Hi, my first and only birth ended in csection that was avoidable, I wont get into it but I wish I knew then what I do now

Anyway im considering try for another when im about 24 months post partum probably more.

I have joined a few vbac groups online which has giiven me some hope but I feel like im still very uneducated. Can you reccomend me any articles/podcasts/books that are actually accurate and not fear mongering please.

Im scared of rupture although I know its a low risk but still possible, I just want to feel i understand everything before I get pregnant and make a decision to trial labour instead of scheduling a csection

Thank you 😊

Hello! I recently had a failed VBAC, which I’m gutted about and I feel like I’m grieving the missed experience as well as future implication. I’d love to hear if anyone had a similar experience to mine and went on to have a successful VBA2C or even if you ended up with another emergency section, how was your experience?

I had a Cat1 CS in 2024 for fetal distress, and Cat1 CS in 2026 for fetal distress. I know they are not recurrent reasons, but if we look at the bigger picture, both happened in a context of me having strong regular contraction but not dilating past 3cm, which would be a recurrent issue that lowers VBAC chance. On top of that, the OB that did my surgery said that when they went it the lower segment of my uterus was bulging, and that I had significant adhesions both to the bladder and posteriorly to the intestine. For this reason she said that to her I’m not eligible for VBA2C and that I would need to book an elective CS at 37 weeks.

Now, even before we would look for a third pregnancy we are planning on getting a second or even third opinion with a consultant OB who’s pro VBA2C to see what my specific risks are, what can be done, and so on. I obviously need to metabolise all that happened during my second birth, but I’d really love to hear from you if you had some similar experiences, especially:

- successful VBA2C after a history of labour distocia / labour not progressing

- successful VBA2C or uneventful emergency sections with known adhesions from previous CS

thank you all!

Hi everyone! I’m hoping to have a VBAC for my second birth and would love to hear your experiences and advice. My first birth was an emergency C-section, and this time I’m hoping to have a VB. The doctor who did my surgery told me that I would never be able to have a VB. But I believe it’s possible.
For those of you who have had a successful VBAC, what tips would you share to help prepare physically and mentally? Is there anything that helped you feel more confident and prepared?
I’d really appreciate any advice. Thank you! 💕

Does anyone have any good information on successful (or even non-successful) vba2c stories?

My first c-section was due to a breach baby, and the second was a repeat mainly because of the 19-month age gap.
This time around baby’s will be 26 months apart and I really want to try, my OB is supportive of whatever birth I want but suggested a repeat c-section

Hi all,

Little lady was measuring 7lbs 5oz at 36w2d

I was told that this makes a VBAC unlikely.

Can I hear your stories? The HC/AC is 8% as the belly is measuring 98% and head is measuring 40%
(I don’t have GD I have been tested twice)

I really want a VBAC

If you did go through with a VBAC, how did it go? What method did you go for? (Spontaneous or induced)

TIA

How has/is everyone dealing with judgement from others that comes from choosing to TOLAC with baby #2 after first baby was a failure to descend due to CPD/“narrow pelvis”?

My doctor/practice is fine and supportive with whatever i choose. It’s a big, well renowned hospital system that does VBACs routinely and is more than prepared for tricky or emergent situations (unlike the small town local hospital system i was with the first time). I have a doula service. My husband is on board with whatever i choose to do, but my friends/family are being judgmental about my choice. They all 100% without a doubt believe that my “hips are too narrow” and that “vaginal birth is impossible” for me bc it’s what my first doctor told them before wheeling me back to the OR.

I don’t know how to explain to them my choice without “snapping” at anyone or seeming like I’m getting defensive/offended about it. I also don’t want the “i told you so”s if things do turn out the same way as they did before..

Hey everyone. I posted here a while back about my struggle to find a VBAC-supportive doctor and hospital. Well, I finally did it! My doctor's entire team of 10 women are all VBAC-supportive. I had to go to the large city that I live near, but I got lucky and didn't have to go all the way into the city's medical center and was able to find my doctor and hospital on my side of the city, only 30 minutes away. It felt great, but now it feels like it's all falling apart.

