Time magazine highlighted the struggles that women around the nation face when attempting to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). One woman in the story said that she would be driving 100 miles to a hospital so that she would be able to have a VBAC.
After 1980, when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a conference on skyrocketing cesarean rates, more women began having VBACs. By 1996, they accounted for 28% of births among C-section veterans, and in 2000, the Federal Government issued its Healthy People 2010 report proposing a target VBAC rate of 37%. Yet as of 2006, only about 8% of births were VBACs, and the numbers continue to fall–even though 73% of women who go this route successfully deliver without needing an emergency cesarean.
So what happened? In 1999, after several high-profile cases in which women undergoing VBAC ruptured their uterus, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) changed its guidelines from stipulating that surgeons and anesthesiologists should be “readily available” during a VBAC to “immediately available.” “Our goal wasn’t to narrow the scope of patients who would be eligible, but to make it safe,” says Dr. Carolyn Zelop, co-author of ACOG’s most recent VBAC guidelines
A new study discussed testing that pregnant women can undergo during late pregnancy to check their c-section scar. The study says that the test is a good indicator for determining if a woman would be a candidate for a VBAC. The major issue facing women who want to have a VBAC is the rupture of the uterus. Uterine rupture can be deadly for both the woman and baby.
Repeated c-sections also pose more risks to moms and babies.
With each repeat cesarean, a mother’s risk of heavy bleeding, infection and infertility, among other complications, goes up. Perhaps most alarming, repeat C-sections increase a woman’s chances of developing life-threatening placental abnormalities that can cause hemorrhaging during childbirth. The rate of placenta accreta–in which the placenta attaches abnormally to the uterine wall–has increased thirtyfold in the past 30 years
Source: Time.com
i have hade all 3 of my babys though a c-seation and i think that it worked great for me i didnt want to take the risk after i hade the frist c-seation
Many moms do feel the same way you do and are happy with their c-sections. There are also those moms that would like to have a VBAC and find it hard to get one.
There are also the risks that women should consider when they have the option to choose a VBAC or C-section.
Hi
I am a mom who had 2 C sections. This article is very useful. There is a large moms community networking on http://www.bizymoms.com/tampa/index.php this article will be very helpful if can be published to their site.