VBAC Tips from a VBA3C Mom aka Me
Hi! Today I want to talk about VBAC and I want to talk about some preparation tips for that.
I have a few tips that I will share what I practiced during my fourth pregnancy when I was planning my vaginal birth after three C-sections. , so let's jump right in. I really encourage people if they want to, to plan for a VBAC. If they've had a C-section and they want a different birth experience, of course, if you plan on having a scheduled C-section after for your next baby, then of course that's totally fine… that's your choice 100%.
But for me, there was no choice. I was going to have a VBAC no matter what anybody said to me. So I did a lot of preparation and I obviously got the outcome that I had planned for, I had a positive birth experience and it was very empowering.
Of course, it was not perfect, and if I could go back, I would do some things differently, but it was a better experience than I had before. I will take that all day long. So throughout my pregnancy, I took a very holistic, uh, approach to planning my pregnancy and my V A c. I also kept a very positive mindset throughout the entire process, even when I had a bunch of negativity thrown towards me.
So I just wanna share some of these tips with you. If you are planning a VBAC or you know, somebody who is planning one and they want some help in planning it. So first, in my opinion, is the most important, is to educate yourself because learning about VBAC and understanding the risks compared to the benefits, important.
It's an important step in preparing to be successful. I would say seek out resources and support from not only your medical practitioner but your family, especially your spouse. Take a childbirth education course, and I would highly suggest that you do not take one through the. I would say find a different course that is not through the hospital, and if you can find a VBAC-specific course, that would be even better.
I currently am working on a VBAC-specific birth education course. Um, but it's not ready yet. But I will let you know when it is, because I am going, I am pouring my heart and soul into this because I really want people to know that they have options. There's not one option. There are many options, and I'm not even telling you this to say that my option is the best for you.
This option was the best for me. It changed my whole perspective on birth, and on the hospital system. Like it changed so much and it brought me into doula work, which you know, I'm so grateful for because I feel like I've finally found my passion. I already knew I had like this passion for birth, but I didn't realize it was, it could be a job and I can make money off of it.
So for that, I'm super grateful for it. Another thing, uh, to look for is support groups. So I highly suggest like, go into Facebook, and join some VBAC support groups. I was a part of, I wanna say it was four different V B A C support groups. Um, and just like reading those stories of people having a successful VBAC really helped because I was like, oh my gosh, this person did it, so can I.
So that really helped me keep in that positive mindset and successful mindset. When I was preparing for this and I actually created a Facebook group for VBAC Moms of Modesto. So I created this because I want to be able to offer local resources, and if anybody is planning a VBAC in the Modesto, California area, obviously that's where I'm located.
So I want to be able to help if. Somebody would like some help with that. Um, so it hasn't gained traction yet cause it's brand, brand new, but I know eventually it will. And that will be a place where someone can reach out to me, we can message, we can talk about it. I mean, there are many different avenues you can reach me at, but that's just one of 'em.
And like I said, uh, another tip I would say is to focus on positivity. Uh, so this is like the umbrella of my second thing is my second tip is positivity because it can be so easy to get bogged down in negatives or worries about the process. When we're planning for this VBAC, people are always telling us all the negatives.
All the negatives surrounding VBAC, but they never really talk about the negatives of having a repeat C-section. So a lot of the reasoning that I hear and I heard personally is your uterus will rupture. Okay, yes, I get that. That's a concern. Of course, that is a real concern. But there are statistics out there, um, percentages for that actually happening.
And if you've had one C-section, the percentage of that happening is less than 1%. So. , that means you have over a 99% chance of that not happening. Now, the wrist does go up a little bit, uh, the more c-sections you've had. So I personally had three C-sections. Now, there's not a lot of solid research on this.
The, research is still coming. , but I, I wanna say it was like 2% or 3%. So even that, you know, after having three C-sections, that means I had a 97 or 98% chance of my uterus. Not rupturing. So I, that goes under the umbrella also of education, like educate yourself on the actual numbers of the statistics that your doctor, if they're giving you these percentages, um, look it up, like look it up, what is the actual numbers, um, that they're pulling from.
And you can even ask your doctor like, where are you getting this information from? So I can look it up myself and do my own research. Um, anyways, going back to positivity, that's one of the negatives that is brought up at each doctor's appointment or was for me anyway, so I really focused on staying positive and.
I think it's really important to focus on positivity because it can help you approach your v a with like a calm and confident mindset. I was so calm and so confident. By the time I was in labor, I was ready. I was, I was like, I'm gonna do this like, There is nothing that is going to stop me. I know the statistics.
I know that, you know, I have a very high chance of success, so I'm gonna do it. So one of the things, one of the tools that I would incorporate in a. Keeping that positive mindset is to practice daily affirmations, and that would be like, I can do this. My uterus is strong, my baby knows how to be born, or my baby knows how to navigate out of my pelvis, you know, whatever.