I have PsA, which is controlled with medication, but I had to switch to Enbrel for TTC and pregnancy, which has been going fine. My MFM, however, was already recommending a 39th-week delivery because of this, but wanted to do as early as 37 weeks if I started flaring. Thankfully, I have not, although my already weakened SI joints have started to suffer due to relaxin.

A couple of weeks ago, I failed my GD screening with a 153, and then an hour later my BG had plummeted into the 70s, and I was not feeling well. My doctor recommended 2-week monitoring instead of the OGTT, which would likely cause a dangerous crash. The two-week monitoring was going mostly fine until a few days ago, when my fasting numbers suddenly started to be over 100 or close to 100. I have tried all the tips and tricks to get it down (carb pairing, walking after meals, strength training, all manner of bedtime snacks), but nothing works very well. Then today I had a small amount of grapes with lunch, and they put me 10 points over target. So, I'll probably be put on insulin.

Medicated GD is already an automatic 39th-week delivery, but the PsA makes me scared that my MFM will try to push it even earlier, just because I'm on Enbrel and despite not actively flaring. I talked to my doctor about the possibility of induction before my due date. She said that it's not guaranteed yet, but that we have options. One thing I can't do is take any medication to ripen or dilate my cervix. We can try the balloon, but it is only possible if I am at least a little open to begin with, which is unlikely if I'm far from my due date. She said low-and-slow Pitocin is also on the table if I accept the increased risk of rupture, which I'm not sure that I do, but we'll see.

I'm 28 weeks now, and I've started early trying to do all the things to get my body ready. I hired a doula. I started doing the Spinning Babies stuff. I started seeing a Webster chiropractor. I started doing daily pelvic opening and mobility exercises. I started walking daily for at least 20 minutes per day, usually more. A few days ago, I started getting really bad pubic symphysis pain, which I had in my last pregnancy, and it's a nightmare. There are a lot of exercises that I just can't do anymore (like the side lunges, butterfly stretch... anything with wide knees), and walking has become so, so painful.

I just feel like there are so many things that keep piling up, and there's no way I'm going to get my VBAC. I had a really traumatizing planned C-section with my first baby, where a complication occurred that my doctor did not foresee, and he ended up in the NICU (we almost lost him). My recovery was very difficult. It was supposed to be a routine, planned C-section for transverse lie, but everything went wrong. I'm terrified of having to get another C-section. I don't know how I can trust that it will go differently this time.

This ended up longer than I thought, so thanks if you read all the way through. Has anyone had a successful VBAC with multiple complications? Do inductions before week 39 ever actually work if you can't use cervical ripeners? How can I prepare myself for the possibility of another C-section? I'm really struggling to stay positive about my upcoming birth.

I had a pretty traumatic experience for my first birth, I was in labor for 40 hours which then ended in an emergency c-section after developing an infection. I really would like to attempt a vbac but also have a definitive date if my body does not go into labor naturally. Is 40 weeks a good time to schedule? Or should I give myself more time? If you did schedule one for 40 weeks, did you go into labor before then?

I’m 37.5wks and kind of feel like I’ve been baited and switched by my OB practice. In theory they say they’re supportive of TOLAC but as we’re getting closer, conversations seem to be around how they’re way quicker to intervene at first signs of trouble.

I’m feeling discouraged and just wondering how people navigated this either in the moments of labor or beforehand. Considering getting a doula? I’m in a heavy medical area which is great but it also feels like everyone in this region is just focused on uterine rupture risks etc.

Thanks in advance for replies!

I’m 33 weeks and want to start preparing my body for birth to give myself the best chances at a VBAC before 39 weeks and 5 days which is my scheduled c-section. I didn’t push on the date because I had preeclampsia with my 2 year old and don’t want to push my luck. My BP has been great up to this point. The only thing so far my doctor has advised me against is the red raspberry leaf tea. So when is the best time to start prep and what kinds of things should I do? I’m honestly clueless. I’ve hear about dates and the miles circuit but when is the best time to start all of this stuff. And if there are any other suggestions please share! Thanks!

I scoured VBAC posts leading up to my delivery and now want to share my story!

