Has Anyone Here Had a Vaginal Birth After Having a C-section??

Hello D., I have a cousin who has 7 (yes 7) children her first was c-sec then 5 vaginally and the last one was another c sec...it can be done, also doctors repeatedly told her not to have any more children but she continued (continues) i would not be suprised to hear that shes prego again, i dont get involved in opinions about these choices..just wanted to let you know..hugs and well wishes

T.

Talk, talk, and talk some more to your doctor. You still have time to decide. I've never had a c section, but one of my best friends had three children via VBAC after she had her first via cesarean. Her first baby was 9 lbs, 5 ounces, and they told her cephalopelvic disproportion (baby was large, wouldn't fit). Her other three were all 8 pounders. Her childrena are 17, 15, 12 and 9 years old, so this was quite a few years ago.
Talk to your doc about all the risks, benefits, complications, and what to expect. One thing though, if you were to choose a repeat c-section, it should be less frightening. A scheduled c-section is not like an emergency, especially as you had anesthesia issues. Without the rushing and the fright happening all at once, your experience would likely be better. Good luck and healthy baby!

I had a c-section w/ my son because I wasn't dialating after 2 days of induction... the only thing that I have heard is after you have a c-section, you are at a greater risk of your uterus rupturing. That is the thing that I fear w/ trying a VBAC. However, I also had Gestation Diabetes so that is another factor that would make a c-section the 2nd time a better choice. I do know two people who had VBAC's... other than it being a totally different experience, they said it wasn't too bad. (They both had really big babies though, and had a lot of tearing). I think it really is just a personal decision. I would be worked too though about not having a wide enough pelvis to fit your first baby.

D.,

There is a lot that goes into this decision. THere are a lot of great books on the market about VBAC. THere is a good list on www.birthwithoutboundaries.com. The current research actually says that there is greater risk in repeat c-sections than in VBACs. From what you said in your request, I would suggest you use a different doctor. If they only had you push twice and decided the baby was too big, well... that sounds impatient to me. Educate yourself. I would highly recommend the Bradley Method classes to prepare for birth and for information. The website is www.bradleybirth.com Good luck with your decisions. Please feel free to contact me.

J.

Dear D.

I would say that you should go with what you are comfortable with knowing that anything could happen anyway. As you know from having one child already you can plan and read and take everyone's advice but in the end the baby comes out how the baby needs/wants to come out. It sounds like your experience was upsetting and I would agree that you may want to not go back to the same place or with the same doctor as you still have time to make other plans.

I have not had a VBAC but have thought about it should I become pregnant again. My first baby was 9lbs 11oz and I could not get her out after trying for hours (water birth/natural birth/and finally emergency c-section).

I would do what you are comfortable with and with whom (doctor/midwife/birthing center) you are comfortable with.

hi D., i had 2 vbac after my cesarean. (3 kids total) my oldest was 3 when i had the second one. drs told me i would be fine even though there was a slight risk of the uterus ripping on incision line. i had no problems. just talk to your dr and have him/her reassure you that you will have no problems. i had to have a cesarean because my son was in distress. no problems on my part. but all my kids were under 7 lbs. good luck!

I do not have experience with this personally, but my understanding about deciding whether to try VBAC is to look at the reason for the first c-section. One of the primary arguments I've heard for just doing a repeat c-section is if the problem with the first pregnancy was the size of the pelvis being too small. If you had to have a section because the baby's heartbeat wasn't right or something else like that which could change, then it's worth a try since that's not likely to repeat. Unfortunately, your pelvis shape/size isn't going to have changed so unless your daughter was really big and they expect this baby to be small, chances are you'll end up in the same situation. I completely understand your wanting to try a VBAC, as I did everything possible and was luckily able to get my second turned from a breech position at the last minute to go vaginal with him after a c-section scare. Plus your first experience was so tramatic. My good friend had a bad first experience - she didn't have to get knocked out, but went through labor and 3 hours of pushing and emergency c-section with lots of blood loss. Her first was really big - 10.5 pounds so they opted for a repeat section. Her second was large as well and the surgery was much less tramatic. She said she was really glad she did it - she was nervous about the surgery, but it was faster and didn't have any complications. Less crazy and she recovered faster the second time.

I have not had this experience, but I cannot stress enough to read the ICAN site and get in touch with the folks there! http://www.ican-online.org/

A couple things to remember are to NOT allow them to use pitocin. That's what causes the uterine rupture risk. Also, even if you do go through labor and end up with another section, your baby still benefits from the labor experience.

Also wanted to add that it's exceedingly rare for one to grow a baby that is too big to fit out of one's pelvis. Unless you had rickets or something, it's most likely a cop-out on the part of the OB. If you were in lithomy or semi-lithomy position and no alternative positions were tried, you weren't even given a chance. :( Babies were not meant to be pushed out uphill!

Best of luck!

My sister had a c-section then a vaginal birth. I think it depends upon the direction of your section incision. Hers was vertical rather than bikini line, like most.

i have two kids both csection. I was told by all thedr that i seen that a VBACS was a no. I even was in the hospital in Pittsburgh visiting my cousin and they told her no VBACS and she has 3 kids.. I was a high risk and I wanted VBACS so bad but my specialist said that most hospital are against it cause of liability..

Not yet, however I am hoping to...in May. With my first child I wasn't dilating properly after 8 hours of labor when my doctor felt my son's heartbeat was slightly irregular and rather than risk complications she ordered an emergency c-section. The whole experience was pretty traumatic, however awe inspiring to see them work so quickly to ensure the safety of me and my son. It was extremely scary for my husband. The real complications came later for me, I had real feelings of inadequacy at not being able to deliver naturally. You see, my mother has 4 children and the deliveries came very easily to her, in fact 2 of my brothers were born at home because her labor was so short and easy. It really rocked me to the core to be unable to deliver naturally. My sister didn't have any trouble either. So, this time I really want to try again. I am a good candidate for VBAC, so here's to hoping all will go well and I will have the life changing experience I so desire. I will post after to let you know how it went. Good luck to you, I sincerely wish you the safest most satisfying experience possible with a beautiful healthy baby.

D.,
I'm currently reading a book on the Bradley Method which talks about this quite a bit. Statistically, only 1 or 2 in 2500 women are actually too small in the pelvis to birth naturally. Doctors like to keep things short and sweet, therefore resulting in c-sections after long labors. There are women out there who labor for DAYS. Sometimes constantly and sometimes intermittantly. As long as the baby's stats are ok, it's generally okay to continue to labor. Even after the water has broken, Dr. Bradley felt it was okay to continue to labor past the 24 hr point. Infection becomes a risk when pelvic exams are done, introducing foreign bacteria.

If it helps any, I was told after my first (7lbs 13oz) that he was too big and I 'barely' got him out. My second was 8lb 8oz and I had him without a problem in the world.

Good luck!
T.