Whatever those affirmations are that resonate with you, what will help make you feel confident and do visualization exercises. So what I did is I would visualize what it would look like, what it would feel like, what it would smell like when I was giving birth. and it all came to permission. Like I . I literally would have dreams about me pulling Luke, which is my vback baby out of me.
I had those very vivid dreams of pulling him out. And guess what? That's exactly what happened. Like I reached down and I was able to pull him onto my chest. , um, also adding into some meditation. Add some meditation into your routine, um, because this can help keep that positive and focused mindset on your VBAC goal.
So daily, and I, I did these things daily because I had, you know, read and done all this research about how to achieve a goal. Especially when you're faced with negativity. So a lot of these things came up for me. So I literally practiced them daily so that they would almost come. to me as second nature.
So I wouldn't even think about it. It would just be part of my daily routine. Like, I would get up early before all the kids woke up, and I would do all these things before anybody woke up. So it was quiet, I could really focus on myself and honed into, you know, whatever I was practicing. So the third pillar or third umbrella, um, that I want to, you know, give you.
Partner support because having the support of your partner can be. so beneficial in preparing for your vback, I would highly encourage your partner to attend the childbirth education classes with you so that they know what to expect. Because, and I didn't do this, but I really wish that I did, uh, because as we got closer to my labor, Javi was like, well, what do you want me to do?
You know, it was like when I was in prod drama labor, so it was a couple of days before I actually gave birth. He. What do you want me to do? And I was like, I need you to do this. And I was thinking in my head, like at the time, like, why didn't I prepare him ahead of time so we could have had all this time to prepare together, but.
To me, I was like, I got this. I can do it by myself. I don't need any help. Which is ridiculous because, I mean, it was a great experience and he supported me 1000%, but I feel like, you know, he would've had a better heads up on how I wanted to support him exa, or how I wanted him to support me. Exactly. You know, incorporate your partners so they feel like they are part of this team, cuz you are a team and you know, so they're not like freaking out when things happen.
So they know how you want to be supported so they know what to expect. Such as, you know, when the baby comes out, there's. Could be blood. There's gonna be a lot of fluids. Uh, after you give birth to the baby, you have to birth the placenta. Um, you know, and show like pictures. Like, Hey, this is what it could look like.
Like watching birth videos together too. Um, I know I had shown hobby a few and he was like, whoa. But he's normally not very phased by stuff like that, So I was very confident in his supporting me, and I know he was on board with anything I decided. Uh, so also you could have your partner, you know if they can, if they're not working or if they can get off work to go to your doctor's appointments with you.
I think it, it's helpful to have like a second set of ears or eyes, uh, so you can see kind of what your provider is expecting of you. And so you can both know what your provider's intentions are or what they kind of are leaning towards for your birth. And you can, like, say your doctor is saying, Nope, I, I think you need a c-section.
then you're both on board and you're like, okay, we know that the provider is not supportive. . So this is how we're gonna plan for that because we know that the provider's not gonna be supportive. Um, and you guys can have a game plan ahead of time on how you're going to attack this issue or, you know, prepare for it so you have something to say.
If they say you need a c-section, now you can say, you know, have a plan of how you're going. Bond to that. Um, so I think that'll be very helpful. And also just, you know, so they can be an active participant in the planning of your birth process because you both created this life. So why not do it together, plan for the birth together.
So another pillar I would say. Consider is a doula. Um, now I'm not saying a doula is necessary, um, because I feel like, you know, your body knows how to give birth, so you really don't need anybody. But it can be extremely helpful. I know it was for us, uh, because, okay, so what a doula does if you are not, if you don't already know.
um, they can provide emotional and physical support throughout the entire process. You know, your pregnancy, birth, and immediate postpartum. So for us, our doula helped once I was in active labor and you know, we have three other kids, so Javi was kind of tending to the other kids, um, cuz you know, they had like school and everything and you don't know when birth is gonna happen.
So it's nice to have an extra person that you can call and they're specific for your birth, so they come when you need. . So when our doula came, Javi was able to focus on the kids, and then I was able to focus on laboring however I needed to, and I was still able to have that emotional and physical support, which was beautiful.
And they can help you, uh, kind of like stay focused or in your kind of primal brain because sometimes when you're in labor you start thinking about other things and they're, they, they can kind of nudge you in the direction of just, just let your body do what it needs to do. Don't worry about anything else.
Everything else is taken care of. Um, and also, you know, they can provide comfort measures during your labor. Of course, everybody knows about hip squeezes. Um, they can do massage, uh, pressure points. There are so many different things that they can do, suggest positional changes, um, because they are. Uh, not only trained but experienced in noticing the way your body is moving or reacting to certain things.
So, um, are certain positions so they can suggest alternatives. Um, so that is super helpful. Uh, and in certain instances they can be an advocate for your wishes during your, uh, labor and the birth and your immediate postpartum, but I would suggest you talk to your doula ahead of time because there's certain doula organizations that actually train their doulas not to advocate for their clients.
