Seeking VBAC preparation advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, seeing an earlier question, my advice would be to get the epidural. I was happy as a clam with mine, got it fairly early in the process, and had a virtually pain-free birth. I was in good shape, though obviously that isn’t a determinative factor, but delivered very quickly. I was sitting up and reading until it was really time to get going.

I respect that others think certain types of movement/sensation is important…but honestly, pain can also be exhausting. My MIL judged the crap out of my for using an epidural, so I also get some of the pressure folks feel, but I’m pregnant with our second now and will be 100% asking for the epidural as soon as they’ll give it to me.

Just my two cents given you asked.

Agree especially if you’re far enough along in labor. Getting some sleep before pushing made a huge difference in my ability to focus.

[Anonymous]

It is remarkably offensive to say you just need to believe in yourself to have a successful vaginal delivery. Sure, positive mental attitude goes a long way but a lot of physical things need to go right, too. Please don’t suggest that parents who had a c-section could have turned it around by believing in themselves.
Good luck, OP, and I hope you have a successful, healthy delivery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a VBAC. I did some prep - stayed in reasonable shape, acupuncture to encourage labor, and went to a birthing class. I also had a doula.

I kind of agree with both posters that you have to believe you can do it, but also, that’s not all there is to it (obviously). I think you do have to go in REALLY believing in yourself, because childbirth is painful and hard. You’ve got to go in feeling strong and confident and determined. Because it’s probably all going to go upside down when the pain really hits, so you’ve got to set yourself up as best you can before that.

Anyway, I did most of the things you’re supposed to, and in the end, what was going to happen happened.

The two things that probably made most of the difference was my L&D nurse who was amazing and having a supportive doctor who was ok with labor (including pushing) taking much longer than most doctors would have been (according to my doula). He did say that we’d need to go to a c-section if things didn’t progress in the next hour (I was pushing at that point), but my response was “oh hell no, I did not go through all this to end up with a c-section.” Obviously if the baby was in distress or whatever, I would have felt differently or the doctor would have insisted - I’m not saying you should ignore valid medical advice or that you can just will things to work out. But when things get hard, you’ve got to be able to say to yourself “I can do this, let’s keep going.”

Fwiw, while labor really, really sucks, for me, the recovery was SO much better that I’d do a vbac over a c-section in a heartbeat. My c-section recovery was by the book, but it’s just a long and painful recovery, even then. I know it’s different for every woman and there are no guarantees with whatever you do, but I’m just sharing my experience.

Good luck, OP

Op here - thank you for this! I have a frw questions - when that final hour came up and you were like “hell no!” did you start to do anything differently or shift your focus etc? Also, how long did your doctor allow you to labor for after water breaking? Did you get an epidural?

I have been doing acupuncture, staying reasonably active, have a doula, took an out of hospital birthing class (wow it is so much more informative than the hospital ones!) and switched to an obgyn who is known for being supportive of vbac’s so lots of similarities in prep!

[Anonymous]

Girl - I felt labor and I was like gimme the damn needle now!

I tell you childbirth is very different for all ladies.

You need to be prepared for a C-section. One of my best friends who did 2 VBACs successfully always tried to give me that pep talk. Now that my kids are 11 and 13 I say BS.

You need to be able to get through that labor and it could be short or long. It could be easy and work out it may not. Prepping for a VBAC you should definitely be very aware of your options.

I'm not saying don't do it but you need to understand that when your kid is born whether C-section or VBAC you as mom need to be in good shape post delivery. It's like the ones who say formula is less than Brest milk. The reality is in the situation you have to do what's best for you ti get through.

The pain was something I truly was unprepared for and I really prepped. You really have to consider every option and figure out at the time what you can handle - it's really hard ti prep. It's like reading books about being a mom. You have no idea what your kid will be like! Books aren't gonna help you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a successful VBAC. It sounds a bit woo to say, but the only thing you need to do is to actually believe you can do it. Your body was born to give birth, you got this, you were made for this. I believe in you. Just know in your soul you can do this and block out everything else.

For all the naysayers, does heart disease make you doubt that hearts work? Do stomach issues make you doubt digestion? No. So just bc birth can sometimes go wrong doesn't mean it doesn't work in general.

+1

And do your research. I was a teaching hospital and loved my team. I did not want pitocin. I went into labor on my way and had a med free VBAC and it was safe and wonderful!

[Anonymous]

21:11 here
I had a vaginal delivery, C section (transverse baby) and then a VBAC. I really, really did NOT want a c section.

I knew pitocin and epidurals upped my chances of a c section, so I went into it trying to avoid both. I went into labor on my own but it was very slow. My doctors let me go, though, and progress naturally over 10 hours. It was very slow. There was talk of pitocin but I was never pushed into it, so I opted out.
I walked a ton and moved a lot. Then everything sped up, and he was born without an epidural. I was shocked that I actually did it because I have a VERY low pain tolerance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is remarkably offensive to say you just need to believe in yourself to have a successful vaginal delivery. Sure, positive mental attitude goes a long way but a lot of physical things need to go right, too. Please don’t suggest that parents who had a c-section could have turned it around by believing in themselves.
Good luck, OP, and I hope you have a successful, healthy delivery.

No one is saying that. We are saying that you need, among other things, to believe in yourself in a VBAC situation. You also need good providers, a well positioned baby, a proper size baby fr your pelvis, and a lot of luck. It’s just that only the attitude is something mom can change easily, so it comes up often. VBAC means a prior c, so I hardly think people trying for a VBAC think positive thoughts completely prevent c sections.

