Is VBAC the right option for you? How to decide if you should plan a vaginal birth after cesarean!

Welcome to episode 3 of TheVBACPodcast! In this episode, we will discuss how to discern if VBAC is the right decision for you. We will explore things like who is a good candidate for VBAC, the benefits and risks of VBAC, and your own emotions toward VBAC versus Repeat Cesarean. The VBAC Podcast is here to inform and inspire mothers to reframe fear and reclaim power as they prepare for a confident and positive Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.

Please note this transcript was completed with AI, and therefore may have some spelling and grammatical errors. I've done my best to clean it up so you can read it easily, but if there are still some imperfections in the transcription, I want to apologize ahead of time!

You're listening to the vbac with confidence podcast. I'm Jaimie Zaki, your host. I am a nurse, Doula, International board certified Lactation consultant, mom of four and three time VBAC Mama.

If you are ready to overcome Fear And Take Back Control of your planned VBAC, then you're in the right place. Join me as we share inspiring VBAC stories, Learn how to overcome fear and deep dive on common questions about VBAC.

This is a disclaimer that any of the information, experiences, opinions and stories told on this podcast are with the intention of inspiring, educating, and informing parents. This information is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical conditions. If you have questions, you must consult your provider. Jaimie Zaki does not accept liability for any decisions that you make after listening to this podcast.

Today's episode is brought to you by the VBAC with Confidence Complete Birth Preparation Program, an on-demand course that helps you connect with your inner womanly intuition, strengthen your ability to advocate for yourself and learn the power and surrender. Use code MamaBear2022 to save on enrollment.

Welcome to this week's episode of the vbac podcast. Today. We are going to talk about is vbac, a good option for you. There's a lot of women that I meet who really, really, really want to have a vbac. They are told that it's not a good option for them. So today we're going to talk about whether or not you are dreams of a vbac, can become reality.

So, first we going to talk about VBAC candidacy, The benefits and risks of a vbac, and how to create a supportive team and what a supportive Team looks like.

So some of the reasons that women want to VBAC have to do with, you know, they had a traumatic C-section experience, but don't want to experience that Again. The recovery was harder for them. They want to have more children. So they want to avoid the risks associated with a repeat cesarean. The reasons. The list goes on and on. Sometimes it's the simple fact that as a woman, you feel a strong desire to connect with the women Before You, by pushing out a baby through your vagina. And that's a perfectly okay Reason for wanting to have a vbac. Some people will tell you that not a good enough reason but it's a good enough reason. So I want you to think about what your reasons for considering VBAC are and if you have some concerns and reasons why you're thinking, well, maybe that's not a good option for me.

I want you to think about those two and I want you to decide if you're going to allow fear to control your decision-making. And if you do allow fear to control your decision-making, I want you to acknowledge that and make sure you're not lying to yourself about your body's ability or inability to give birth.

Who is a good candidate for a vbac?

This is you know, one of those questions that I think there's a lot of Science and data and there's protocols, but then there's women who break those rules every day and have a vbac against the odds as the worst candidate ever. So I'm going to tell you, the quote, correct answer, and I'm going to tell you my answer. Most Obstetricians will tell you that a good vbac candidate is. Somebody who has had one previous cesarean with a low transverse incision, on the uterus who has also ideally had a previous vaginal delivery. That is the gold standard for a vbac know. If you haven't had a previous vaginal delivery because your C-section was your first baby. That doesn't mean that you can't have a vbac. They just love it When you have what they call a proven pelvis, so a lot of providers will also say that they want you to have had your C-section for a reason that will not repeat itself in this pregnancy. So things like placenta previa, breech presentation, kind of things like that. Those that you have course, you can have a vbac if that if that situation doesn't come up again. Of course, you can have a VBAC but they start to get a little squirrely. When we talk about things, like what they call failure to progress or failure to descend, and those are terms that you probably know I don't love so much, but are those really reasons not to plan a vbac next time?

If you understand why you quote, failed to progress, You might realize it's not guaranteed to happen in your next pregnancy. Typically, the reason you failed to progress is probably because you were stuck in a fear cycle. We talk more about fear Cycles inside my free VBAC class that you can get instant access to now.

But, would you understand? Is that a fear cycle can actually cause you not to dilate? And that can be a direct result of many, many, many different things, but your provider can be one of those things. If your provider doesn't understand how he recycles work, they might say that you failed to progress when really, you just failed to get into a safety cycle. To be patient and wait for you to dilate. They failed to be really supportive. You'll hear doctors using things like vbac calculator to determine whether or not you're a good candidate for be back. And if your doctor tries to tell you, you're not a good candidate for vbac based off your vbac calculator , Want you to run don't walk run to a new provider because of you back calculators are not evidence-based.

