Ask, Answer, Learn
Pose your questions to Dr. Greene and the DrGreene.com Community on
Ask, Answer, Learn.
Pose your questions to Dr. Greene and the DrGreene.com Community on
Ask, Answer, Learn.
Before you even get pregnant, start searching out a supportive VBAC provider.
Simply asking your provider if they support VBAC may not be enough. The answer may be flatly no, but it could also be “Yes, but…” Ask any potential provider about his or her VBAC rate, what types of restrictive policies they place on VBAC moms, and what his or her overall philosophy is on normal, natural birth. If you are not comfortable with the answers you get, keep searching. A little work on the front end could save you a lot of stress, and possibly a surgical birth, on the back end.
Get Informed about Normal, Healthy Births.
Birth itself is a normal, biological event, where mother and baby usually fare better without (often unnecessary) drugs and procedures. While learning about natural birth, you will see that women possess a powerful, innate wisdom about how to birth their own babies. Through your studies, you will learn to believe in yourself, no matter what may have sabotaged your previous birth. You may find your previous cesarean could have been avoided by avoiding certain practices and procedures.
My recommendations for the two essential natural birth books:
Learn About Interventions, and about VBAC itself.
Being an informed consumer is one of the single most important steps in preparing for any birth, especially a VBAC. No matter if you are laboring in a hospital, birth center, or right at home, you need to have a basic understanding of the machines that go “Ping!” The more informed you are, the better equipped you are to make the choices that you are comfortable with — even in a pinch.
My recommendations for learning about commonly used birth interventions and VBAC:
What did you do to prepare yourself, and/or your family, for another baby in the family? Do you have a birth plan?
Browse our real-time reports of today's hottest baby names.
Comments
April is Cesarean Awareness Month
April is Cesarean Awareness Month, so this is very timely. Thanks for posting!
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Sarah DeGroff
Great Tips
Gina thanks for the great tips and resource list. This is really helpful.
So what do you do when you
So what do you do when you live in a small town with not a lot of provider choices? I have been pondering this since before I became pregnant and have not come up with any good answers. I feel like my only choice is to go with the Dr. that performed my previous c-sections (who is covered by my insurance) or have a home birth, that I would have to find the money for. Of course money isn't the only worry I have with home birth... frankly it just scares me. Do I fight the system or pray nothing goes wrong at my home birth? Any suggestions on how I might find peace with this problem?
Reply
Contact ICAN
I would recommend contacting ICAN to find out what your options are in your area. They are a great resource, and really have their ear to the ground, with some very creative solutions on how to find a provider that will respect your choices.
Ultimately, no doctor can perform a cesarean against your will. If your local hospital has banned VBAC, you can fight it. It's against federal law.
great advice!
I'll be passing this along to all my VBAC friends. Maybe I'm overbearing, but I give a copy of Ina May and Thinking Woman to all my pregnant friends.
Those, and a copy of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (despite the silly name).