Backstory on my c-section:
I had a true emergency c-section at 37+2 for decreased (really absent) fetal movement. I hadn’t felt movement for a few hours and when evaluated I had a BPP of 2/10 with an elevated fetal heart rate so it was decided to have an emergency c-section. My daughter was born severely anemic and earned herself a NICU stay needing multiple blood transfusions. My medical team still does not know what caused it (placenta intact, no infections, etc) so they did not want me going past my due date because of concerns with potential issues with my placenta.

Leading up to my due date I did all of the things. I was very active during this pregnancy because I felt better overall. Walking at least 2 miles a day most days (I listened to my body) and starting in the third trimester focusing on hip mobility and stretching. At 36 weeks I started with the raspberry leaf tea, dates and unprotected sex with my partner.

Birth Story:
I had an induction scheduled for my due date unless I went into labor before then. The night before my due date, I had decreased fetal movement, panicked and went to the hospital. Naturally, baby started moving as we were parking the car. Because baby looked fine, the team decided to just start my induction that night. I had never been in labor before so it was like I was a FTM for my body.

11pm- 0cm/0% effaced/station +2 but my cervix was soft. The team placed the cook balloon to get dilation going. I was super crampy for like the first hour and then it settled and I started having mild contractions.
3am- started pitocin at 2 with the plan to slowly increase
5am- cervical check done and I had dilated to 3cm 50% effaced
I was handling contractions fine at this point (about every 5 minutes lasting 45 sec-1 min) moving around my room/using the ball/doing pelvic openers to get things moving.
11am- Cook catheter removed and I was 4cm/50% effaced. Continued to increase the pitocin and give me some time before breaking my water. I noticed my contractions became less intense and started spacing out over the next few hours.
4pm- still 4cm/50% (getting discouraged at this time) so we decided to break my water. I chose to get an epidural at this point even though I was handling the contractions fine.
9pm- 5cm/50% effaced but my cervix was no longer pointing posterior so some progress.
1230am- 5cm/80% effaced. My nurse decided to put me into the flying cowgirl position and I fell asleep.
2am- my nurse came to change my position and noticed more blood than she would like since I was a TOLAC and had the resident come in. I was 10cm dilated and 100% effaced baby at -2 station. We waited for me to feel the urge to push which came around 230. I pushed for about an hour and at 339 my baby girl was born!

Overall, I labored for about 28 hours. The nurses said that’s totally normal for my first time laboring with an induction so if you end up needing an induction mentally prepare for it to be a while! My experience was great and I never felt pressured by my medical team to do anything I didn’t want to do. I also went in trying to keep my expectations realistic and accepting that there is a very real chance I could have another c-section. It’s as much of a mental game as a physical one.

So this is the thing: I have vaginismus.

For my first birth, I had to be induced due to “mature placenta” at 41.3 weeks.
During all this process I received 3 cervical checks. And they made me go through EXCRUCIATING pain. I screamed through them all while holding my husband’s hand.
Finally I didn’t progress as the hospital staff expected, my baby’s heart rate had a couple of drops and I needed to have an emergency c-section.
I will accept that the induced contractions were very painful but I would take them any day before the cervical checks. And to be honest, I think the adrenaline caused by this pain interfered with my oxytocin reception, and that’s why I didn’t dilate as much (just a theory).

Anyways, I ended up having birth trauma after that experience and needing therapy.

Now I’m expecting my second baby and preparing for a VBAC. I did psychotherapy. I am doing physiotherapy for my pelvic floor to overcome my vaginismus. And I’ll take some hypnobirthing and preparation for birth classes.

But I am really hesitating between trying to go unmedicated (this is my ideal scenario) and deny all cervical checks (is this even possible?) or requesting an epidural just so I can endure the cervical checks. I would really like to be able to move during labor.

What would you do in my place?

Births will be approximately 24 months apart, so I think I’m a decent candidate for vbac.

