VBAC, or Vaginal Birth After Cesarean is possible!  I have never experienced it myself, but it seems that many women who have had a cesarean feel that it was due to the drugs and interventions involved in their births.  They feel like they were cheated out of the birth experience, they were traumatized by their experience and vow to have a natural birth and delivery the next time around.  However, when the moment comes, many of these women find out that no OB will take them.  This type of birth poses too much risk for the OBs, and they fear being sued.  Understandably, they only offer another, scheduled cesarean.

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But, where there is a will, there is a way!  Many skilled midwifes will attend a VBAC.  My midwife told me a great story of a VBAC that she attended.

The woman who was birthing was quite petite and had very narrow hips.  she stood only 5’2″ and weighed just at 100 lbs.  In her first birth, she labored for a long time in the hospital and progressed slowly.  She was given an epidural and her labor stalled further.  After over twenty hours of labor, the doctor told her that she was just too small to deliver vaginally and convinced her to sign the papers for the cesarean.

When the woman became pregnant with her second child, she decided to try for a VBAC.  She wanted to birth in the hospital, because she was afraid that she would need another cesarean, but no doctor would take her.  She contacted my midwife, and together they worked on a birth plan to suit her needs.  The midwife had a cooperating doctor who would take her and allow the midwife to attend the birth in the hospital.  When the woman went in to labor, she went to the hospital quite early in her labor, and again, she was progressing slowly.  The midwife was about two hours away, at another birth, and was not there in the beginning.  When she did show up, there was already talk of another cesarean floating around.  The woman, again was progressing quite slowly.  The midwife came in, and immediately recognized the problem.  The woman had been put in bed and was laboring flat on her back.  She got the woman up and had her walk around, and remain upright throughout the birth.  She progressed, but very slowly.  There was more talk of a cesarean, but the midwife advocated for a few more hours.  When it finally came time to push, she lowered the bed to the floor and had the woman squat, as if she were going to the bathroom in the woods, and push.  She pushed for just over two hours, and birthed an 8lb 13oz baby!  Vaginally!  After being told that she was “too small.”  That baby was larger than any of the babies I have had so far.

I also recently read a the great birth stories of a lady who had three cesareans before a vaginal birth at home.  Well, her first three birth stories were not really that great.  She was one of the unlucky women who had an epidural and pitocin, and the baby’s heart rate took a nosedive.  She actually had a very traumatic emergency cesarean because of it.  Her second birth, she was conned into a scheduled cesarean, only to find that it was not any easier than the first time, as her doctor had promised.  The third time, she almost made it.  She was going to have a home birth, but her labor stalled when the birth attendants arrived, and the cooperating doctor persuaded her to come in and get a little pitocin.  Once again, one thing led to another, and she ended up on the operating table.

(I promise, I am getting to the good part.)  Her final birth, I think she just decided that this was it.  She had been robbed of the kind of birth experience that she wanted three times, and enough was enough.  She hired a midwife and planned to labor in the hot tub at her home.  This time, everything went to plan, and she birthed right in the hot tub!  You could tell by her story that the experience changed her life.  She finally got to birth the way she dreamed of!  You can read her entire story here.  I usually say don’t read bad birth stories, like her first three, while you are pregnant, but they really show how interventions can screw up a birth.

There are more risks associated with VBAC, so you need to really do your homework when considering it. I would say that most women who are successful at VBAC are those who choose a midwife to attend either at home or in the hospital.  Also, choosing to labor drug-free and intervention-free, with the ability to move freely and push correctly, will greatly increase your chance of VBAC success.

If you need more information on VBAC, I would suggest the following sites:

• VBAC.com
• Hippie Dippie Bebe

Good luck on your journey to VBAC!  Just remember, it may not be easy, but IT IS POSSIBLE!

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