Takako

“Preparing for my VBAC initiated a healing process around my first birth. I learnt that it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t achieve the natural birth I wanted. I connected with the most supportive women to help me mend my broken heart. By the time my baby was due, I was in a grateful state of mind.”

I came across Mama Education’s online VBAC workshop through my physiotherapist who specialises in the pelvic space. The biggest benefit I got from this workshop was to get my partner on board with my VBAC. All the mums in the workshop seemed on top of their research and all our partners had a chance to get up to date with our knowledge of VBAC. I needed this workshop to get my husband to understand that VBAC was not a dangerous choice and gain his full support. My takeaway from the workshop was to “let go of the baby, surrender, and release” and to avoid seeing support people or those in my care team as a “villain.”  Some people were supportive, and some were not as supportive as I wanted them, but this was an important reminder that my husband was just doing his best.

It was important for me to attempt a VBAC because I wanted to restore faith in my body again - to know that I was not incapable of birthing and that my pelvis was perfectly fit to birth a baby. I was deeply curious to experience the empowerment of what the female body is capable of, and I also hoped for a quicker recovery so I could be more present for my toddler.

To explain, I experienced birth trauma from my first labour. It began with a medical induction at 41+3 weeks in the Netherlands, without being fully informed about the induction process and associated risks. I was admitted to hospital on a Friday evening after an attempted ‘stretch and sweep’ at only 1cm dilation. A balloon catheter was inserted that evening and removed on Sunday morning at 2cm dilation. I spent the weekend walking and exercising around the hospital, pushing my body, over working my body. I was then given misoprostol (a synthetic prostaglandin), and contractions finally began around 10pm on Sunday. Due to exhaustion, I opted for an epidural at around 2am, which led to a sudden drop in blood pressure that caused me to lose consciousness, followed by a fever. At this point, antibiotics were administered. My baby’s heart rate went above 200 during labour and my cervix dilated to 5cm but progressed no further. It was later discovered that the catheter had not been inserted correctly and that I had a full bladder by the time I was taken to theatre. On Monday afternoon, I gave birth via Caesarean section.

For the longest time I felt angry because I felt like my opportunity to have a natural birth was ripped away from me. I couldn’t help but feel like my husband wasn’t fully on the same page with me during labour and that resentment crept into our relationship afterwards. It took me about 3 years to feel ready for a second baby.

In addition to the Mama Education workshop, I also read Hazel Keedle’s Birth After Caesarean: Your Journey to a Better Birth book along with Rachel Reed’s Why Induction Matters. Since taking the workshop and finishing the VBAC books, I began writing letters to the baby saying I’ll do my best to rest, relax and focus on welcoming her into the world in the best condition I can to the best of my ability. I acknowledged that I had the easy part to just relax and she would have the intelligence to wriggle out of me when she was ready. These letters helped me maintain a positive mindset toward the birth.

Preparing for my VBAC initiated a healing process around my first birth. I learnt that it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t achieve the natural birth I wanted. I connected with the most supportive women to help me mend my broken heart. By the time my baby was due, I was in a grateful state of mind. I sought a doula to help me write up a birth plan to prepare my mind for all the scenarios I could face in delivering my baby. Whereas for the first birth, all I wanted was a vaginal birth. In the end, I was grateful that the health system, while it may not be perfect, was on the lookout for my own and my baby’s well-being and that I would be okay no matter what happened.

Here’s some practical advice for mamas planning a VBAC: I found the most solid scientific evidence supported eating six dates a day (I also drank Chinese red date tea) and using breast stimulation (I gently massaged my breasts for five minutes, morning and evening) to help encourage spontaneous labour. I did both diligently. As my due date approached, my acupuncturist also suggested walking down stairs for 15 minutes a day to help gravity engage the baby. On the second day of consistently going up and down the stairs—and quite possibly sex on the couch too!—I went into labour. I had my doubts, especially since my first baby came 10 days late, but I was so relieved when I lost my mucus plug just two days past my due date.

On the 2nd of November 2024, I delivered my daughter at 40+2weeks. I wished for a grateful, calm and happy birth. While most of my encounters with the midwives going through the public system were positive, I believe I was able to manage the very few unpleasant encounters with doctors very well because I had done my research and I had a clear opinion on what I wanted. I said no to the stretch and sweep at 39+6 weeks and declined the antibiotics based on my positive GBS test with confidence, where I may have just conceded to what was suggested by the professionals the first time round.

So to those preparing for a VBAC: regain control and confidence by doing your research, find something positive to connect with in each person who crosses your path during pregnancy and birth, do your body-balancing exercises and VBAC will be within your reach! Don’t let the circumstances define you because you’ve got it in you! YOU GOT THIS.

Birth story by Takako.