subject: Straight Talk About VBAC: Vaginal Birth After C-Section [print this page] Straight Talk About VBAC: Vaginal Birth After C-Section
Physicians perform cesarean section (C-section) surgery more often than any other surgical procedure in the U.S. Obstetricians deliver one out of every three babies via C-section. If you have had a C-section previously, your OB/GYN physician may give you a choice with your next pregnancy vaginal birth after C-section (VBAC) or another cesarean delivery.
Why Wasn't I Offered This Option?
In the past, physicians rarely attempted VBAC deliveries, but advances in surgical technology and method has made VBAC possible for many women. Complications during pregnancy can make attempting a VBAC inadvisable. Further, due to lack of resources and the necessary equipment and technology for emergency C-sections, many hospitals and labor and delivery facilities do not offer the VBAC option. Ask your obstetrician about the possibility of VBAC for you and your baby.
Why Consider VBAC?
Fewer Complications
All major surgical procedures, including C-sections, pose some risk of infection at the surgical incision and dangerous levels of blood loss. If you avoid this surgery by opting for a VBAC delivery, you reduce the likelihood of these serious complications.
Return to Normal Activity Sooner
VBACs require a shorter hospital stay. By returning home quicker, you can return to pre-pregnancy activity levels sooner, which can help prevent post-partum depression and facilitate the loss of pregnancy weight gain.
True Birth Experience
A vaginal birth gives the mother a true birth experience where she can bond and breastfeed with her baby sooner, strengthening the mother-child bond immediately. Some studies show that the drugs given to the mother and techniques used during C-section procedures affect the baby as well, causing suckling problems. Breastfeeding offers a number of proven benefits to baby and mother as well.
Future Pregnancy Prognosis
For those planning a large family, repeat C-sections may make realizing this dream difficult. With each repeat cesarean delivery, complications progressively increase. On the other hand, with each repeat VBAC delivery, complexity of the procedure decreases.
Will My VBAC Be Successful?
When considering VBAC, you have the highest chance of success if you have had only one previous cesarean delivery and the physician used a low transverse uterine incision, you have a normal and uncomplicated pregnancy, and your labor begins on its own on or near the due date. If you have had one successful vaginal delivery, either before the cesarean or after, the chance for success is very high. Chances of success decrease if you have had more than one C-section, have a very large baby, are past your due date, or are very overweight.
Rarely used classical uterine incisions are the most likely to rupture during the strain of vaginal birth so if you are not a candidate for VBAC if you have a uterine scar of this type or if your uterus has ruptured during a previous pregnancy. Your obstetrician will not allow you to attempt a VBAC if you have any other health issues that may complicate vaginal delivery. VBACs are not possible for those who are pregnant with triplets or more, but may be possible with twins.
Making the VBAC Decision
When considering VBAC, learn all you can by talking to your OB/GYN and other mothers who have had success. Plan to have the baby at a delivery center or hospital with the necessary staff and equipment to accommodate any contingency that may arise, and allow labor to begin naturally. As with any pregnancy, eating healthily and engaging in physician-approved physical activity reduces the likelihood of complications and helps you regain strength and stamina after delivery. Finally, prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the possibility that you will need a cesarean section delivery anyway.
