On Hiatus!
Topics
“The Truth About VBAC” delivers an evidence-based review on post cesarean birth options to parents, birth advocates, and medical professionals. Topics include:
- Repeat Cesarean vs. VBAC Realities
- Risks of Hospital vs. Out-of-Hospital Birth
- Finding a VBAC Supportive OB or Midwife
- Hospital VBAC Strategies
- Factors of Uterine Rupture
- Maternal & Infant Outcomes
- Elements of VBAC Success
- Benefits of Spontaneous Vaginal Birth
- Hospital VBAC Bans
Feedback
A mom with two prior cesareans:
This class is all about the facts. It is low pressure. It gives you information from scientific journals that will help you make the best decision for you and your baby. At the end, you get to decide which set of risks you are willing to accept. It opened my husband’s eyes. Even though I’ve been telling him, he needed to hear the research and the numbers. Thank you!!!
A labor & delivery nurse:
Thanks for an outstanding class! It was very nice meeting you. Your hard work and dedicated research is incredibly impressive. Knowledge is Power, wish it would rub off on the whole OB community. I think the trend to eventually turn that direction for women’s choice of birth options will happen as more people put that kind of pressure on the issue. Bravo to you!
A mom with one prior cesarean:
My husband and I certainly felt even more confident after the class. I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering a VBAC.
Do I need to be pregnant to attend?
If you are considering a VBAC, the best time to educate yourself is before you get pregnant. Then you have time to research and assemble your birth team without a due date looming. That said, highly motivated women have decided mid-pregnancy to reconsider their scheduled cesareans and plan VBACs.
But I live an hour away!
If you are really interested, don’t let distance hold you back! The average person drives 45 minutes to attend. Can you believe that 21% drive between 1 – 2 hours and 18% drive over two hours?
Iam a supporter of vbac and vbamc. I had a wonderful healing, empowering VBA3c on October 27, 2008, I was in active labor for 22 hrs, pushed for 20 minutes, Iam so thankful for all the research that was available, so I could make a decision on the birth of my son. Iam was glad to do the vba3c, I just wish I would have known my options earlier, I believe the other three c-sections could have been avoided especially them just being repeats from the first which was only done due to not dialating fast enough,which is not a medical reason to even perform a c-section.
Hi, I support your efforts and wonder if you might be interested in collaborating on some programs in the future. Dr F.
Would you consider doing a class on skype with women in KY? Or in the east? I would love to participate but the distance doesn’t allow me! This web server is free and allows several people to talk live and see each other. Thanks, Gladys
Hi Jen! So cool to see that you’ve got some local classes coming up in the fall. We’re still doing VBACs over here at AquaNatal (because someone has to in our area, right?) and think it’s so great that you are working to get the word out about safe vbac options in the IE. I just saw your banner at Jodi’s PBi site, and was wondering if you wanted to do a banner exchange with us at AquaNatal … let me know what you think! =)
This class looks great. So glad it is being offered. I am interested in hosting a class in Santa Clarita.
I am glad to hear that someone is showing the statics of C-sections. I just had a VBAC in June, and while my first was a vaginal birth, it was so empowering to give birth to our third vaginally also!!
[...] VBAC Class [...]
I’m a recent VBAC mother. My 2nd child was a C-Section two years ago last month. I was pleased to be offered a chance to do a VBAC by my Ob-gyn. I delievered a health baby girl last week (September 2009). Yes, you heard correctly – my ob-gyn prompted me to do a VBAC for my third child before I could ask him for a VBAC. That says a lot about the doctor that supports VBAC; its less drama for you. When the doctor supports you, that’s half the battle.
I had an emergency csection with my daughter in Aug 2007. I am due Nov 6th 2009 with our second….a boy this time. My doctor recommended the vbac for me. This is something I want to experience so badly! I have a lot of concerns about this because most doctors in my area refuse this procedure. I am happy I found this site so I can get as much info as I can!
Can someone please calm my nerves for me? I have had two vaginal births, but my last one (April 2008) was a c-section due to dystocia. I am now 8 months pregnant with my baby being due on November 19th. My OB does do VBACS and the hospital I am going to be delivering at, does allow them as well (thank God). Anyhow, I signed a consent form at my last DR visit and it really scared me. I know the DR had me sign it in the event that something goes wrong, but it still scared me to death. Now I am all freaked out about uterine rupture and everything else.
