Bethany's Successful VBA3C Birth Story

March 22nd-28th is World Doula Week. As part of the celebration, I'm featuring a doula attended birth story each day.

Bethany agreed to share her birth story with me, and I'm so grateful she did! It takes a lot of strength to get through such a long labor, and a ton of courage to achieve a *VBA3C birth! I'm inspired by her dedication, and so happy she was able to have the vaginal birth she planned and fought for!

Here is Bethany's Story:

My doula found me at 36 weeks, as I had planned not to have one for a couple reasons. It was definitely meant to be. I met with her one time beforehand to go over my birth wishes and what I wanted her to do. I asked her to help my husband know how to support me, and keep everyone but my Dr and my nurse out of the room - no students, no residents, etc. And most importantly, she was to get my placenta, put it on ice, and guard it with her life until my encapsulator could get it from her.

I had 2 weeks of prodromal labor with one false alarm before my water broke. I labored off and on with it broken for 4 days (we found out later that it was leaking up high, which was a good thing) before deciding to have a little help to keep things moving. During 2 of those 4 days, we went to a hotel to be closer to the hospital, and she came to support me there for a lot of that time. We walked the halls, watched movies, talked, used the birth ball, and just sat silently at times. She encouraged me to eat and drink, otherwise I don't think I would have remembered to do either. She also encouraged me to change positions and try new things. Time moved very fast and I lost track of it.

When we moved to the hospital, my husband and I went alone at first because we had sent her home to rest. I walked the halls before starting pitocin at 11:30 pm and at the next to lowest dose possible, I was struggling to get through the contractions by 2:30 am. We had agreed she would come and meet us at 6, but my nurse encouraged me to get her there right away. Once she got there, we tried a few more positions again, but I was exhausted, the nurses were having trouble keeping the baby on the monitor and I was in a lot of pain. I never intended to labor in bed, but that was what ended up happening. She really helped my husband know how to support me, which I had been worried about. He's a totally normal guy, and tends to pull back when he doesn't know what to do. But I knew I'd need him more than ever if I was going to be successful with this Vba3c. Apparently, at one point, I told my husband he needed a shower - actually, I told him he stunk - and she got towels and soap and took over with me so he could get one. I have absolutely no memory of any of that. I think the most helpful thing she did was give me a comb to grip during 5 hours of pitocin driven transition contractions. I'm not sure how I would have made it without that comb. My husband sent her to go get some dinner and a break and she ended up almost missing the birth, he decided to come down and be born so quickly after all that labor. But then my Dr almost missed it too! I'm grateful she was able to be there to support and be a part of my birth.

*In case you're not familiar with the acronym, VBAC stands for vaginal birth after cesarean, and VBA3C is vaginal birth after three cesareans.