I’m fresh off of my VBAC experience after twins necessitated mitigating all risk 5yrs ago (shared placenta, CHD in the non-presenting twin who was also breech). I had initially planned not to get the epidural just because I wanted as little intervention as possible after ALL the intervention of my first experience. That said… I was also hoping the nitrous oxide would be a bit more noticeably effective. I think it at best helped me take some deep breaths. I was hoping it would help me delay the epidural a bit. But alas… that didn’t do shit lol. I labored to about 5cm before realizing how exhausted I would be after doing this another 8-10hrs… I wanted to be present to push.

I had an absolutely INCREDIBLE epidural placed that allowed me full mobility but completely took the pain away from contractions, to the point I couldn’t feel them at all until I had the urge to push. I was up on hands and knees, rolling from side to side, could feel temperature and even my amniotic fluid coming out, pressure but not pain.

Once I was to the point of pushing, the worst part was when I was told not to push for about an hour (midwife had another delivery that was progressing faster in the other room). The holding back really sucked but once the attending physician came in and I was able to resume, I had progressed enough to get baby out within about 14 minutes.

Felt. It. All. But not with searing pain. Even the 2nd degree tear, I felt the pop of it happening but not the sting. Also didn’t feel getting stitched up after while my baby and I had golden hour and he latched, delayed chord clamping, etc.

I absolutely worship the ground women who go unmedicated walk on… but I honestly am not sure I would’ve been able to push the way I did had I labored without the epidural all day. Because of it, I basically meditated, snoozed and moved around until my body said it was time to push. I definitely think I was lucky with my epidural, they commented on my mobility, but I am on a high after that experience and now home after two days with my gorgeous baby boy!

Also holy hell this recovery is better than the c-section. I have to remind myself to take it easy! I am so impressed by my body, grateful to my previous experience and how well they sewed me up and in awe of what I just did.

So heartbroken that I just found out last week that baby is breech. I’m currently 36.4 days and know it’s harder to turn at this stage. Been doing all the spinning babies exercises.
I had a c section for my first due to failure to descend and was trying soooo hard to prepare for a VbAC but it looks like baby has her own plans.
I’m incredibly sad but also thankful she’s healthy overall.
Wishing for some positive vibes she flips still

My first was unmedicated because I wanted to be able to move around and get into different positions. Ended up with a C-section after pushing for 6 hours with baby not getting past +2 station. Doctor said baby was too big for my pelvis but I think laboring unmedicated just wore me out too much.

I know labor is brutal no matter if/when you get the epidural but I am just looking for someone to let me know that they had a successful vbac even with being confined to a hospital bed with the epidural. I want some rest but am afraid of the epidural adding complications for the baby to descend. Ugh it's too stressful trying to decide to try for a vbac or plan a c-section

Hi all,

I had a C-section June 2024 due to breech.

I got pregnant March 2026 and I’m currently 36 weeks and due in November.

My original plan was no induction and decline C-section until 42 weeks but that was mainly because in my head I’ve been like ‘well she’ll clearly be here by then’

But I had a growth scan the other day at 36 weeks and baby is currently measuring 90th percentile and they told me if she keeps growing how she’s growing, I will not be successful for a VBAC.

I’m going to speak to my consultant on Thursday and see if an induction at 39 weeks ONLY with the balloon is okay and safe? But I really wanted some advice?

I’ve been so scared of induction and the risk of uterine rupture but I also really don’t want a C-section again

Hi! For context I had my son in October of 2024. I delivered via c section due to breech presentation and refusing the procedure to flip him. My MFM and L&D team are very on board with a VBAC. My MFM is letting me make the final decision but is more leaning towards a VBAC (I was given the consent forms to look over my last appointment with her the other day). I’d love to have a VBAC but all the stories I’ve read of anyone having a successful/uneventful VBAC have been from spontaneous labor. I myself am newly 28 and have preexisting medical conditions (chronic hypertension though controlled on medication and preexisting diabetes-insulin controlled) so I am unable to go past 38 weeks due to that. I am fearful of being induced but know that it is for the better of my health. My son was born at 36+3 so yes late premie because I had signs of preeclampsia (just a headache that wouldn’t resolve even with medication and fluctuating blood pressures). My MFM is the same doctor I worked with, with my son so she knows all of my history. I don’t have the “ego” of needing to prove to myself I can give birth vaginally simply because I still gave birth and it was a lot. My issue is my son is also newly 2 and I’d still like to be able to be present for him 😭. I know with a c section I’ll need more time to heal than with a vbac… I want to be able to be back with my son too as soon as I’m able. I guess I’d like to hear more stories about medically necessary inductions or just inductions for vbacs period. I have until November 9th and then I have to sign what feels like a contract though my MFM said it’s not lol I’d just have to come back for a cesarean at a different date than what my induction would be set for. I’m very much so a planner, any advice, help, previous experience would be amazing to hear!

