Homebirth after C Section

[MrsC22]

After having a challenging birth with my first, which involved my waters breaking & not going into labour so being induced and labouring on my back for hours with little progress & ultimately an emergency C Section because baby was distressed. I have done a lot of research and decided on a home birth. From what I know the main reason for being in hospital is the ability to continually monitor you in labour but I have been assured by the Homebirth team that they can still do regular monitoring & won’t take any risks. I’m approaching 35 weeks now & having some reservations & finding myself doubting if I can do a natural birth never mind a Homebirth so just wondering if anyone else can share their experience of VBAC and in particular Homebirth please? Thanks lovelies

[Pasaeoco01]

Hi there, congratulations on your pregnancy! I also had a long labour with my first resulting in a c section.With my second I had a smooth pregnancy and decided I wanted a VBAC which the consultant fully supported.

I delivered naturally in hospital and all appeared to have gone well with the labour, just gas and air, however, once baby had arrived I was told I’d suffered a 3rd degree tear with suspected internal tearing aswell as I was losing a lot of blood.

Baby was absolutely fine but I was rushed to the operating theatre and had 2 hours of surgery.

I do have friends who have had successful home births and are advocates of it but for me personally you just can’t tell when something may go wrong out of the blue.

I preferred the reassurance of having medical teams on hand - I had no reason to think I would need it but I’m glad I made the decision I did.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and whatever birth you choose!!

[MrsC22 in reply to Pasaeoco01]

Hi there, thanks for taking the time to share this. I’m pleased to hear you had a smooth VBAC but sorry about the tear. I imagine the recovery from this being similar to C Section recovery then? I hope you are doing well now. This has really given me food for thought…. so thanks for your honesty.All the best x

[Claireeeeeeeeeeeee]

Not had a c section but had a home birth and I had always thought I wouldn't be comfortable doing that but it turned out a lot of the time an ambulance from my house was quicker than being transferred within the hospital. I guess for me it depends how far you live from the hospital. Also for the area I live in they call the ambulance to sit a couple of roads over if they have any concerns. The midwife team for home births also carried everything that was available to them medically that they have on a birth unit. You should do what you feel most comfortable with as that's what will have the greatest chance of success. Hypnobirthing really helped me relax and that helps baby arrive.

[Learning123]

Hello! I can’t speak from experience but I listened to a lot of podcasts before giving birth to my son recently. It helped me realise how many different ways there are to give birth and I heard many stories from women who had done VBAC births. I can’t now find the one about a VBAC home birth! But here is one episode from the Australian Birth Stories podcast which might be of interest. Good luck and what ever you decide it will be for the best: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podca...

[claire16c]

My friend had it the other way round, her first birth she ended up mainly at home but then had a 3rd degree tear so needing surgery anyway and the recovery took the best part of a year 😩. So second baby she had a planned section.

If you have had a section they do warn about the possible chance of the placenta rupturing- my friend had a section first baby and tried for a natural labour second time around but this did happen so she had to have a section again in the end. But she didn’t live far from the hospital, so for me this would be my main concern. If you are only a few mins away then I would go for the home birth you want. But if you’re half an hour away or something especially with hearing about availability of ambulances at the moment Id be more cautious.

Does your hospital have a midwife led unit? Ours does. It has pools, baths, low level lighting, aromatherapy, no hospital beds. But if you did need to go to the delivery suite it’s just one floor down!

But if the home birth team are happy you’re low risk then you could give it a go? You can always go in if you change your mind x