[Anonymous]

For a first VBAC, do dilators prior to labor help?

[Anonymous]

I'm the woo poster. I would like to remind PPs that it is the absolute right of any patient to refuse any and all treatment. Pregnancy is not a disease, and there is a great debate even amongst the medical community on the need for GBS testing is pregnancy. For example, GBS testing is not part of the standard pregnancy protocol in the UK. Are those people all stupid and reckless?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the woo poster. I would like to remind PPs that it is the absolute right of any patient to refuse any and all treatment. Pregnancy is not a disease, and there is a great debate even amongst the medical community on the need for GBS testing is pregnancy. For example, GBS testing is not part of the standard pregnancy protocol in the UK. Are those people all stupid and reckless?

Right, so women in the Uk often pay out of pocket or go to private hospitals for the screening. Just because another country does things differently does not make it the correct way. NHS has had tons of lawsuits for deaths in their maternity wards and the Uk has a birth trauma association because of high rates of postpartum PTSD. Also - every year babies die in the UK because of GBS. I’m not sure why you think turning down recommended medical treatments is a good idea. Bug medicine isn’t out to rob you of your empowered VBAC, they want you and your baby to avoid death and injury.

https://gbss.org.uk/info-support/group-b-strep-testing/should-i-get-a-group-b-strep-test/

[Anonymous]

I have had more than one child in the UK and most women do not get private GBS testing. I am a central London mum and literally noone in my NCT group knew or talked about it.

Fact is all interventions have risks and benefits and to pretend refusing an intervention is reckless is itself ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I had 2 wonderful planned c-sections. No problems and easy recoveries. Not all c-sections are awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have had more than one child in the UK and most women do not get private GBS testing. I am a central London mum and literally noone in my NCT group knew or talked about it.

Fact is all interventions have risks and benefits and to pretend refusing an intervention is reckless is itself ridiculous.

When was this, 10 years ago, woo poster?

You do know that childbirth used to be the leading cause of death among women and young children before modern medicine? And that the “interventions” you demonize are actually medical care women in the rest of the developing world wish they could have access to during childbirth? Because, you know, women and babies still die from lack of access to antibiotics, blood transfusion, access to safe C-sections and anesthesia, etc. in much of the rest of the world.

Every month 4 babies die in the UK and Ireland from group B strep. You think we should be following their medical standards with that level of preventable mortality? Risk of prophylactic antibiotics is something most women select over the risk of serious morbidity and mortality and while you can certainly refuse them it is most certainly reckless. I mean, you can drive without a seatbelt too and not die but it’s still a dumb choice.

https://gbss.org.uk/info-support/group-b-strep-testing/should-i-get-a-group-b-strep-test/

[Anonymous]

I had a successful VBAC after a C-section. First baby was C-section due to being transverse. Second baby (3 years later) was positioned correctly and from my research, the chance for a successful VBAC was higher due to no longer having the 1 factor that made 1st birth C-section, plus the length of time between the two births.

Keep yourself fit going into labor. Walk a lot in your last few weeks of pregnancy, especially days leading up to due date (if you make it that far). When at hospital, advocate advocate for yourself. I delayed pitocin and epidural for as long as possible so that I could still move around to keep labor progressing. At one point, I had the pitocin and I could only partially feel my legs, and had my husband help me do hip rotations and such while on the hospital bed (keep moving!) Laying back is not a position that keeps labor progressing for most folks. I was at a teaching hospital and the resident was definitely a bit pushy in terms of how much time I would have for "labor progress." Thankfully I had a L&D nurse that encouraged me to keep advocating for myself. I wouldn't have done to put baby at risk, of course, but wanted to give myself the full opportunity for a successful VBAC. And we did!

Recovery after vaginal birth is a breeze compared to C-section. Hormones and breast-feeding were, too. Of course that second part could also be because of it being a second baby vs. first. No regrets, I would absolutely go back and attempt a VBAC again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a successful VBAC after a C-section. First baby was C-section due to being transverse. Second baby (3 years later) was positioned correctly and from my research, the chance for a successful VBAC was higher due to no longer having the 1 factor that made 1st birth C-section, plus the length of time between the two births.

Keep yourself fit going into labor. Walk a lot in your last few weeks of pregnancy, especially days leading up to due date (if you make it that far). When at hospital, advocate advocate for yourself. I delayed pitocin and epidural for as long as possible so that I could still move around to keep labor progressing. At one point, I had the pitocin and I could only partially feel my legs, and had my husband help me do hip rotations and such while on the hospital bed (keep moving!) Laying back is not a position that keeps labor progressing for most folks. I was at a teaching hospital and the resident was definitely a bit pushy in terms of how much time I would have for "labor progress." Thankfully I had a L&D nurse that encouraged me to keep advocating for myself. I wouldn't have done to put baby at risk, of course, but wanted to give myself the full opportunity for a successful VBAC. And we did!

Recovery after vaginal birth is a breeze compared to C-section. Hormones and breast-feeding were, too. Of course that second part could also be because of it being a second baby vs. first. No regrets, I would absolutely go back and attempt a VBAC again.

I had a 4th degree tear and was anally incontinent after my vaginal birth. My scheduled C section was a cakewalk comparatively. Don’t you dare say that recovery after a vaginal birth is a breeze compared to a C section. I will never fully recover and I resent your comment. Try leaking stool involuntarily and try to go back to your life as you know it - you never can.