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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.