VBAC info/support

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I hope tomorrow goes better for you!
Have you thought about getting a doula? that way you will have someone you trust with you and they know what they are talking about too. I think trainee doulas are only £200 or less, its a lot of money but worth it if Your hospital are being a PITA! and you need someone to be headstrong for you.
 
I'm gonna have a good look at doula's in my area next week, whne I start my mega early maternity leave and know if birth plan is more likely to be hospital or home.
 
Birth Plan - if my pregnancy stays problem free

I would like to give birth in St. Michaels hospital, Bristol.

This is my second baby, my first was born at 39+4 by emergency caesarean due to foetal distress after an induction at 39+3 (one attempt at a pessary which didn’t do anything and having my waters broken which started contractions every two minutes lasting a minute each) due to HIP and the slowing of foetal growth.
I was 9cm when a caesarean was decided to be the best option but made it to fully dilated on the way to theatre, my contractions were stopped for surgery and I didn’t get to push.


Due date

My due date by my dating scan is the 22nd December 2011. If I go over due I will not be accepting an induction. I will accept as many sweeps as possible, if they don’t work I would like to be regularly monitored and if I still haven’t gone into labour by the 5th January I will opt for an elective caesarean.


Labour

I would like to labour and give birth in the birthing pool. I understand as I will be having a VBAC this isn’t encouraged but I have done intensive research and I feel this is the best option for me.
I do not want to be constantly monitored and trust my body completely. I am however happy to exit the pool occasionally for monitoring to make sure the baby is okay.
If a birthing pool is unavailable I would like to try and labour in a bath (this may change on the day) and be transferred to a pool ASAP.
If a pool doesn’t become available I would like to labour in my own way and be as mobile as possible. I do not want to be strapped to machines/drips but again I am happy for occasional monitoring to check if the baby is okay.
If I cannot give birth in a pool (because one isn’t available) I would most likely prefer to give birth crouching or on all fours. I don’t like the idea of giving birth on my back and was very uncomfortable labouring on my back last time.


Pain relief

I would like to try and labour on gas and air only and I am against the idea of an epidural (as I was last time) and would really appreciate not having someone stood over me repeating that I should have an epidural as I am not coping as that is the last thing a woman in labour needs to hear!
If something was to go wrong and I should need an emergency caesarean I would like to have a spinal block.


Delivery

I want my baby to be delivered straight onto my chest to hold and have skin to skin as I didn’t get this option straight away for my last baby.
I would like to have an extended period of skin to skin and I am planning on breastfeeding so please respect this. My partner or I will dress our baby and as we will most likely be using cloth nappies we will also put the babies nappy on too.


Post natal

I would like to be discharged ASAP as I did not have an enjoyable hospital stay last time and as it will be Christmas time I would like to spend the time with my partner, daughter and new baby in the comfort and peace of our own home.




What do you think of my birth plan?? Do i need much more in there??
 
Sorry if this is really late, was just searching for VBAC's to see if I could offer support to anyone, Im aiming for my 2nd VBAC in Jan.
Birth after caesarean written by Jenny Lesley is a fantastic book/Journal from https://www.aims.org.uk/
I read this repeatedly from cover to cover when I was preparing for my VBAC.
 
Tannenbaum...like I said to Celesse I would bullet point it to make it easy to read through by any one who attends you, and you may face some difficulty with the water birth - because it isnt recommended you may be told no or the pool may ,mysteriously not be able to be used.

I hope for you that this isnt the case, I would remove the part saying you are happy to get out of the pool for monitoring. You shouldn't have to get in and out- you're more likely to do yourself a mischief that way and be uncomfortable.

If you are opting out of CFM by being in the pool intermittent monitoring is done by sonicaid and if they have a pool they will have underwater ones to use.
 
Welcome Irishmammy...thanks for the booklet link
 
Another lovely story from Birth Without Fear added
 
Hi everyone! I posted in third tri yesterday and they suggested I come here. I'm trying for a vbac. My first labour ended in emcs as baby was back to back and big 9.8 (4.5kg) (and I'm a petite 5ft 2) and I never dilated past 4cm even 3 days after induction. Gave birth at 42+3. Had a growth scan for this baby and it will be 8.8 at due date. They've suggested I come in to hospital at 39 and a half weeks and they'll assess my cervix and try and break my waters. I assume this is to stop me getting too big. But people in third tri thought this was a bad idea and would more likely end in cs. Just looking for some advice really..... I read at the start of this thread about what increases the chances of UR and if I go overdue I would tick nearly every box!!! It's freaking me out!
 
Try not to worry Gemma, fear is the worst thing for any mother facing another labour.

Just because you are petite doesn't mean you cannot birth a larger baby, it is very rare indeed for a baby to truly be too big for a mothers pelvis...it's the size of the head that matters not how heavy the little bugger is!

Policy dictates that in order to stop baby being big they'll have you in and see if they cant get things going early.

If your cervix is favourable and they break your waters you are then on a deadline to have your baby according to hospital policy - usually 24 hours from AROM to labour as the longer you go with broken waters the more liekly you are to get an infection (obviously there are things you can do to reduce that like refusing internals).

Problem is if you do not go into labour after the AROM then they would usually offer induction - BUT as a VBAC this increases risk of UR so they may want to go straight to a CS!

I would ask your MW/OB for a sweep or 2 before resorting to AROM...same as AROM it'll only work if things are favourable but doesnt put you on a deadline for labour.

BEar in mind as unlikely it is you will go overdue it doesnt mean baby will be giant! US estimates of weight and size are up to 20% out (it even stated that in my NHS notes!) so baby may be a completely different weight so dont worry about it.