What makes matters worse is that I read an article on the internet which stated that certain factors increase the risk of uterine rupture. Some of those factors were maternal age (being over 30 which I am – I am 34), type of c-section scar (mine is the low horizontal one), and how long between pregnancies (I only had 10 months in between).
Anyway, how on earth do I calm down? LOL
I do not want another c-section. The one I had was awful! They couldn’t stop the bleeding and I was about to get a blood transfusion which I also did not want. I also did not like the effects that the epidural had on me. never again do i want a c-section.
[...] for VBAC Classes presented by VBAC Facts in your [...]
Will you be offering any online courses again? I missed the ones you offered before. Thanks!
[...] Facts – Jennifer, teacher of The Truth about VBAC classes, deeply believes that women, after educating themselves on the risks and benefits, should be the [...]
I was just looking at your info cards/banners and saw the link to these classes. Have you ever thought about sharing your curriculum to have other CBEs, midwives, etc. do classes in other states? I’m in Oregon and would be very interested in offering some classes like this!
Emily,
I have thought about that, but it would be to great of a project for me to undertake with my kids being so young. I am in the process of turning the class into a book so that I can still have complete control over content and tone, but people who live outside of Southern California can obtain the information. I am hoping to get a jump start while I fly cross country to attend the NIH VBAC conference in a couple weeks. I would also like to travel more and teach the class in person starting in 2011. I’d love to stay in touch and maybe you can host a class in 2011?
Warmly,
Jen
That would be great! I’ve wanted to do a VBAC class in my area for some time. Most of our area hospitals have an over 50% cesarean rate and none officially allow VBACs. There are 2 providers at a local hospital who will attend VBACs but only if the mom goes into labor before her due date and only if the baby is estimated under a certain weight – ugh!
I am also a doula and chilbirth educator in Mesa, Arizona that is VERY interested in holding a class like this here! I had a VBAC myself and know the power of information and a local advocate. I’m looking forward to your book – if you ever come to share your curriculum, please let me know! Thanks for what you’re doing!
hello i had a csection on november 28,2009. honestly my plan was to have my baby vaginally but my dr said she was too big for me and she was only 6 lbs, anyways i have a question and i really hope you can answer it for me, how many months after my csection can i get pregnant and have a VBAC??? is 5 months too soon???
Hi Adriana!
I’m so sorry that you had your cesarean for suspected big baby only to find that you had a small baby. Unfortunately, I’ve heard many similar stories from other women such as this one. Did you know that the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) only recommend a cesarean for suspect big baby when the baby is estimated to be 11 pounds or more? You can read ACOG’s Practice Bulletin No. 22 on Guidelines for Fetal Macrosomia published in the November 2000 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology for more information.
While I cover interbirth intervals in the class, I haven’t had a chance to type it all up in an article. The short answer is: evidence suggests that it’s best to have a 18-24 month interval between your cesarean birth and subsequent births. In other words, wait 9 to 15 months after your cesarean to get pregnant. That said, the studies that have been conducted are rather small, and it will be nice if/when larger studies are conducted so we have a better idea of the risk differential, if any, between births occurring less than 18 months post cesarean versus more than 18 months. I personally think it’s always a good idea to give your body plenty of time to heal and wait at least 9 months to get pregnant.
You can read some of the studies available by looking for the terms ‘interbirth’ (time between cesarean birth and subsequent birth) and ‘interpregnacy’ (time between beginning of cesarean pregnancy and the beginning of subsequent pregnancies) by looking through my bibliography.
Warmly,
Jen
I’m so bummed to see that these classes are on hiatus. I’ve been looking all over for a VBAC class and can’t seem to find one anywhere. I was pretty set on a scheduled C-section at the start of my pregnancy, but I’ve been doing a lot of reading online and I think I’ve decided to go for the VBAC. After looking at the hospital statistics on this website I’m considering switching hospitals and therefore doctors mid-pregnancy which is kind of scary, but I want to give my VBAC the best chance of success. I’m too scared to go for the homebirth and I don’t think my husband/family would allow it anyway. Thanks for the great info! I wish your book was out already.
Hi there,
Just posting the date of my VBAC Preparation class for Irish Mums for the end of 2010 and first half of 2011.
December 4
Feb 5
April 2
June 12
Thanks!
Please visit http://www.VBACIreland.com for more information
Tracy