My VBAC at Home on the Farm After Two C-Sections

I am a very “natural” person. I love to eat healthy, exercise, enjoy fresh air and develop healthy habits. So naturally, I wanted a home birth. I read everything I could get my hands on about the subject. I ate well and exercised. My first pregnancy in the early 1980’s proceeded along fine until the last trimester. Towards the end, my baby became deeply set in a breech position. My midwife tried to gently turn her manually and with a flashlight. Sometimes babies in the womb are attracted to light and will follow it. After she was unsuccessful, she sent me to another midwife more experienced in turning babies in the womb. This second midwife was unsuccessful too. I then went to my doctor, as I had been seeing both an M.D. and a midwife. By the time the doctor finished examining me I was bleeding and soon after started leaking amniotic fluid. I called my doctor back and she recommended I go straight to a team of ob gyns experienced in c-sections so I did. They immediately started proceedings to get me in the operating room. After an epidural was administered the procedure was performed, I was awake through the process, husband at my side. With talk of their latest golf games they made the incisions necessary to get my baby out surgically. A frank breach, once surgically removed, I saw that her buttocks were molded to the shape of the small space they were in. I could not believe I was now transitioned into a “mother”; I had a sweet baby girl, my first born.

For my second pregnancy I went to an M.D. experienced in VBACs or Vaginal Birth After Caesareans. I was hopeful throughout the pregnancy. When the time came I went to the hospital, only a block from my home in Corpus Christi, Texas. Immediately, a fetal monitor was strapped on me and I was laid down on a bed. After many hours my doctor broke my water bag or amniotic sack. I remember just breaking down and crying feeling that this birth too would be unnatural. After a few more hours I was diagnosed as “failure to progress” and given another cesarean section. My second child, another daughter was born! In retrospect I felt that I went to the hospital too early and that the lack of walking and other physical activities early in labor slowed my labor down.

For my third pregnancy in the early 1990’s I saw a midwife and an MD. Having no medical insurance I private paid the MD as well as the midwife as my pregnancy proceeded along. I was living on a working farm in San Patricio County, Texas with my husband, two daughters, horses and various farm animals such as chickens. From about month six until birth I attended a college in Corpus Christi to finish my degree. I remember in my 9th month getting down on the library floor to get books for research reports and barely being able to get up. Fellow students would ask me what would happen if I had my baby at school. Based on my past two experiences, I did not think that was likely. I registered for the next semester’s classes the day before my son was born. I had my two daughters with me and I had to breathe through strong Braxton Hick’s contractions just to walk across the Del Mar College campus. The next morning I woke up in the early stages of labor about 6:00 am. I called my midwife in Corpus Christi who was in no huge hurry to get out to me but did came in a couple of hours. She knew I was a little nervous. She brought her young child with her whom was still nursing. A friend from church, experienced in home birth herself came as my coach and another friend, a natural birth educator and nurse practitioner came to videotape and assist and encourage. I was able to walk around, drink a little juice, shower, get in the tub, and do whatever I wanted. That power and freedom felt amazing compared to what I’d been through before at the two hospitals. As long as I did my breathing and kept my focus I was “in control” of my pain. My team was immensely helpful in helping me to do this. At 6:00 pm my son was born. He was healthy with a great APGAR scale reading. When I called my doctor the next day and told him the news he gave me $1000. back since he did not deliver me!
My midwife was equipped with oxygen and was ready to transport me had the need arose. In the hands of strong women I gave birth to my precious son.

Our caesarian rate in the United States is way too high in my opinion. Do your own research and draw your own conclusion. Some caesarians are necessary but I was healthy and had non-recurring reasons. I related my story as a layperson, not a midwife, not a medical doctor but as a woman who endured two hospital cesarean sections and went on to have a third birth on a farm, at home, naturally, without an M.D., drugs or a scalpel. I cannot say it would be right for you, but for me it was the realization of a dream, an ideal. My natural VBAC at home, in the fresh country farm air on a cool November day was one of the most empowering experiences in my life.