentown on

Hi A. my name is beckie.. My son is 6 years old and I had a C-section with him.. His heart rate was descending and i wasnt dialating. He was 4 when I became pregnant with my daughter.she is going to be 2 this valentines day.. I didnt want another c-section. I talked to my doctor about a VBAC and he explained all the complications that were possible.. I was checked during labor with my daughter alot to make sure there was no bleeding or hemoraging. Everything went smooth... I would talk to your doctors first (some may not do VBAC) and make a decision your comfortable with. I was glad I did a VBAC and had no complications. The experience of VB was great. Its a very different journey but well worth it.... Just remember to do what your comfortable with and talk to your doctors.... Good luck

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L.M.

answers from Lancaster on

I had an emergency c-section for my first child due to distress. I've had three successful vbacs. I personally prefer vaginal delivery because the recovery time is so much quicker. After you give birth you are able to walk around, hold your baby and take a shower. You almost feel like you didnt give birth. You are able to get things back to normal without having someone else do it for you.

With a c-section, my baby was held in front of me, I couldn't hold him for hours. I was so drugged up. I felt helpless. I couldnt laugh without pain, sneeze, or use the bathroom. It was so painful.

If you choose VBAC, I would recommend if possible, alot of sex, walking and kegal execises to prevent tear or an episiotomy. I only got 3 stitches for one birth and 1 stitch for the other. The stitches were dissolved and I wouldnt of had known they were there if the Dr. hadn't told me.
When the shoulders come out, that hurts, but then its a big sigh of relief.

For me, the worst part of childbirth is the contractions, vaginal delivery was a breeze.. Good Luck!!

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