VBAC

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VBAC - Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.

If you are reading this because you are working toward a VBAC, then congratulations! Making this decision is the first step in success. 

How to Increase Your Chances of a Successful VBAC

The following are suggestions that help to increase your chances of a successful VBAC by decreasing unnecessary interventions and minimizing risk. 

During Pregnancy

• Talk to your partner.  Make sure that your partner is aware of, and supportive of, your desire for a VBAC. A supportive partner can help give strength and encouragement when the going gets tough, the mother gets weary, or the support seems minimal.
• Select care providers and a birth place that are VBAC-friendly. Be sure both your practitioner and your hospital are supportive not just in words but in policies and routine procedures. If a woman is under the care of a truly VBAC-friendly practitioner, is birthing in a setting that is truly cohesive to a successful VBAC, and who uses the suggestions below to help labor progress optimally, the VBAC success rate is 75-90%. For a list of purportedly VBAC-friendly providers in the Houston area, feel free to contact me.
• Join a support group. There are great support groups for mothers who need processing their prior cesarean, healing from it, and planning for a VBAC. These groups also have additional tips, resources, and recommendations ready to help you have the best odds at a successful VBAC. Houston has it’s own chapter of ICAN and can be found here
• Hire a Doula. It may seem we are biased, but the help of a professional labor assistant can help you to navigate the policies, regulations, and patient’s rights; this allows you to make an educated decision about your health care by knowing all of your options and their benefits, and risks.
• Consider an early ultrasound to have a better grasp on your ‘true’ due date. Many women have their labor induced because they have been told that their pregnancy has gone past their due date. Early ultrasounds have a better rate of accuracy in determining estimated due dates than later ultrasounds.  Calculating the due date by the Naegele Wheel alone is often less accurate than an early ultrasound.

- For the rest of the article, go to SAGE MAMA

Cesarean Section Rates for Houston Area Hospitals

	HARRIS COUNTY
	Christus St. Catherine	34.0980%
	Clear Lake Regional Medical Center	36.1880%
	Cypress Fairbanks Hospital	38.2322%
	Houston Northwest Medical Center	31.4921%
	Kingwood Medical Center	32.3156%
	Memorial Hermann Medical Center	40.1521%
	Memorial Hermann Memorial City	43.8919%
	Memorial Hermann South East	36.9822%
	Memorial Hermann South West	29.9155%
	Methodist Willowbrook	35.0166%
	St. Luke's Medical Center	33.9573%
	Texas Women's	47.6785%
	The Methodist - Medical Center	39.0337%
	Tomball Regional	46.9643%
	FORT BEND COUNTY
	Memorial Hermann Fort Bend Hospital	36.4839%
	Memorial Hermann Katy	37.8242%
	Methodist Sugar Land Hospital	36.4083%
	St. Luke's Sugar Land	39.7190%
	West Houston Medical Center	36.2372%
	MONTGOMERY COUNTY
	Conroe Regional Medical Center	31.4286%
	Memorial Hermann The Woodlands	41.1213%

Greater Houston Area: 37.52673% - for more information on Texas cesarean rates, see here.

Website Recommendations

• VBAC or Repeat Cesarean - a great comparison of the benefits and risks of both
• ICAN - international cesarean awareness network brings legal, medical, ethical, and practical information to consumers regarding cesarean rates and VBAC.
• VBAC.com
• VBAC Facts
  
• Cesarean In Awareness

Book Recommendations

• The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. (Henci Goer) If you're only going to read one book, let it be this one. It contains not only a wonderful chapter on avoiding a cesarean, but also comprehensive information on the judicious use of medical intervention. The book is more reader friendly, but not as in depth, as Ms. Goer's previous publication, Obstetric Myth vs. Research Reality  
• The Doula Book: How a Trained Labor Companion Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier and Healthier Birth (by Klaus, Kennell and Klaus) For more information about doulas (Including the fact that doulas have been proven to reduce your risk of having a cesarean by 50%. Family members and other supportive people have not been shown to provide the same
  benefit.) 
• Silent Knife (by Nancy Wainer Cohen and Lois J. Estner) Written by the woman who coined the phrase "VBAC"; The definitive text written during a time when the standard of obstetrical care was "Once a cesarean, always a cesarean"; Also consider the follow-up book by Nancy Wainer Cohen, Open Season 
• Birth After Cesarean (by Bruce Flamm, MD) Full of statistics helpful for making decisions regarding choices you make for your care.
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth (by Ina May Gaskin) Published following the most recent VBAC-lash and includes a chapter discussing the political state of VBAC today; Also includes excellent information for achieving a natural birth 
• Rebounding from Childbirth: Toward Emotional Recovery (by Lynn Madsen) For anyone who has experienced a cesarean (or any traumatic birth); Gives specific exercises for understanding and dealing with the feelings many women have following a cesarean 
• The VBAC Experience: Very Beautiful And Courageous (by Lynn Baptisti Richards) A collection of women's birth stories: first the woman's c-section story, followed by her VBAC story; The author's comments are interspersed in the stories supplying excellent information; Fabulously encouraging 
• The VBAC Companion: The Expectant Mother's Guide to Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (by Diana Korte)  
• What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to Know About Cesarean Section, MCA