Your body does know what it is doing as does baby...last time you were hindered by any number of things. Free yourself to labour this time as you want.

Early being anytime before you go into labour as that happens when baby is ready.

Remember that every pregnancy labour and birth is different and this labour will be different to the last, you didnt dilate at the speed they wanted you to last time but you may do things differently this time.

Stress and worry stop you labouring, just as the position of the baby affects labour and dilation. There would have been numerous factors that contributed to how things occurred last time...not just 'well baby was big'.
 
thank you so so much for taking the time to reply to me. it really means a lot. i've got a midwife appointment at 38 weeks. I might ring her before hand and ask her if i can get a sweep. although that may be a bit early. or maybe when i go to my hospital appointment after 39 weeks i'll just ask for a cervix check and a sweep. i will try and be positive about this birth. i know my negative frame of mind will not help anything.
 
Usaully a MW cannot perfrom as weep until after your EDD but an OB can do one.

Are you concerned that baby will be big? (an estimate of a 8lb baby isn't that big even if you are petite)

Discuss it and see what all of the options are, perhaps write downa list of Q' for her and what ifs?

i.e....
What if cervix is favourable and AROM is performed and I go into labour
What if I do not go into labour after AROM? What are my options?
What if I decline AROM? What are my options?

Can I suggest you get hold of the natal hypnotherapy VBAC CD's, they're very good even if you dont plan to hypnobirth they have some great fear release exercises and relaxation techniques.

I used them and it helped me let go of a few hang ups I had about my 'failure to progress' and EMCS.
 
Chuck - you are so awesome! Seriously all your posts are so reassuring, you should look into being a vbac specialist doula or something!

Gemma - hope things go well for you and baby :)
 
I'm just trying to turn my emcs into something positive for others.

I'm going along to my local NCT's birth info evening at our university to talk to ladies about vbac/hbac!
 
chuck said:
Usaully a MW cannot perfrom as weep until after your EDD but an OB can do one.

Are you concerned that baby will be big? (an estimate of a 8lb baby isn't that big even if you are petite)

Discuss it and see what all of the options are, perhaps write downa list of Q' for her and what ifs?

i.e....
What if cervix is favourable and AROM is performed and I go into labour
What if I do not go into labour after AROM? What are my options?
What if I decline AROM? What are my options?

Can I suggest you get hold of the natal hypnotherapy VBAC CD's, they're very good even if you dont plan to hypnobirth they have some great fear release exercises and relaxation techniques.

I used them and it helped me let go of a few hang ups I had about my 'failure to progress' and EMCS.
Click to expand...

thanks for the suggested questions chuck. i think 8lb would be ok but its if i go overdue like i did with my first and she ended up being 9.8 and that together with her position was the reason i didn't progress. i'll try and get hold of that cd. i have a hypno cd but not specifically for vbacs. didn't know they existed!
 
yup yup

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Effective-...0057/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1315080938&sr=8-4

Be realistic...so what if you go over due?

So what if baby is 9lb?

You have grown this baby, your body can birth it and birth it with style!
 
Good luck to xhannahxbanan who could be in labour right now! She's had a show and trickling waters so sending labour dust her way!
 
Hello Ladies,

I hope its ok to join you?

I'm currently 24 weeks, due on Christmas day. I am hoping for a completely different birth experience this time round. I was induced last time at 40+1 as my normaly low blood pressure was high for me. After a 7 day induction I had an emergency C-section as I failed to progress from 4 cms and infact went back to 2cms. Baby was never in distress, although they said afterwards that the cord was around her neck and that is why I didn't dilate as she didn't desend. I am skepticle and now feel that my body was just not ready yet for labour. And to top it off the staples embedded in me and I got a large bloodclot and had to be reopened less than a week later to clean me out an stich me back up again.

On Wednesday I see the consultant who did the second surgery she is ment to be very good not least because she used to be a midwife. I think we will be disscussing my first birth and my options for this one.
What advice can you give me so I don't get pushed into a c-section? I would really like not to be placed on continous monitoring and not to have a drip unless I really need it. I want to move around and possible get in the bath or a pool. I don't want to put this baby in danger and I will do what ever I have to do to ensure that, but I want less truama to my body and mind at Christmas with a toddler now to consider.
Sorry for the long post, any advice for the app would be appreciated.
:flower:
 
Welcome Pinga! Congrats on your baby and your pregnancy!!

Even with the 2nd surgery I cannot see why you would be pushed to have ELCS - they certainly cannot make you. Thats the beauty of being in the uk...we have the right to say NO!

Things will be different this time, you wouldnt usually be induced as it increases risk of UR so you'll labour when you and baby are ready.

It seems that you already have a good idea what you want and why so make sure you and your birth partner are clear about what you want and do not want and state it from the start.

A labour shouldn't have any help/intervention etc until it needs it and then it's still up to the MW or OB to convince you otherwise.

Make yourself aware of the risks of VBAC, and the pro's of having a nice natural labour and birth and decide which risk are acceptable to you.

For me the choice to HBAC was a natural one, I wanted the best chance of a natural VBAC and for me being at home was my best chance of getting it.
 
Fab new link in the general info & stats section, a summary of 20 peer reviewed articles on UR.

The techy medical speak is also rewritten in more plain English - there is a olink to the original item too.
 
Thanks Chuck,

I guess I am just worried that as it will be Christmas and staff will have their minds elsewhere if I don't have a quick labour I will be encouraged to go for another c-section.
I am looking forward to finding more out about my first labour tomorrow and voicing my concerns.
 
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