The VBAC Monologues

C-sections have been trending up at alarming rates, despite the risks associated with surgery, not to mention the pain of recovery! Here one local mom shares why she fought the trend, what she learned along the way, and the moment that made it all worthwhile.

The VBAC Monologues

By Coppelia Acevedo
Photo by Celestial Meeker (Celestial Photography) 

I was pregnant for ten months and loved it! My son was born 3 days before week 42. Do the math, and that’s 10½ months, actually. I still loved it! Even the queasy, exhausted, ready-to-pop days were okay because I was having a baby. Then I had an emergency C-section, and my excitement turned to pain.

Sitting up in bed hurt. Walking hurt. Getting in the car hurt. So did laughing and even breathing. My C-section recovery took weeks. Meanwhile, my friends who had vaginal deliveries popped their babies out and went shopping. Ok, maybe they didn’t go shopping, but they went on with their lives while I went on waiting. It took me quite a bit of time to heal, physically and emotionally.

If we had another baby, I knew I’d want a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean). I just didn’t know how hard it would be to find a doctor willing to do one! For at least nine months it seemed all my family or friends heard from me was the VBAC monologues.

I consulted doctors and nurses, midwives, childbirth educators, and doulas, gathering information and advice. I wanted a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, but I also wanted to do as much as I could to have that VBAC.

Why such determination to avoid another C-section? Cesarean births, or C-sections, are major surgery, and that means many risks for both mom and baby. And C-sections have been on the rise at alarming rates, in part because “once a C-section, always a C-section” was the rule for so long. But just months ago, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued new guidelines advising doctors to reduce Cesarean birth rates. I was way ahead of them.

 
The Repeat C-section Doctor

After my first doctor said I could “maybe” have a VBAC, a close friend recommended her OBGYN, so I decided to switch. I was halfway through my second pregnancy when this doctor recommended a scheduled C-section. I was healthy, the baby was healthy, and there were no complications. I really wanted a VBAC, so I pursued yet another opinion.

The VBAC Doctor

An OBGYN group in Elk Grove, Health Care for Women, reportedly has an 80% VBAC success rate. I heard about them through a local support group for moms who have had C-sections (ICAN-online.com). After my initial visit, the doctor confirmed that I was a great candidate for a VBAC. They welcomed my questions and even offered a VBAC class for parents who wanted more information.

What’s Wrong with C-section Rates 

In September 2010 California Watch offered the first independent analysis of Cesarean births at 253 California hospitals. It found that C-sections typically net twice the revenue as natural deliveries, and that women are 17 percent more likely to receive C-sections at for-profit hospitals than at non-profit hospitals. The report also indicates some hospitals favor C-sections for non-medical reasons, including convenience for doctors and hospital staff.

I wanted more information. I read every book and watched every documentary I could find. This led me to consider midwifery, birthing centers and homebirths.

“The OB is not your only option,” says Ruth Cummings, Director of The Birth Center in Sacramento, who urges women to “think outside the box” and really educate themselves about prenatal care and birth. “Some people spend more time researching a new car or vacation than they do a life-changing event like birth,” says Cummings.

Cummings also told me this: “If you can meet the challenge of birth, you can meet the challenges of motherhood.”

The Nurse

I was up for the challenge and continued my research. A labor and delivery nurse at a Roseville hospital very candidly confided, “I rarely care for a mom who has given birth with no medications, but when I do, I see an exhilarated, proud mother, immediately bonding with and caring for her infant.”

The Doula

It was hard for me to imagine being that exhilarated proud mother, immediately bonding with and caring for my infant after a painful C-section recovery. A doula (a trained labor support person) helped me see otherwise.

Cara O’Shea, a certified doula through DONA International, says, “Many people mistakenly believe that doulas only attend drug-free births. One of the most incredible moments of my life took place when I was a doula for a mother during a C-section birth. With a doula’s support, a mom doesn’t have to feel powerless and frightened. A mom who has a C-section is still giving birth. It is important for the mom to have a positive memory of the birth and not to feel as though birth was ‘done to her.’”

The birth of a child can be a very emotional experience. A negative one can spill into other areas of our lives, making us feel fearful, insecure, or inadequate, like we have failed somehow. It’s important to work through these issues, especially leading up to a subsequent birth.

I figured I could work through my own issues, thank you very much. However, my husband and, surprisingly, my childbirth education teacher saw right through my façade.

The Childbirth Teacher

In Sacramento you can take hospital-standard classes, Lamaze, Hypnobirthing, Birthing from Within, or try birthing by numbers (1, 2, PUSH!). I checked out the Bradley Method after a friend recommended it highly.

The classes are small by design. This enabled Alicia Cukjati, owner of Fit4Birth and a certified Bradley Method instructor, to tailor the class for my hubby and me. Alicia not only helped us prepare specifically for a VBAC, but she and my hubby spent extra time helping me let go of the fear of another painful post-partum experience.

Part of preparing for a vaginal birth after a Cesarean is avoiding an unnecessary Cesarean. In some situations, of course, a Cesarean can save the life of the mom or the baby, and it’s wonderful to have that medical technology readily available! But during our Bradley class, Alicia confirmed what I already knew: About one in three women give birth by Cesarean section, but with proper nutrition, prenatal care and birthing classes, expectant moms can avoid surgery.

My husband, family, friends—plus random strangers who may have heard my passionate conversations in public—survived 10 months of hearing my VBAC monologues. I got my VBAC, but I also got to see my previous C-section in a different light.

Was the VBAC all I expected? Let me put it this way: after almost 24 hours in labor, the moment a nurse put a blanket on my chest and gently gave me my daughter, all the monologue-ing turned into silent awe. The recovery was easier than I had hoped for! I could've even gone shopping right after the birth. But I chose to go home and enjoy the gift given to my husband, son and me: our beautiful baby girl.

Coppelia Acevedo lives in Rocklin with her husband and two children. She is a radio personality on Air 1 Radio, with over 1 million listeners in 40 states.