VBAC or CBAC

[junglewonderland]

Thanks for all your replies. I can't reply at length right now as the puppy is meant to be napping but isn't!
FT, though, I agree, it's the fear of the unknown that's part of my problem.

The main thing here is that actually, it is possibly the other way around to what you might expect, JW, it's actually VBAC pushed on you unless you fight for c-section. It feels as if fighting for a c-section is weird.

I'll be back!

Wow, that's different!

[Spanner]

I am having to make a similar decision between vba2c or a third section. Initially I feltquite strongly that I wanted a vba2c and read up in it as I thought the hospital would not be in favour. As it happens my consultant is fine with it and has spent lots of time talking through the pros and cons, she is really excellent imo, informative but not pressurising at all. Can you talk to a doctor in a similar way? My fear is that the vbac might fail again and a planned section is lower risk than an emergency one, especially as mine might be slightly complicated by having 2 sections previously. I don't have to decide till 34 weeks though and can always change my mind. The only definite is that they won't induce me so I will have a section date for around 41 to 42 weeks in case labour doesn't start..

Last time around, I agree they were quite pro vbac as I was otherwise low risk (first section also due to breech).

[issi]

For my monitored birth I did the bulk of my labouring upright, leaning against the bed. I didn't do much walking around (just back and forth to the bathroom), but I didn't feel like it at all anyways. Not trying to argue or anything, of course you need to do what feels right to you, just saying it doesn't have to be negative any more than a c-section has to be negative, you know?

Same here - I was monitored with O but laboured entirely upright, free to pace, and gave birth standing. I don't have any experience of c-sections but I wanted to add my experience that monitoring doesn't always lead to intervention or ridiculous birthing positions (although I gave birth to Snarfy on my back and it was fine! )

[FestiveTidings]

I was monitored too, but they couldn't get a proper fix on Roo so I had to be monitored internally with a sensor on his head and wired up to a machine. I was confined to the hospital bed as the wires weren't long enough for me to move. So I basically spent 6 hours contracting curled up in a little ball on the bed until they decided roo was in distress and whipped him out.

I didn't have a very good experience first time round and I am frightened that it will go wrong again, hence the appeal of an elective section.

Having had my watery birth plan thwarted once, I'm a bit concerned about it happening again!

[Rosie_t_Riveter]

I totally agree with KateWhateverTheRestIs that you need to be happy with the birth you choose. One of the brilliant things about the NHS (IMHO) is that they support women whatever their choices. For example, I chose a homebirth and my colleague chose a CBAC. We both felt 100% supported by the healthcare teams caring for us, which is exactly how it should be.

It sounds like you're worried about the levels of monitoring you would have, go in to speak to the HCPs with a list of your concerns and see what they say. If you're not happy then you can go for an elective CBAC and you can also have a list of points at which you would like to decide whether you want a VBAC or CBAC. My NCT teacher was very keen on waiting for labour to start normally even if a C-Section is required. Something about the baby having "warning" that something is happening, so that might be worth investigating too. Would that be an elective "emergency" CBAC?!

Anyway, I'm waffling now so I'll shut up, good luck with your decision making!

[RJandA]

I'm back!

My experience was a long labour which ended in an emergency C-section for Big A and a VBAC for Li'l A. The experience of Li'l A's birth was overwhelminginly more positive than Big A's but there was a lot mixed up in there so it's impossible to say how much of that was because of the vaginal birth v C-section - it was a different hospital, second child, Big A was turned back to side with her head up, Li'l A was in a better position, etc etc.

For me, as someone else said, I always knew I wanted to try for a VBAC, but I also tried to weigh the pros and cons objectively (realising that this was impossible!). For me the key factors were that with a VBAC:

It was likely the stay in hospital would be shorter - so I could be back home with Big A sooner
I would be more mobile afterwards and recovery time was shorter - this ended up being huge as I was able to kneel on the floor and get down to Big A's level as soon as I got home, after I had Big A I couldn't even get up from the sofa without someone helping me.
Breastfeeding is super important to me - with Big A the beginning of our bfing relationship was very difficult in part because it took so long for me to get out of theatre and get her to the breast. I hoped a VBAC would mean this was easier with Li'l A, and it was.
If we wanted more children then preganancy after 2 C-sections is more risky than after 1 C-section and a VBAC

My worst scenario would have been days of labour ending in an emergency CBAC, and obviously you take that risk if you go for a VBAC.

I have heard others speak very highly of a planned CBAC - one friend told me that she loved the feeling of walking into theatre, knowing that her parents were already at home with her older child, meals prepared in the freezer, no rushing to the hospital in the middle of the night etc etc. She felt very in control of the situation. But in the end, although Li'l A's birth was certainly not textbook or what I had expected, I do feel that Li'l A's birth was something that I did, and Big A's was something that happened to me, so for me the feelings of control are the other way round. Big A was an emergency C-section though, a planned one might be very different.

One thing I hadn't anticipated as I'm generally not a highly emotional person was the huge overwhelming feeling that I got at the moment when Li'l A was actually born. It still makes me cry a little bit when I think about it now, and I'm so glad that I had the chance to experience that. That's not to say that someone couldn't feel that with a Caesarian, just that I didn't feel it in the same way as I did with a vaginal birth.

Final thing - my hospital said that they wouldn't induce with drugs if I went overdue but that I would be offered a balloon catheter to start dilation so that they could break my waters to try to induce labour. If you're offered this then make sure you understand it properly! I googled it and the forums are full of terrified ladies who have the impression that the balloon sits halfway inside and halfway outside the uterus, physically forcing the cervix open as it inflates. This isn't it. The balloon is inside the uterus and sits against the cervix, putting pressure on it in the same way the baby's head would as it starts to bear down. There is a small balloon outside the cervix which just holds it in place. I'm not saying this process is painless but it's not as terrifiying as having your cervix winched open.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=foley ... B884%3B649

[Lily]

For my monitored birth I did the bulk of my labouring upright, leaning against the bed. I didn't do much walking around (just back and forth to the bathroom), but I didn't feel like it at all anyways. Not trying to argue or anything, of course you need to do what feels right to you, just saying it doesn't have to be negative any more than a c-section has to be negative, you know?

Same here - I was monitored with O but laboured entirely upright, free to pace, and gave birth standing. I don't have any experience of c-sections but I wanted to add my experience that monitoring doesn't always lead to intervention or ridiculous birthing positions (although I gave birth to Snarfy on my back and it was fine! )

This. I was monitored for the last 14 hours or so (due to my waters having broken about 28 hours before the birth), and I stayed upright and paced through every contraction right up until the last few hours. I was too drained to stay standing while I pushed, and Izbiz needed help turning right at the end to get his shoulders out, but if that hadn't been the case then I'd have been totally free to stand up and move around throughout.

[mamapup]

Life is super hectic right now but will be back to digest and think. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and for sharing personal experiences.