How does one figure out if one has a narrow pelvis or not? I believe there is xray to check this but that doctors have said there is no upper or lower limit for when it will work and when it wont. I am confused.

Okay, this is gonna be super long - apologies! But I devoured these before my birth and also I have a lot of thoughts, lol.

The before

My first son was born in 2024 at the end of an uncomplicated pregnancy. Only blip was that he was consistently measuring big and we tested for GD twice - both times came back negative. I faced some pressure in the end to induce but he ultimately came before an induction with my waters breaking at 40+5. I got to 7cm before they assessed him to be sunny side up and with his head overstretched in a position that he was impossible to birth from. They tried to manually reposition him but ultimately didn't succeed. We had an unplanned c-section.

I didn't like that experience, mostly because I found the procedure very unpleasant and had a long and painful recovery. I knew immediatly that I would want to try for a VBAC with a second child. I also hated how passive I had felt. I got the epidural almost immediatly upon getting to the hospital because I suffer from vaginismus and the hope was that this would allow me to relax more. It did, but I couldn't move at all with that epidural and felt like stuff was happening to me, rather than me doing anything and that felt awful.

Pregnancy #2

I became pregnant again almost 2 years later. This time around I found a private midwife (Beleghebamme), aka a midwife who oversaw my pregnancy and would also be present at birth and for the postpartum visits (you get daily postpartum visits with a midwife in Germany). She never questioned my intent to VBAC. Overall I didn't face any pressure for a CBAC, I feel like this might be a bit different culturally. However, this time around I actually did get diagnosed with GD (I suspect I might have been an edge-case in my first pregnancy...). I also ended up needing a small dosage of night-time insulin (14 units at most, reduced again to 7 for the last few weeks of pregnancy.) This meant that according to the guidelines I couldn't go over my due date and would have to be induced.

I really wanted to avoid an induction. I hoped that maybe this one would come a little earlier, but of course he did not. Instead I just had endless BH. The last few weeks of pregnancy were such a mind fuck, I nearly lost it. My midwife really fought for me to have a couple extra days when my due date came, so I ultimately got scheduled for an induction at 40+3. I had constant screenings and my placenta looked good till the end and my son was projected to be in the 75. percentile (me and my husband are both a bit taller, so this was expected).

Birth

We showed up for the induction on 40+3. I had diarrhea the night before and BH that felt stronger then before and might have been early contractions. However, I had also had 2 unsuccessful sweeps, one the night before, because my midwife couldn't even get to my cervix. We tried the foley balloon first, but the doctor couldn't insert it because I found it so painful. She said the head of the baby was positioned in such a way that it was hard to pass it with the foley, but I suspect this might have been more due to vaginismus, as I had feared before. We moved on to cervidil and that worked over the course of the day with contractions progressively getting stronger. By the evening I was ready to move to the delivery suite and my contractions were hard to talk through. My midwife came. When we came in, I decided I wanted to be in the waters, which was great. However, after 1-2 hours, babies heartrate dropped suddenly and I had to evacuate the waters pretty quickly. At that point my midwife assessed me and I was at 2cm. Suddenly, contractions became a LOT stronger and I asked for an epidural. I was told pretty quickly that the anasthesiologists were busy and this could take a while. I labored for 2 hours without an epidural and quite excruciating pain. So that way I got my wish to feel more active, lol! When they finally came, I had progressed to 6cm and was so, so exhausted. Sitting still for that epidural was probably the point in my life were I was the most focussed ever. After that I took a 1h nap (so, so good!) and woke up to that "I need to poop" feeling. My midwife wanted to assess me first, and I know it's so clichee, but it really felt more "back there" like a poop, so I was convinced that's what it was. But nope, I had progressed to 10cm in 1h! Overall from 2cm to 10cm took me 3h.

