Natural pain relief available during VBAC??

Attempting vbac approx 23months after DD was born via csect at 34weeks gestation. Will I be confined to my back on a bed for my VBAC (I was told I'd need constant monitoring of baby for this delivery) because I am hoping to go drug free and I know my chances of success are slim if I can't use things like birthing ball, walking or changing positions, taking a bath, giving birth on all fours, etc)... In case of uterine rupture do I need to be hooked up to an IV and the fetal monitor belts at all times and if so- how mobile will I be?
Thanks!!

You can refuse anything :) Do your research and decide what you're comfortable with. My hospital for my VBAC had all of those 'policies', however I just refused. I had no cannula, intermittent monitoring with a doppler, no internals, and no time limits.

If intermittent monitoring is possible I'd recommend a tens machine. I birthed DD with just that and a dose of panadeine a fewhours before.

I used the tens machine for both of mine it's great

Can you get a doula or something to help support you In your decisions? I know I'm very string willed normally but once I'm in labour I tend to let the drs boss me around so I really need someone to help me stand my ground

Even with CFM, you don't have to be on your back, or on the bed. You can sit up, walk (short distances if you don't have a mobile unit), squat, bounce on a birth ball, lean on a partner, lean on the bed...

I would ask your providers for evidence of why CFM is necessary, because my understanding is that it doesn't improve outcome for mum or baby.

Are you able to have a doula, private midwife or other strong woman to support you during labour?

If you have a uterine rupture, i think you will be heading to surgery, so the belts etc won't be a priority.

The chance of a rupture is quite slim, however being on constant monitoring and strapped to a bed is the highest chance of ending up with a repeat c-section.

Ask for intermittent monitoring with a doppler instead of constant monitoring. Most things are negotiable in some way, especially if you take research to back you up - hospitals err on the side of caution to cover their own backsides, regardless of whether it is helpful in actually getting a successful vbac in the first place.

Statistics say that the best way to achieve a vbac is to have a health provider who doesn't see vbac as being high risk, who has low intervention rates and who lets you labour without monitoring.

If you rupture you will be rushed for an emergency c-section, but there are signs of rupture beforehand so there isn't a need to panic. Most things I have read about people having a rupture and losing their baby is because they were given an epidural, so couldn't feel any pain between their contractions - which is one of the first signs of a rupture.

Labouring in water, moving around lots and deep breathing are all successful coping mechanisms when you are talking labour pain :)

You can do anything. You do not need to be strapped to the monitors the whole time. Not at all. I used a ball, walked, showered, bathed. I had monitoring but not the whole time. On and off. Make sure you find support from a hospital that will give you the birthing environment you want.

you actually get to choose what you do and dont want in terms of monitoring. hospitals will keep that quiet, but it is the case.

as arimeh mentioned uterine rupture risk for a VBAC is really low; in fact it is far more likely to happen in an induced first birth than in a VBAC. i recommend doing some reseaech on your own and then you will be really confident in asking for the type of monitoring that actually suits and benefits you and baby.

there are some great articles here on BB and also on other sites like caesarean network australia (they have a great little website with some fantastic resources and papers etc).

To be totally honest my only real bit of advice would be to look into hiring either a doula or independent midwife (in hospital midwives are largely bound to support hospital protocol not your interests for example...they are different). the wealth of support they offer to you and to your partner/family is truly amazing and backed by a plethora of research that shows better baby and maternal health outcomes.

In terms of natural pain relief, depending on what you choose to monitor labour you can use the shower, birth ball etc. Have you considered a calmbirth course? (i highly recommend them...i loved doing it and it really helped both myself and my DH).

Calm birth also helped immensely with getting the right hormones going for pain relief. Would that be something you'd be interested in?

Reading all of your comments has helped immensely! I have never calm birth classes... I live in Winnipeg, Canada... Do they have videos online I could watch? I thought I had read up on all this quite a bit but after reading all of your helpful tips- I see there is so much more I need to learn! :-(

***never heard of

In America the program that's most similar to calm birth is called Hypnobirth and is definitely worth looking into. I'm Thinking it would probably be available in Canada too. It's best to go and do the course. We did it over a weekend. Highly recommended. Brilliant stuff!

I was going to suggest hypnobirthing too. Worth its weight in gold and I couldn't recommend it more highly :)