Vba3c?

I've been wondering about that myself. I've heard that it is safe with a midwife as long as it is in a hospital, but my husband and I are still leary as well. We aren't pregnant yet though

K.,

I don't have personal experience with a C-Section, but am familiar with a twin cities group called ICAN. Maybe some one in the group can give you sound advice?

Here is there website.

http://tcican.googlepages.com/

J.

I have birthed two babies, both by cesarean section. Personally, at this stage in the game I do not ever want to try a vaginal birth because I would hate to take the chance of my uterus rupturing. From the research I did before my failed attempt at a VBAC, I learned the risks increase for uterine rupture with each cesarean section birth a woman has if a VBAC is attempted.

I suppose another thing to consider is who you would like present helping for the birth: an MD who can try their best to do emergency medical care as needed if something should go wrong with a VBa3c, or a non-MD who might be willing to let you try a VBa3c but can do nothing to help you or the baby if something should go wrong? If you can find an MD willing to help you with the birth you prefer, I suppose that is the best shot anyone could have.

It is truly very difficult to recover from a cesarean section birth--both mind and body need gentle loving care and time to heal. Cesarean section births are just as heroic and valid as vaginal births. You are an amazing woman that you are even considering trying a vaginal birth after you have already given so much of yourself for your children! Are you able to have a live-in nanny/friend/relative help you for the first year after the birth--regardless of how you deliver? I think all the extra help you can arrange will be good to have, should you need it after the baby arrives. I wish you luck, and congratulations!

Dear K.,
I give you this information as a very well informed woman. I have had 2 C-sections.....I am due with my third child in October and I am attempting a VBAC. I was under the assumption that I would have to have a scheduled C-section until my OB at MAYO CLINIC in Rochester (one of the most respected hospitals in the world) talked with me about my options, one of them being a VBAC. He told me that there isn't anything in the research that suggests that you are at a higher risk for a uterine rupture (which by the way is 1%) with two or more C-sections. I know there will be people that will disagree with that, but they can take that up with some of the most educated doctors in the world that work at Mayo. I see perinatologists that aren't happy about me doing a VBAC but are not denying me my chance. We have settled on a happy medium. I will go into labor on my own....go directly to the hospital and if everything is going well, they will continue to let me progress. If things aren't progressing...we will do the C-section. You have to be on the fetal moniter constantly and if there by chance is a rupture, you are in good hands being in the hospital where they can do an emergency c-section. This is your body, your birth and you need to go with what your instincts tell you. I am a firm believer in healthy baby and healthy mama when all is done.
If you want to chat at all.....please feel free to email me. This is something that I don't take lightly and have done a lot of research on.
Good luck to you.
T.

K.,
I would encourage you to talk to more care providers and find one that understands and respects your situation. A good midwife will really make a great difference. Any one you talk to who has had both experiences will tell you the vaginal delivery recovery is so much better regardless of if it has been before or after a c section. There are risks regardless, don't make a fearful choice, make an informed choice that is aligned with your values and situation. Doctors will often want to c section because they are least likely to get sued for a c section than for a vaginal delivery because they intervened. There are plenty of risks with any surgery and my experience has been that those risks are downplayed because it is so common of a surgery. Regardless, try having a doula with a midwife or OB. It makes a huge difference, no matter what kind of delivery you have. Best wishes to you and your growing family!
J.

I've only had one c-section with my 1st child. It was due to failure to progress as well. I was planning on having a c-section with my 2nd child, but started labor the day before I was scheduled to go in. I was given the choice of continuing with my plans for a c-section or trying for a VBAC. I decided to go for the VBAC because I was already pretty dilated by that time. Everything went fine for me and there were no complications. I remember the long and painful recovery after my c-section, but I didn't have any other children to take care of. I can't imagine how tough that would be. What does your doctor think?

no matter what you do, at this point, anything has risks for you. another csec leads to risks that they wont be able to get the bleeding to stop. a friend of mine had a little trouble with that on her 2nd child and yesterday just had a csec with her third (i havent heard from her family yet) ... and with a vaginal after csec there is always a risk the cut from csec could rupture.

what i would do is to contact a midwife or doula in your area. they would be able to give you good advice. take that information in combination with your doctor's ... and most of all, i hope you believe in a higher power. prayer is one of the most successful ways to have a safe and healthy labor and delivery, no matter how its done.

good luck.

ICAN has been mentioned several times and is a very good resource. It's important that two things are said here: 1) even after 2 c-sections, overwhelmingly odds are that you CAN deliver vaginally with lower risk to you and your baby than you'd encounter with a third c-section. 2) The reason we are not told this is that insurance companies are driving prenatal care in this country, not providers. There is profit to be made in c-section.