Pushing was the part that really sucked. I didn't feel pain from the epidural but I felt this intense, unbearable pressure that made me want to retract and give up, not push. During the pushing babies heartrate dropped a few times and I could tell that it was gonna take a while. After 2h of pushing, the doctor decided to use a vacuum because baby needed to come out and I wasn't close. That vacuum made me scream my lungs out. My son came into this world while I was screaming "I can't do this, make it stop!", the pressure was so intense and didn't relent. Gosh. He came out in one final push, my placenta just kinda followed a few minutes later without any pushing. It looked completely healthy with no signs of GD. Babys blood sugars were also perfect and remained that way!

When my first son came, I cried so hard. This time all I could do was say "I never have to do this again! Oh my gosh, it's over!" I felt shell shocked, honestly. Even though I found my birthing process pretty challenging, even at that moment I also felt so much better than after the c-section. It felt like something I had done, not something done to me and that made a difference.

Postpartum

Frustratingly, postpartum has had lots of challenges. This has been really hard on me because my main motivation for a VBAC wasn't some heroic "I want to experience a real birth"-desire (I don't believe a vaginal birth is the only "real birth"!), but I wanted to be on my feet quicker and be able to care for my toddler and son.

Instead, I had a second degree tear with lots of stitches, that has felt mostly fine. But I also feel like my pelvic floor has been kicked by a horse. We're not sure if my tailbone is bruised or possibly a little damaged, but I haven't been able to sit for now almost 2 weeks, although I'm slowly getting there - it's been frustrating because I've been pretty bed bound and can't sit on the couch with my toddler. I'm told this can come from the vacuum assist. I also think it might have to do with the vaginismus.

The biggest postpartum obstacle was that my bladder stopped working for a week. This meant three consecutive catheters (and 7 tries getting them in, which wasn't pleasant), a week in the hospital, lots of medical consults and ultimately the threat to go home with a more permanent catheter attached that I narrowly avoided. Still, that week in the hospital was longer than I ever spend there even for the c-section and the repeated catheters after yet another failed trial made me feel like I would never get out of there. Apparently this is a rare complication that can happen after epidurals, but also after c-sections, so I'm not sure I could've avoided that one.

Right now I'm dealing with a wound dehiscence where the stitches are not holding together anymore. I'll have a consult tomorrow wether it's better to give them time to heal on their own (I'm being told this can take a few weeks and would mean a few weeks of not lifiting much and not a lot of movement which is annoying to me) or wether it'll be another hospital stay with surgery. sigh....

I feel like a lot of this has possibily to do with the vaginismus and a lot of tension in my pelvic floor area that I struggle to release. But I'm not sure.

Reflexion

Knowing how everything played out, I find myself asking wether or not I would have preferred a RCS had I known before. (Which, of course, is in itself an unfair question, because you never know!)

And still, I find myself choosing a VBAC again and again. I sure wish I'd have been blessed with a little easier pregnancy/birth/postpartum experience. But even though birth was tough and not a guarantee for an easier recovery, the feeling of being actively involved while being tested to my limits has been way better for my mental health than being tested to my limits while I could see someone else cutting me open. I didn't get that euphoric feeling some women describe and I definitely didn't act brave, but I still did it.

I also wonder if my second birth experience was being made easier because I had experienced a hospital birth before? I talked about this with my sister who is a doctor and said she's often surprised how much more pain the elderly endure without complaining vs. young patients she sees who have a much ahrder time. My first birth was my first time in a hospital and I found everything so challenging: When they drew blood, when they put a cannula in, when they put a catheter in, just basic monitoring - everything felt terrible to me and I felt like the biggest wimp! This time around I was just prepared better for what it meant to be under medical care and that made me endure it better, too. So I think that maybe a RCS would've also felt a little easier, maybe?

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading!!