Now, I told you I was going to give you my controversial answer for vbac candidacy. And when a mom asks me, can I have a vbac if I have this kind of Scar or this many C-sections? My answer is yes, but. now of course, I don't decide what they can and cannot do right, but I tell them Yeah, it's possible. But you have to understand there's a higher risk set, but you have to understand, it can be hard to find a supportive provider. But there are women that have done it and we'll do it again and I often wonder if the data we have surrounding these. Red flags for vbac, be things that say. Oh no, you can't have a vbac because you have this kind of Scar or you had this many C-sections. I wonder if one day that data will all be obsolete in the same way. We used to be told that you couldn't ever entertain the thought of a vaginal birth after c-section, once a cesarean, always a cesarean was the belief, just a few decades ago. And now we're learning. Thanks to the Renegades. Renegade, Mama's Renegade providers. We're learning that vbac can be a safe option. So I'm wondering if as moms keep demanding that our support, keep insisting on breaking the rules, if we'll get more data and more evidence to start supporting these kinds of ... like.... These kind of canceled births in the future, see if we will get more. What's the word? If I just I really think the tides are going to change and some of these special scars and multiple C-sections are going to become more supported. The more we demand it. It'll be interesting to watch over the next few years.

So let's talk about the benefits and risks of a vbac,

the benefits of a vbac.

Obviously, all the benefits that come with vaginal birth. Usually an easier recovery, your baby passes through the birth canal. They get that squeezed that results in left breathing complications postpartum, or I guess it's not postpartum for them. But you know and those first few minutes of Life, they get exposed to your bacteria, which creates a stronger microbiome for them, which impacts their health like long-term lifelong. They can have that experience of the breast crawl. They get that immediate physiological, postpartum experience with you, but it's so important for both of your hormones, both of your Foundation the rewiring of your brain in the wiring of their brain. Course. Compared to repeat C-section. A successful vbac, is associated with lower risk of hemorrhaging, lower risk of infection, lower risk of hysterectomy lower risk of maternal death. There are so many benefits to be back.

That being said, there are risks as well.

There is a risk of uterine rupture, but we know that risk is relatively low and uterine rupture is not unique to be back. Mom. It can be a risk. If you plan a repeat C-section, it can still be a risk. If you've never had a cesarean in your life. Another risk that we have to consider. Is that a vbac or shall I say it's hallac. I don't like that term but a trial of labor after cesarean that does not end in be back, but in another repeat C-section. Is considered more dangerous than a planned repeat C-section. These cesareans are associated with higher risks of how much a higher risk of hysterectomy higher risks of complications for both mom. And baby.

I think that is something that's important to realize, but I also think it's important to understand that the majority of the should be successful vbac if you have the right provider, There are studies that show that with the correct kind of support. A truly supportive provider, vbac success rates should, and could be up to 90% in a low-risk population with a supportive team. You should be able to have a vbac. So, I guess the question, really just comes down to what risks are you comfortable, accepting? And is your team supportive? If your team isn't supportive, that doesn't mean you shouldn't choose to VBAC, It means you need to get a better team.

Now, that's not always an option. So, that means you have to learn how to advocate for yourself. You have to learn how to fight for the birth you want, and I don't like that for you, but I'm here to support you through it. Know why might a mom decided she doesn't want to VBAC? Aside from all of the statistical reason, the most common reason that I hear mothers sharing, they chose a repeat C-section. Is not what you think? It's not their likelihood of achieving VBAC. It's fear. It's their fears of experiencing another emergency C-section, and it's their providers fears. Their providers in ability to support VBAC.

Now, that's okay. It's okay to choose a repeat C-section because you don't want to experience an emergency C-section ever again. That's okay. And if that's your choice, I support that. Like I said at the beginning of the episode though. I really want you to make sure you are not making your decisions from a place of fear. But rather a place of information and intuition and if your intuition tells you that you will end up in another repeat C-section and that you will be traumatized from that. Then it's okay to just plan a C-section. You feel have more control. I just want you to understand also that the perception of control with a repeat C-section, is that is just that perception. It is not real. There is no such thing as having control over any birth experience. There are certain aspects of our birth that we can control, but at the end of the day, we can control nothing. So I urge you not to choose a repeat C-section, because you'll have more control because that just isn't necessarily true. However, if you feel that in order to have a healing birth, a repeat C-section with less stress and drama will be less, trauma and support that. I just urge you. How to make the best decision for you and your family and to not let your provider's fears, your provider's inability to support be back or your provider's biases of any kind. Stop. You from having the birth you really want, don't choose a repeat C-section just because people are telling you that's the best thing to do. Thank you for joining me on this week's episode of the vbac podcast. If you liked what you heard, please remember to leave a review and let other Mama's know it's worth a listen. If you have questions, you'd like me to feature in my upcoming Q&A episode Click the show notes to submit your questions. And if you haven't checked it out yet Grab instant access to my free, combating fear during VBAC class. I hope to see you next week, when we will be talking about the three. Common lies about vbac!