The VBAC Link

104 Documenting Your Birth with Rowan Steiner and Danielle Wilstead

We are back from a nice holiday break and are happy to start off our regularly scheduled episodes with this one. 

In this episode, we speak with our friends, birth photographers and videographers Rowan Steiner and Danielle Wilstead and talk about some of the issues and expectations when documenting births.

How did you get started? What exactly do you do? What should parents expect? Do you ever run into any troubles in regards to photography bans by hospitals or providers? What are your most memorable moments?

You can find Rowan at saltcitybirth.com/

You can find Danielle at wildoakbirth.com/

103 Happy New Year, Women of Strength!

We're back!!! Happy New Year! We are checking in with a fun, short episode to let you know all about what 2020 has in store for us, and YOU. Find out more about all the things we are chatting about at thevbaclink.com and register for our events across the country at thevbaclink.com/events. 

102 Amy's VBA2C + Assisted Delivery

Amy has such a nice voice and a calm, pleasant phone demeanor that you can hardly imagine her as a shrieking, raging woman as she labored for hours with her VBAC attempt, when her contractions were literally coming one on top of the other.

Her first two children were born via C-section. She didn’t have the worst experience ever with either of those, but still the desire was in her heart and mind that when she found herself pregnant a third time, she would do everything she could to achieve her VBAC.

Her doctor even broke out the forceps during the delivery to help her. Hear the whole story from Amy in this episode and then find out more about assisted vaginal delivery on our blog at https://www.thevbaclink.com/post/assisted-vaginal-delivery.

After this episode we are taking a podcast holiday break in order to spend more time with our families, this will be our last episode, for the year We wish you the very best of holidays and an incredible New Year. Please join us when we come back the first Monday in January!

101 Allison's VBAC + Birthing with a Non-Supportive Provider

Initially, Allison was a little worried about her VBAC plan, because her provider seemed more VBAC tolerant than VBAC supportive. But midway through the pregnancy, her provider changed his tune to become more VBAC supportive, which was, of course, great news.

But then he flip-flopped again. But he wasn't finished yet! Another flip. And again and again and again. What’s a mother to do in this situation?

One of the best things Allison did in preparation was to have a Plan A and a Plan B. Which plan did she put into action? Did things go according to that plan, or did she have to quickly come up with a Plan C? Listen to this episode and find out. We also talk about the three things you should ask your provider to nail down whether they are VBAC supportive, VBAC tolerant, or opposed to VBAC altogether. Find three things you NEED to know about your VBAC provider on our blog at https://www.thevbaclink.com/post/vbac-provider.

100 Meagan's Birthday!

Today is Meagan's birthday! I did a sneaky thing and kicked Meagan out of the recording studio mid-recording to record this very special, very secret special episode for you. Meagan has no idea what is in this episode; in fact, only two people know what it contains so, this is going to have to be a surprise for you as well. Join me as I help make Meagan's birthday a little more special by listening in and then head over to our social media pages on Facebook and/or Instagram, find her episode image, and send her some more birthday love! 

-Julie

99 Tonya's VBAC + Abnormal Shaped Uterus

Today we celebrate our 100th episode with Tonya! During Tonya's first pregnancy, it was discovered that she had an abnormally shaped uterus, in her case, it was heart-shaped or bicornuate. Even though her first pregnancy ended in a C-section, the shape of her uterus is unrelated. Her uterus hemorrhaged during her Cesarean to the point where she lost so much blood that she passed out several times in recovery.

As you can imagine, her second pregnancy was likely to involve complications.

Nevertheless, she was determined with her VBAC plan.

As her due date approached, her water broke and she headed to the hospital. She stalled at 6 centimeters for several hours. Listen carefully to what happens when her doctor suggests manual dilation in an attempt to avoid a second C-section. Go find us on social media and find Tonya’s episode image. Tell us what your most memorable moment from or first 100 episodes is!

98 Julie and Meagan Answer Your Emails

Today we answer your emails!

• How long should I wait between having a C-section and getting pregnant again?
• How do I deal with an unsupportive provider who doesn't take my VBAC birth plan seriously?
• How do I know my provider is or isn’t giving me biased or just plain bad information?
• Do I need to worry about uterine rupture?
• What should I do if, when trying for a VBAC and my due date is approaching, I am given a deadline to birth my baby or else it’s off to surgery we go?
• What are the benefits of having a doula on my birth team?

Tune in as we go through our inbox and answer the most common and some unique questions. 

Find out more answers to out most common and uncommon questions on our VBAC blog thevbaclink.com/blog.

97 Patrice's VBAC + The Best Induction Method for VBAC

Patrice’s first pregnancy ended in a C-section. With her second, she was determined to deliver vaginally. The pregnancy was progressing fine. What wasn't fine was her provider’s attitude toward her birth plan. Patrice was much more educated during her second pregnancy than her first, and asked many specific questions to her provider over the course of the pregnancy. Patrice eventually learned through these inquiries that her provider was more VBAC-tolerant than VBAC-supportive than she had been led to believe. With the suggestion of a second C-section and talk of scheduling induction, Patrice felt discouraged, betrayed, hopeless, and afraid.

Luckily, Patrice did the right thing: she fired her provider and found another who believed in her  and her VBAC birth plan.

Women of strength, let me tell you: firing your provider takes courage. Some of the things that Patrice’s provider suggested to her, you will most likely hear as well if your provider falls more on the VBAC-tolerant side of the scale than VBAC-supportive. Every person on your birth team needs to believe in you 110% and no less, and that includes your provider.

In this episode, listen to Patrice tell the story of how her second pregnancy ended in a beautiful VBAC. And always remember, you’re the one calling the shots, you’re the one in charge, not the other way around, and you owe your provider nothing.

Fun finds in this episode: we’ll learn what an aquadoula is, and also what an outpatient foley bulb is.

Check out our blog, The Best Induction Method for VBAC, to find out more about the foley bulb and other VBAC induction methods.

96 Ashley's CBAC + Empowering Cesareans

If you’re a regular listener of this podcast, you will notice that several common themes come to light--one of which is that your pregnancy will most likely not go exactly as you planned. In this episode, Ashley tells us how her first pregnancy ended in a C-section, and how her second pregnancy, which she intended to be a VBAC, also ended in a C-section.

With her third and most recent pregnancy, she attempted a VBAC delivery once again. On the big day, complications arose, and even though the baby was seconds away from being earthbound, Ashley was once again wheeled off to the operating room for her third C-section.

She doesn’t take that as a defeat, though; it was this third C-section that was her most healing and positive birth experience.

Check out our blog, How to Cope When You Don’t Get your VBAC for more info.

95 Brittany's VBAC + VBAC Doulas

The attitude of Brittany’s first birth provider resembled something more like a prison warden than a caregiver. Add to that a completely dysfunctional hospital and you have the makings of a truly traumatic C-section. This experience motivated Brittany to do a whole lot of research and make some very specific plans for her second pregnancy, which she’d hoped would be a VBAC.

You know what they say about the best-laid plans? Well, her second pregnancy didn’t go according to plan. Pregnancies rarely do. Did she end up having a successful VBAC? Listen to Brittany tell the story.

Check out our blog, Myth-Busting: 5 Facts About Doulas that will Shock You for more information about how having a doula can make your birth a positive experience.