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Blogger’s confusing math results in ultra low risk of uterine rupture & infant mortality

VBAC Facts reviews a blog post that shares a study on VBAC along with statistics the blogger calculates, many of which misrepresents the risk of uterine rupture and infant mortality during a VBAC attempt demonstrating why it is important to not only know the source of the statistics, but also know that the blogger can do simple math. [...]

Myth: Unscarred mom induced (with Pitocin/ Cytotec/ Cervidil) as likely as VBAC mom to rupture

Update 1/20/12 – Someone who believed this birth myth to be true, told me that the source of this information was an OB from St. Louis who presented at the 2011 ICAN conference.  I contacted ICAN and they said that the person must be referring to Dr. George Macones.  Yet, no one on the ICAN [...]

Birth intervals & uterine rupture aka how long to wait to VBAC

Suzanne recently left this comment in response to the article, I’m pregnant and want a VBAC, what do I do?

Hi. I’m new to your site and just trying to get some more info on VBAC. My daughter was a normal vaginal delivery. My second pregnancy(a surrogate pregnancy) was also a normal vaginal delivery. My [...]

Lightning strikes, shark bites & uterine rupture

When someone understates the risk of UR, I think it’s just as important the clarify as it is when someone overstates the risk.  How else are women to make an informed decision?  Just as it’s plain wrong for an OB to tell a woman with one prior low transverse cesarean that she has a 20% [...]

If VBAC is so safe, why does my OB say it is dangerous?

This is a question that I’ve heard a lot.

Here is the three second answer: in the 90s, babies and moms were unnecessarily injured and died when VBAC labors were induced with Cytotec resulting in a high rate of uterine rupture.  Lawsuits were lost and loads of money was paid out.  Rather than taking a [...]

Predicting uterine rupture by uterine thickness via sonogram

A couple weeks ago Virginia from Switzerland left this comment:

I am planning to have a vbac at a hospital in Geneva, Switzerland. In general, they are very supportive of vbacs here.

It is common practice here to measure the uterine scar at 37 weeks using a sonogram. Apparently, if the scar tissue is 3.5mm [...]

Comprehensive chart on uterine rupture measuring multiple variables

This article entitled Uterine Rupture in Pregnancy from eMedicine dated January 2008 is a gold-mine of information about uterine rupture.  Below is a chart which is a compilation of studies from the 1930s to 2002.  I really wish they would update this to include the studies performed in the last six years. 

This part [...]

VBAC vs. Repeat Cesarean by the American Academy of Family Physicians

This is a great piece for deciding between VBAC and repeat cesarean.  Those who wish to VBAC, but have husbands, family, and/or friends who don’t understand why, might find this document very useful.  I have found that people who are anti-VBAC really seem impressed by what doctors and medical organizations have to say, so I’m [...]

Uterine rupture is SO not worth it for a VBAC

It’s an unfortunate reality that a lot of people believe:

1. If you have a cesarean, your baby will be born healthy.

2. For a woman with a prior cesarean, you are not at risk of uterine rupture until labor begins.

The reality is…

1.  There are no guarantees regardless of how your baby is [...]

Rupture rate 10% for VBA2C with prior vaginal birth within one year of last cesarean?

I just read a blog where a woman, with a prior vaginal birth and two cesareans, was told that her risk of uterine rupture was 5%.  She was also told that since her VBAC would be within one year of her cesarean, her rupture risk doubled to 10%.  It just breaks my heart to read [...]

Uterine rupture risk drops significantly after first VBAC

When planning the size of your family, considering the implications of multiple cesareans versus multiple VBACs.

As we know, the risks of cesareans goes up with each surgery, especially in terms of adhesions.

But, as this study found “VBAC success increased with increasing number of prior VBACs” and “the rate of uterine rupture decreased after [...]

Cesarean Risks: Overview

We all know the primary risk of VBAC – uterine rupture.  And when your typical VBACing mom meets with an OB, she must sign a “VBAC consent form” acknowledging that she understands this risk.  However, I find it ironic that women signing up for a repeat cesarean are not required by their OB to sign [...]