I’m sorry. I got so many great quotes, but had limited space, so I could only use a fraction of those submitted. The document could have easily been 5-6 pages long, but I knew that the public health administrators and medical professionals were unlikely to read all of those. It was really, really hard to narrow down the quotes because they were all so great! You can always leave your quote here!

Warmly,

Jen

The facts are clear: women’s bodies are made to birth children. We do it best when we’re supported and encouraged, and when interventions that should only be brought out for actual medical emergencies (flashing emergency lights, oh-my-g*d you’re going to DIE unless we do something RIGHT NOW!) are kept out of the way unless needed. Doctors don’t realize the difference in position between an exhausted, mostly naked laboring woman tethered to a bed by monitors and tubes, likely hazy from the meds– and the clusters of gowned and gloved professionals “offering” her their favorite tools with which to manage her labor as they frown over her supposed lack of progress. What we need is encouragement and support…a safe environment while we do the work. I refuse to be treated like the worst-case scenario “what if” patient rather than a healthy woman, doing the most wonderful and natural thing a human body is capable of.

And I won’t let ANYBODY use fear to blind me to the facts.

-Melissa VB, Indiana

1. Based on the research I did after my emergency C-section, as I was looking towards having a VBAC, given that a person is a good candidate for a VBAC, I felt that having a VBAC was a safer option.

2. I had such a bad, freak out experience with my C-section, and granted it was an emergency C-section after laboring a full day and a half; I still am not ready to entertain major surgery – simply because I’ve had a prior C-section.

3. To reiterate some of what I said in the previous point, a C-section is major surgery. Unless deemed medically necessary to save the child’s life or the mother’s life, I do not, I repeat, I DO NOT want to have surgery that results in the equivalent of recovering from a hysterectomy.

4. Feeling what my body does when it goes through the different cycles of labor is, wow, full of wonder (not to be confused for “wonderful;” I certainly wasn’t feeling pleasant or gleeful). Since I nearly didn’t get to the hospital in enough time to deliver my second child, I certainly didn’t have time to opt for pain management. All natural. Felt the sort of contractions that gave my body extremely strong urges to PUSH. Though I wouldn’t have chosen for a natural birth previously, I would pick natural birth over a C-section.

5. Pregnancy and birth is a beautiful process of welcoming baby (or babies) into the world, not an illness to be treated. I certainly don’t wanted to be treated like I’m some sort of fragile flower, not to be moved or mobilized, for fear that I may break or wilt at any moment.

6. I want to, whenever possible, deliver the child into the world, not merely have her or him cut out of me, because I have some sort of history (e.g. had a previous C-section) or the hospital’s just covering their backs (and avoiding any potential lawsuits).

I can keep going with reasons for why a VBAC is important to me, but I’ll stop for fear of belaboring you all.

Here’s my brief Why VBAC is Important to Me:

Carrie B., Pennsylvania
“My daughter was pulled from my body during my unnecessary cesarean delivery, and I pushed my son out of my body during my HBAC (homebirth after cesarean), I had a very transformative and spiritual experience. The place I had to go during transition turned me inside out and I can’t go back to the person I had been before. My VBAC fundamentally changed who I am. It matters to me how my babies come out of my body. Birth matters.”

Megan B., Texas

My VBAC was the very hardest and the absolute greatest experience of my life. It is outrageous to think that had I been living in a different part of the country, someone else would have had the right to tell me how to deliver my baby! Someone else could have cheated me from ever discovering this stronger, wiser, and more confident woman that emerged from my home-birth.

Shame to those who take away a woman’s choice for his or her own convenience or peace of mind.