Goodnight Mom

If you haven’t read my previous post about the risks of a trial of labor after cesarean compared to having a second cesarean, it might provide greater context to this post . To summarize, I was told by my doctor that if I wanted to try a vaginal birth I would have a 61% chance of it being successful.  Sometimes referred to as TOLAC (trial of labor after cesarean) and VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). In part one, I laid out the medical risks and my thoughts about them. I think deeply about my decisions, and this is one I have taken very seriously. I have laid out the risks pretty clearly for myself, and some seem more real and more threatening than others (the thought of a uterine rupture is much more graphically scary than the concept of post-surgical infection). But there are other factors that I’m also considering, beyond the medical risks.   For example, how it could impact having more children? Whichever decision I make, the outcome may have repercussions on the ability to carr

On the second visit to my OBGYN, Dr K, she told me that according to a medical calculation I have a 61% chance of having a successful vaginal birth if I wanted to try labor. Sometimes referred to as TOLAC (trial of labor after cesarean) and VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I was only 12 weeks pregnant at the time. It felt super early in the pregnancy to even think about birthing plans, but she wanted to bring it up to give me plenty of time to think about it. Her job as my doctor is to share information about the risks. Both options, another c-section and VBAC, come with potential risks. For the past 18 weeks, I’ve been trying to figure out what the risks are and what I feel most comfortable with. I’ve been trying to figure out what is the best decision for me and this baby. The most up-to-date figure I can find is from 2013, when the average success rate for women in the U.S. who attempted a trial of labor after one previous cesarean was 70%.  Most literature encourages TOLAC/VBAC