natural birth after c section

Hi,
I am a mother of a 20 month old boy who was delivered by emergency c section after 19 hours of labour. My OB advised me after 45 minutes of pushing that my pelvic bone was too narrow for my sons head to come through.
I am now 8 weeks pregnant and my new OB has strongly suggested I attempt a natural birth. I have always wanted to deliver naturally but I am also very afraid of going through all that pain and emotional and physical exhaustion only to discover I can not deliver naturally again. THis would really devestate me. I am also afraid of the dangers associated with attempting a natural birth after a c section.
If anyone has experienced a natural birth or has attempted a natural birth after c section please let me know your stories.
Thanks Christine.

Hi Christine, welcome to BB. You might enjoy reading this birth story of a VBAC just a week or so ago.
We also have a VBAC/EBAC chat thread just here if you want to join in and chat to a few other women who are in a similar position.
Good luck with achieving the birth of your choice.

Christine, I would strongly recommend you read 'New Active Birth' which is a bible for all mums-to-be. It explains things like squatting when pushing can help you increase your pelvic capacity by almost 30% - which is a huge difference from the usual on the bed pushing some Obs want for convenience. Also, the Pink Kit is brilliant, it helps you map your pelvis and gives you a great understanding of it - both highly recommended.

I know plenty of women who have been told that their pelvis was too small to birth babies and they have gone on to birth even bigger babies, at home or naturally.

Kelly - What is the Pink Kit? I must get myself a copy of New Active Birth, it sounds like a great book to read. Also do you know how accurate the CT scans are when diagnosing CPD? And considering my coccyx curves in do you think this would be a major problem in birthing a baby naturally? Sorry for bombarding you with my questions just after your opinion as my OB was happy for me to try birthing naturally if I went into labour before my c/s date but of course my cervix wasn`t even ready even though I was overdue.

Christine - Welcome to BB. I was also diagnosed with CPD but this was before I went into labour, I was given a CT scan as my OB thought I may have been too small for Matthew`s head. I`m 14.5 weeks pregnant with my second and I`m hoping for a VBAC.

Definitely get New Active Birth - it shouldn't be 'what to expect when you are expecting' that is an essential read, but instead Janet Balaskas' 'New Active Birth.' It's a bible and if women read this as the first book they picked up on birth I am sure that the state of birthing would be much different.

The Pink Kit is brilliant also, we learnt about it at the Doula Conference and one of the girls in my birth class chose it for her review book/product. It's a DVD and teaches you how to map your pelvis, how to feel for the pelvic outlet so you can see for yourself the width feel (externally) what baby will be making it's journey around. It is brilliant to help women understand about their pelvis, what it's capable of, and making the most of it for your birth. I can't recommend it enough, especially when the diagnosis of CPD is sky high (and has been for a very long time, our own mothers faced the same obstacles but questions were asked when they started birthing at home, perfectly fine!).

Remember, late in pregnancy you will have high levels of relaxin to help your pelvis open. If you have a curved in cocyx, it's more the reason to get off the bed and lean forward and squat to push to get that extra 30% space - when you lean forward, you will make more space for baby as the curve will move backward. Hard to explain in words! But on the bed on your back, you can imagine trying to push a bub out who has to work it's way up against gravity and your now pointing upwards coccyx - you'd be pushing with lots of effort and tire yourself out, also more prone to tearing.

Scans for it are just depressing, you are lying down to start with and it's not indicative of what you will do in labour, and scans have an error of accuracy anyway. Unless it picks up something major I wouldn't worry too much - of course the space is going to be small and having a scan only plants more seeds of doubt. Have confidence in your body! Trust that your body knows what to do and baby knows the journey.

It's funny how your Ob gave you a caesar on the basis he 'thought' you might be too small. Why not let you have a go at it? There is much less risk with a caesar than a normal, spontaneous birth. And going into labour was okay before the caesar date - pffft first babies always take longer and why would a few days make a difference? Is he saying that heads have a big growth spurt before their due date? Too many questions...

Thank you Kelly for the information I`ll be buying The Pink Kit and New active Birth both sound fantastic.

I think with me and my c/s a number of things went on at the time and looking back I should have said I`ll wait for baby to decide to come but it was at an awkward time when we were grieving for the loss of FIL and I wanted to attend the funeral, DH had to be at the funeral so how could he be at 2 places at once if I went into labour, he also really wanted his son in his arms at his Dad`s funeral so with everything and our emotions I think I agreeded too quickly but then saying that I was told later Matthew wasn`t coming out any other way by a nember of medical staff but I suppose they could have been covering themselves there as well. Hopefully this time things will run a bit more smoothly and I can have my VBAC.

Sorry Christine for taking over your thread

Edited to say we also didn`t understand my OB`s comments when he said if I go into labour beforehand he`ll see how I go naturally, I do know he prefers natural deliveries to c/s and so do I!!!!!

Just to let you know I delivered a 4625gm baby VBAC!!! The babies head is flexible too, its not just your pelvis that opens, my bub had a bit of a "cone head" due to his size, and getting out, but that flattens out and he has a lovely round head now. Go for it. Oh and the "average" pg is 38-42 weeks, my ob was happy to leave me until 42 before attempting anything. Cancel the booked csec, and have a go!!!!!!!

Here's more on the Pink Kit, I am going to look into stocking it :) The list of topics are below.

The Pink Kit resource and interactive book is the 1st cornerstone:

Directed Breathing

Bony Pelvis
The 3D pelvis
Landmarks
Map your pelvis

Body positions
Your map and positions that keep you open
Pros and cons of different positions
Your baby and your positions

Bony Pelvis - movement
Pubic arch spread
Hip Lift
Sit-bone spread
know your sacrum
rocking the sacrum
sacral manoeuvre
Moving the tailbone
Directed birthing into pelvis

The Soft Pelvis
Advanced Kegels
Pelvic Clock
Breathing into the perineum
Assisting the cervix to dilate

About Pain, Tension, Relaxation
Soft Tissue Tension
Internal inner relaxation
Passive and active relaxation
Stuck baby
Conscious, unconscious, structural and stretching tension

Massage
Body Care

Labour
How to use The Pink Kit information in labour
negative voice
Remember!

Thank you Kelly for the information on the Pink Kit, I`ll be buying one for sure, do you think you`ll be stocking them in the near future or further down the track?

Now you have me all excited about my VBAC I want to start researching all the information I can get.

Dee, try birthrites, very good for info!!!

Thanks Vanita, I`ll check it out