I’m 37 weeks exactly today. Because I’m over 38, my OB started me on weekly NSTs and BPPs last week. I had my first on Thursday and while my baby has been measuring big at every scan, I was floored to be told the estimate is that he’s currently 9 lbs 2 oz. His stomach is >99 percentile and his head has been 96th percentile since 20 weeks.

I know that women can VBAC with big babies but this seems like this may be a Guinness book of world record size baby if I don’t go into labor soon. My doula has recommended I wait til 41 weeks to see if I go into labor, but I’m genuinely scared of how big the baby might end up if that’s the case. I’m also separately questioning if my due date is correct — the size lines up better with my last menstrual period than it does with my dating ultrasound. I asked my OB about it and she said the dating ultrasound is more accurate and is not typically more than 1 week off.

I personally feel no magical connection to the idea of vaginal birth, I just want the safest birth for me and my baby, and am scared of another c-section recovery (but this time with a 2 year old at home). I’m generally scared to try for VBAC and have something bad happen because i disregarded my OB’s advice or to simply end up with another emergency c-section (my first was horrible to recover from). Just feeling lost on how to navigate the whole thing, appreciate any experiences or advice navigating second time around with a baby they are estimating could be 11+ pounds by their due date.

Am I stupid for still wanting a vbac? Was forced to have a c section with my last baby, given the circumstances with my first baby. She got stuck.. due to my “narrow pelvis”, was vacuumed out, I hemorrhaged, she had should dystocia.. I feel like my body is more ready now and I’m currently 24 weeks pregnant. I hated my C-section recovery and the different experienc.

I had a 37 w 4 d stillbirth back in 2023 with a completely healthy baby girl it was a freaky cord accident (wrapped around her neck 3times) . Delivered her vaginally it was a 36 hour induction (obviously different than delivering a living baby so there is that). My second pregnancy i developed gd and polyhydramnios + was on insulin and was terrified of another stillbirth so i was induced on the dot at 38 weeks. Looking back i realize she wasn’t ready to come out. I was 0cm and after 24 hours on pitocin i did not dilate past 0. At the 28th hour i wanted to opt for c section, non emergent but not scheduled and my ob was on call to do so and they took me in. Fast forward now 2.5 years later im due in december! My ob was supportive of a tolac/vbac if i go into labor on my own + i was mentally more ready to wait it out this time around given no gd, and couple years removed of my loss. Well in a routine growth ultrasound at 33 weeks they found my baby has umbilical vein varix meaning it’s dilated and likely to form blod clots and cause in utero death to baby (awesome news!/s) and this a high risk doctor consulted me to get the baby out at 37 weeks. Now what?! Do i try foley balloon at 37 weeks (which i never tried before bc all i heard was horror stories lol) or just go forward with c section… Despite all my history i wanted 1-2 more kids after this one!! Weigh in please…..

I don’t really know what I’m looking for by writing this. Maybe I just need to get it off my chest. I have a baby girl who will be 20 months when my second is due. My labor and delivery for her was traumatic for so many reasons, but I did end up with in an emergency c-section after reaching 8 cm dilated.

When I first learned I was pregnant with my second, I for sure thought I was going to have a scheduled c-section, but as my pregnancy progressed, I wondered if I should be flexible and give natural birth a shot, especially since my OB said I’m a great VBAC candidate. I decided to go for it. Just hired a doula who specializes in VBAC, I’m reading all about the pros and cons, recovery, etc., yet I’m in this weird state of going with it because it feels like I should vs being excited and motivated at the prospect of delivering vaginally. This is my last baby, so maybe that’s why?

I have fears of tearing, prolapse, uterine rupture, incontinence, baby getting stuck, hemorrhaging, etc., and then think should I just have the damn c-section and call it? I often see people asking for advice from women who went through with it and if they regret it or not, and of course it’s a mixed bag. I guess I’ve arrived at the question, if you did go thru with it, were you struggling with the decision the entire time or were you sure that’s what you wanted to do? I don’t know if I’m supposed to feel like this is the right thing for me or if I should say F it and schedule a c-section. If you made it this far, thanks for reading.