Rent http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com You can get it from Netflix.

Read this book http://www.amazon.com/Pushed-Painful-Childbirth-Modern-Ma...

And then start watching videos like these on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1uEJdKvGM8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0K0HAgLDM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQd0hPHWOlQ

Google vba2c, hba2c, or ...a3c etc. You'll find an abundance of info from women who have birthed vaginally with good outcomes after c/s. Blessings and healing to you as you do your research.

My first baby turned breech at 39 1/2 weeks and I had a c-section at almost 41 weeks (I never went into labor). My second baby I went into labor at 38 weeks and had a vbac that was absolutely wonderful. With my third, I went into labor at a little under 37 weeks and that one went wonderful as well. From what I have read, many doctors won't do vbacs after more than 1 c-section. You may want to talk to your doctor to see if this is a possibility for you. I wish you luck with whatever your choice is!
S.

Hi K.,
My first child was premature due to low amniotic fluid and born via c-section. He was in the hospital for 3 weeks, so I did a lot of running back and forth and my recovery was quite painful.

My second child was also a c-section, but the recovery was completely different and incredibly easier and less painful. I think the reason why is because my MIL stayed with us for a week to take care of my older child. This allowed me to rest with the baby and not be picking up kids, cleaning, etc. If you can have someone stay with you for that first week to really allow yourself to heal, I think it will make a big difference.

Good luck!
K.

I had a c-sec with my first because she was breech, second one was a vbac, and the third was also breech, so a second c-sec. Comparing the two, I'd much rather have vaginal deliveries due to the recovery...but my vbac was a short easy delivery. My doc says that now after 2 c's, if I have any more they will have to be C's as well. Many docs won't do vbac's at all, I'd be ssurprised if they'd let you after multiple c's.

I had a vbac after having one c-section. My doctor encouraged me to get and epideral so that we would be prepared just incase a c-section had to be done in an emergency. Labor went well and a had a speedy recovery verse having a c-section.

Some doctor refuse to do vbac. Have you discussed this with you physican?

If the physican is comfortable doing a vbac relax and go ahead and do it.

Here is an excellent resource. I wish you much luck!

http://www.ican-online.org/vbac/home

W. Slade

I work at Meriter hospital in Madison as a RN in a c/s unit. I have never heard of a MD allowing a VBAC after 2 or more c/sections. The risk of uterine rupture is very high and bleeding issues from the old scars etc. I would be very careful if anyone says they would deliver you vaginally after that many c/s!

I alos have 4 children, the 1st one being a vb then 2 c-sections and then the last one was a vb, but there may be a time restraint on yours being that your youngest is only 2 and a half. There was 10 years in between my last c-section and my last child. I would talk to the doctor, but I would try having it vb if at all possible.

My mother had her first 3 babies c-section, then had her tubes tied right after the last one was born. After 7-8 years went by she and my father felt they were saying no to God's blessing and they had a reversal. Well about a year later after the reversal, she had my sister naturally, she said it was so easy that she wanted to have another one right away! She had always heard how hard and painful it would be....but it wasn't as bad for her...after 3 c-sections and 9 years after she had her last baby! She had one more natural birth after that, then the next 2 were c-section as of complications and she is high rish anyway for she has diabeties (a result from am accident when she was a baby)
So, anyway, I guess it depends on what you feel is right. I'd give it a chance, and see what happens. I'm sure God will give you the grace to do whatever is right and you'll have the strength to make it through! ;)

I doubt if your Dr. will deliver vaginally after 3 c-sections. I had 2 and my Dr. said if I had another child it would automatically be a c-sections. The risks to you and your baby by doing it vaginally are very great. Both of you could die in the process if your uterus tore open. I would rather deal with the pain of a c-section than a loss of a child or have my children lose me.

K., There's a web resource called ican that's all about VBAC. I looked on there after my cesarean and it seemed really really helpful http://www.ican-online.org/
Good luck in your research and with your birth.
S.

I have only had one c-sec and no other births, but I did talk to my doctor about it. My son was breech and I was worried that I would have to have c-sec for any future deliveries. She told me that most doctors will not do a vbac if the first c-sec was done due to complications during birth. I don't know if failure to progress would be considered a complication or if having 3 c-sec increases your risk.

I had a c/s with my son, but am hoping to avoid that ever again! One really good website I recently found is http://vbacfacts.com/ There are so many myths surrounding vbac and this site debunks them all!

This article was especially helpful and informative (http://vbacfacts.com/2008/06/18/rupture-rate-10-for-vba2c...)

If your doctor won't even consider a vbac for you, I would suggest showing this to him/her... if he/she won't listen, you should consider finding someone else. It's your baby, your body, your birth -- you are allowed a say in how your labor and delivery goes! :)