Um, and personally I don't think that's right. I think if you know. The client is up for their doula, advocating for them in certain instances, then I think that should be fine. You know, I think it should be like between that partnership because every, every client and doula relationship is going to be different.
So I think it's important to talk about that ahead of time. Also, uh, the next pillar I would go to. Practicing that self-care. And I feel like that almost goes under the umbrella of, um, educating yourself and focusing on positivity because those are all like self-care, mental and physical self-care. , but self-care is so important during any pregnancy.
Self-care is important, and I feel like it's in any pregnancy, it's important whether you're planning a VBAC or not. Even if you've never had a C-section and you're planning for a vaginal birth. Self-care is so important. I mean, you gotta prepare your mind and your body for this marathon. There's actually a statistic that says, labor and birth is like, oh gosh, I can't remember if they said it's like running five marathons or something like that.
I'll have to, I'll have to look it up and link it in the notes, the study, cuz it's intense. So we gotta train for it and make sure we're taking care of our bodies. We gotta really practice, um, and prioritize rest, nourishing our body. Amazing, delicious, full of vitamins and nutrient-dense foods.
Exercise can help support your physical and emotional health, uh, because if. If you don't feel good physically, that's just going to continue. Like, it's not gonna stop. So doing maybe like yoga, uh, I know I did yoga daily, um, to kind of make sure my, my body was like stretched out and, you know, I had some back pain.
Because we're supporting this big belly in front of us. So we gotta really take care of our body and one way we can do that is with yoga or you know, even weightlifting. I did weightlifting too. I did light weightlifting. It wasn't anything crazy. But doing that, uh, regularly, or even just walking, get out in nature.
Go take a walk. Obviously, you have one or more kids probably, so take your kids. It'll do you both. Some good, and I think there's so much more to it than just these five pillars. You have to just really focus on what you want to happen because what your mind believes, your body will follow. , and I think that rings true for anything in life.
But if you have that negative mindset, like if you're thinking, I'm gonna fail, like I can't do this, then your body actually doesn't differentiate between what is real and what is it, what isn't. So if your mind is thinking if you're thinking that in your mind, Your body's gonna think it's real. So your body's gonna be like, well, I can't do this.
I can't give birth. My mind's saying I can't. So that must be real. So really focus on that, keeping that positive mindset and really visualize, like, I cannot stress the importance of that. Visualize what you want your birth to look like, smell like, and feel like. So I want you to remember a positive mindset and a holistic approach can of course go a long way in helping you prepare for a successful VBAC.
And with the right preparation, support, and mindset, you can feel so confident and empowered as you work towards your goal of having this vaginal birth after a C-section. So I hope that's helpful for you because those are a lot of the things that I did to prepare. There's a lot more, but I'll kind of dig a little deeper in that when I, um, share my VBAC story.
So I'm gonna share my VBAC story from start to finish in a future episode and I'll kind of dive a little deeper into the things that I did, cuz those are things that I did daily, but there are also things that I did weekly and sometimes multiple things daily. So I will talk about that in the future. Uh, in the meantime, I wanted to share something that I'm working on.
So I have been working on, I do already have this freebie, and it's called Fearless Successful v. It's kind of like a little like workbook and it's like where you write down your fears, how you'd visualize your birth. Um, yeah, so it's like a little workbook. So I have that and I'll link it below if you're interested.
But I'm also working on a, well, a couple of bigger projects. So the first project is like an ebook. that I've been putting together. And what this e-book is gonna have in it is how to prepare for your VBAC. And it's gonna have VBAC success stories in it. It's gonna have so many good, like tidbits in it. It also has like some workbook-type exercises in there.
But um, I'm also gonna include a meditation or two. Yeah. So I'm really excited about that. It's going to be released really soon and I will let you know on here when it is and some other, well, another big project that I'm working on is my V A C birth education course. Oh my God, I'm so excited about this.
I have been thinking about making this since. Gosh, since I, before I was even pregnant and planning for a VBA C because I just feel like this is so important for everybody to know, uh, and I want to kind of teach it in a way that I wasn't taught it in a way that resonated better with me. and I feel like there's so much more to it than the general birth education part of it.
And honestly, the way I wanna structure my course is the way that I feel like everybody should plan for their, for their birth, because, Birth is a process. Birth is one of the hugest milestones that you will ever hit. And even if you have multiple kids, no birth is gonna be the same. No pregnancy and no birth.
They will be different, wildly different. So, Anyways. Those are a few things that I have coming up that I just wanted to kind of share with you, so thank you so much for listening today. I really hope that this helps, and if you feel like this helped you or you might know somebody that this might help, please feel free to share it with them because I want to revolutionize the world.
I can't wait to see you here next week! Bye!
