Is Hospital The Best Place For My VBAC?
Your particular circumstances dictate whether you should have your vaginal birth after a c/s in hospital or home. Most pregnant women and the majority of expectant fathers will choose a hospital for a vbac. The primary reason is perceived 'safety' ... 'If something goes wrong then I'll already be in hospital'.
Curious that the phrase vbac ... vaginal birth after a Cesarean ... is being used. Actually, in order to get to the vaginal birth part you need to have labored first, gotten fully dilated, had your baby come down and through both your cervix and pelvis in order to get to your vagina. And then you have to open your vagina to let your baby out without too much delay.
Listen to this audio and learn more.
Please consider the following so that your VBAC is more likely to be successful:
- Prepare your pregnant body to become a birthing body. Many Cesareans are done because birthing women do not know how to 'open' their body to let their baby come down, through and out.
- Learn birthing skills and birth coaching skills. Most fathers-to-be are being asked to 'support' at birth rather than be a real help.
- Use your birth and coaching skills as soon as your pregnant body changes to being a birthing body. Do NOT wait until you have trouble coping with the natural occurring pain. You'll have wasted hours letting labor 'happen' to you rather than 'doing' it.
You also want to deeply understand these factors as well:
- You got pregnant to have a baby not a birth. Pregnancy is ALWAYS the time to become skilled birthing parents.
- Giving birth and being born is the activity you and your baby do together no matter how your baby is born. You and your partner can always work with your baby's efforts to be born.
- If you have a non-laboring cesarean delivery, no matter how disappointed ... totally enjoy learning the skills during pregnancy (just because you are pregnant) then use your birth and birth coaching skills on way to hospital, while being prepped and during surgery.
- If you labor and have an emergency Cesarean continue to use your skills while being prepped and during surgery.
- AND ... because the focus is on achieving a 'vaginal birth', there is absolutely NO focus on you being able to labor even if you or your baby needs a cesarean delivery. You can labor!
For whatever reason you choose a hospital birth for your VBAC, you and your partner absolutely should be skilled parents and commit to working with your baby's efforts to be born.
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