Hi all, 

Ok so with my first midwife appointment booked I'm thinking about my options!

With my daughter I had to have an emergency caesarean under general anaesthetic becuse she became very distressed, now obviously I do not want to repeat that birth second time around!

My dream would be to try and give birth naturally this time rather than have an elective caesarean! 

So any ladies here had a successful VBAC? If so, please can you share your experience? Any complications? Were you closely monitored? The last thing I want is a monitor strapped to me the whole labour! I had to have that with my daughter and I literally had to stay on the bed the whole time :( want to avoid that at all costs! 

thanks x

Hi, I had a vbac almost 8 weeks ago, was a very straight forward birth, fairly quick too and although I had monitors on I was able to remain upright and mobile the entire time. It was so much better and less clinical than I had feared. My birth story is on here, will try to search for you...

Thanks for that BG! That's lovely to hear, exactly what I would want! I'm happy to be monitored I just don't want to be stuck on the bed, so as long as I canbe mobile I will be happy! Cos my daughters heart rate kept dipping they told me I wasn't allowed to move so they could get an accurate reading, the student midwife actually kept pushing the monitor harder on my stomach... She got a telling off from me I can tell you!! Would love to see your birth story! :)

mumdrum.com/.../12995.aspx

Link to my birth story.

I had an emergency CS under GA with my first. I tied myself up in knots over what to do when pregnant with P and decided to go for VBAC. I struggled to come to terms with G's birth and knew i would always regret not trying.

Went into labour naturally but got stuck at 6cm. Had my waters broken but didnt progress. Had an epidural put in so i knew whatever happened i would be awake. After 7 hours at 6cm we had a very calm chat with the midwife to discuss our options. Either hormone drip which hadnt worked for G's birth or CS. We decided to go for CS as i didnt want hours and hours on the drip to end up with a CS anyway. It was a wonderful experience. I saw P arrive, had immediate skin to skin, was breastfeeding within 5 mins of her being born, heard her first cry, H helped weigh her and we had cuddles while they stitched me up and whilst i was in recovery. It was amazing.

When i was in labour i had to be constantly monitored but didnt get on the bed at all till the epidural went in. I just had very long leads so i could walk about as normal. Some hospitals now have wireless monitoring so you can even get in the pool x

Oh and my birth story is in Real Stories too for more gory details! X

Thanks MM! I'm glad it was a lovely experience for you! I'm thinking at the moment I will try for a VBAC but ultimately my main concern is that I DO NOT want to be under GA again I need to be awake!! I do not want to miss the birth even if that means a CS in the end!  I will take a look at your birth story !

Thanks for the link BG !

I'm another who had a crash section under GA first time around.  I was really torn over what to do, my consultant was very open to going with whatever I wanted but in the end I sort of decided on an elective section.  I was so ill during pregnancy and it was getting harder and harder (I am on my own during the week as MrJB works away) and I just couldn't go on any longer.  As it turns out when I went in for the pre-op the day before the section Orla was transverse and I was admitted there and then.  It is highly unlikely I would have gone in to labour.  

The key thing for me was being awake when she was born.  The planned section was very very different to the crash section.  I felt as though i was part of her birth and my recovery afterwards was great, despite needing a stay on the HDU and a blood transfusion due to complications during surgery for me, I still felt fabulous.  Made me realise how bad it was last time.

Yep that was my number one thing too - not to be under GA so i had the epidural put in when things slowed down. Even if things had gone to plan i was going to have the epidural put in at 8cm so i knew i definitely wouldnt need a GA x

I had a VBAC 2.5yrs ago. AMAZING experience (after my first being an emergency CS at 27 weeks). I didn't want one, I wanted a CS, as that is what I knew. SO glad my consultant pushed me to go for natural delivery.

I was monitored, but allowed to be mobile for most of the time. It was very quick, and having him delivered on to me, rather than whisked straight away was awesome. Will never forget that feeling.

I didn't need any stitches (despite him being born quickly, and being a big boy, at 9lb 9oz)

I recommend a VBAC to anyone over a CS. He was born at 9.04am, and we were home around 6 hours later.

Thank you ladies x