I love hearing stories on our podcast and in our Facebook community about VBAC parents taking control and finding a more supportive VBAC provider when their original providers: OBGYN or Midwife started getting less and less supportive during their pregnancy. It can be hard and challenging to make the switch late in pregnancy. Always follow your intuition, and if it is telling you something doesn’t feel right – listen.
Here are some warning signs that might mean your VBAC provider isn’t as supportive as they have let on:
- Recommending a third-trimester ultrasound to check on the baby’s size
- Talking about your placenta “dying” or not working anymore if you continue pregnancy past a certain day without medical evidence.
- Making off-hand comments about your baby being “”too big or your pelvis being “too small“
- Talking about induction or scheduling a repeat Cesarean date “just in case” or without asking
- Setting deadlines for spontaneous labor to begin any time before 42 weeks in order to TOLAC
- Refusing to let you go past 40 weeks before inducing or having a Cesarean
- Refusing to induce at all, if necessary (we cover the best induction methods here)
- Heavily relying on or talking about the percentage of success given to you by the VBAC calculator
- Overemphasizing the risk of uterine rupture and using the term “dead baby” when talking about risks
- Doing a cervical check and using the results to determine that your cervix won’t dilate “in time”
- Telling you what is going to happen instead of having a conversation about it with you as the main decision-maker
- Telling you that no other provider will take you because you are “too far along”
- Referring back to your Cesarean operative report and focusing on the reasons for it, including but not limited to CPD (small pelvis), failure to progress, or failure to descend (also who came up with these terrible “failure” names?!!)
- Any reference to your weight, especially if your BMI is over 30
- Saying you must have an epidural “just in case”
- Pulling provider card, telling you that they know best because of their medical degrees
We know that preparing for your VBAC can be a lot. That’s why we created our course on How to VBAC Parents Course.We recommend taking it with your partner, to prepare both you and them and to help you advocate for what you want. This is not a typical childbirth class. We focus exclusively on the extra information you need to prepare yourself for the best chance of a successful VBAC.
Remember, you ALWAYS have the right to refuse care or any procedure being offered to you, and you ALWAYS have the right to seek care from another provider, even in the middle of labor.
I will leave you today with this reminder:
Learn more about how to pick a supportive VBAC provider and have a VBAC in our How to VBAC Parents Course. I am so honored to be supporting you on this journey.
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