VBAC Births in San Antonio

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find doctors who are willing to do vbac births in San Antonio. Sadly, many moms feel like their only option is a scheduled c-section. I wanted to share a recent wonderful experience I had at a vbac birth with my client. When I met Julie she was expecting her second child and was interested in hiring me to be her birth doula for her second birth. She has a three year old son who was born by cesarean after 3 long hours of pushing. Julie is 5'2 and Tate was an 8'11 ounce baby. Julie had recovered physically from her cesarean but emotionally she still struggled with feelings of failure. After much soul searching and very little encouragement, she and her husband had made the decision to try and have a vbac with their second birth. Julie was under the care of the Lonestar Midwives who deliver at St. Lukes Baptist Hospital. Fortunately for Julie she was at one of the few vbac friendly providers here in San Antonio. Although, dozens of studies report that for women who have had one prior cesarean birth with a low-horizontal incision, the risk of uterine rupture is less then 1%, many physicians will not allow women a trial of labor due to the liability risk. Julie and I met several times prior to her birth and talked about places she had gotten "stuck" in her labor. We talked about ways we could handle those situations differently. After talking, Julie felt that delaying/avoiding an epidural was very important for her and that pushing on her hands and knees was crucial to be able to push out her large baby. Julie worked hard learning relaxation breathing and relaxation techniques. She used the Hypnobabies vbac relaxation cd. Many of my clients have used this program with good results. I am happy to report that Julie vaginally delivered her beautiful son after a very manageable 18hr labor. She delayed getting an epidural until 7 cm. After an hour of pushing on her back she insisted on pushing on her hands and knees which was the key to her success. I hope this will be an encouragement to any moms who desire a vbac delivery. The success rate of vbac birth is around 70%. That means that 3 out of 4 women can successfully delivery their baby vaginally. If it is your hearts desire to deliver your baby vaginally it is definitely possible!