New study reveals surprising truths about the VBAC calculator
VBAC calculators have been embraced with open arms by some providers, whereas others reject them altogether. Who’s right? Trying to predict who will have a VBAC is tricky. We know some individual factors, such as having a prior vaginal delivery, are associated with higher or lower VBAC rates. By combining various factors, VBAC calculators generate a percentage that represents the best guess for an individual’s odds of having a vaginal birth after cesarean. But VBAC calculators, also called VBAC success calculators, are not always accurate and can create emotional baggage.
Please don’t call my cesarean a “cesarean birth”
In an attempt to validate parents, some perinatal professionals tell parents who have had a cesarean, “It’s still a birth.” And I get where they are coming from. Their desire to affirm to the parent that they still birthed a baby and that this is a happy moment. Here’s the rub and where unintended consequences come into play: As a cesarean parent, I did not feel like my cesarean was a birth and having someone tell me, “No really, it is,” would have felt really dismissive and invalidating despite the good intentions at play.
Eleven things to love about ACOG’s 2017 VBAC Guidelines
When I found out that ACOG released their new guidelines yesterday, I couldn’t wait to devour them. This morning, I had an opportunity to cuddle up with the new recommendations and I’m quite pleased. As always, there are things to like and areas where I think ACOG missed the mark. But here are the eleven good things about ACOG’s 2017 VBAC guidelines.
Confusing fact: Only 6% of uterine ruptures are catastrophic
The statistic “Only 6% of uterine ruptures are catastrophic” is from the Evidence Report (Guise 2010) which was the basis of the 2010 NIH VBAC Conference and it refers to the rate of infant death due to uterine rupture.
Recent Comments