My Birth. My Body. My... Choice?

After my daughter was born I, thankfully, found myself constantly surrounded by other mommies and our conversations almost always ended up being about birth, breastfeeding and all things baby.  It was just what it was... we were (are) mommies and our babies were (are) our lives. 

We were happiest when we were watching our babies play together and when we could share our countless stories.  Mainly, our birth stories.  One of my girlfriends was heavily into natural birth and in fact had her baby girl at home.  That amazed me.  It was never anything I thought about doing and yet I found myself intrigued.  And full of questions.  

Since my daughter was born via c-section, I was under the, (heavily misguided), impression that once you had one c-section, you were automatically headed toward another.  And if it weren't for my mommy friends who knew better and helped to teach me to do the research and fight for my choice, I seriously doubt I would've made the (right) decisions I did.  

It turns out there is a term for a woman who has a vaginal delivery after a cesarean section... It's called a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean or VBAC.  When I first heard this term I had may questions and I wanted answers.  For the 1st time I felt like I could actually have a real say in how my babies were going to be born.  And that wasn't a slight on my ob, at all, just a realization that I didn't have to conform to what medical doctors often recommended.  I told myself that if I ever got pregnant again I was going to have a VBAC delivery.  And if my ob wasn't on board with it, I would find one who was.  

Around the same time I found out I was pregnant, or even a little before, a new movie/documentary about birth was released.  It is a film made by Ricki Lake and is called, 'The Business of Being Born'.  I highly recommend it.  It is a much needed educational film on child birth and how most major hospitals/doctors today push women to have unnecessary c-sections.  It is incredibly informative.  Of course, not all hospitals and doctors are the same and I actually believe my ob is an exception to the rule, but the truth is that there is a wide spread epidemic of unnecessary medically induced births and it was time we as women, took back our bodies.  Our choices.  

I knew, from the moment I heard of a VBAC, it was the way I planned to go with my next baby. And after watching the movie I was even more convinced that not only was my body capable of going thru a vaginal delivery, but that I would stand up and stand strong for what I knew was right.  And at my next appointment I told my ob about my birth plans and he, fortunately, was supportive.  I was painfully aware that a lot of doctors and hospitals did not allow VBAC deliveries, so I was thankful to be apart of a medical team who warmly welcomed the idea. 

I also had to get my family on board, most importantly my husband.  It became my responsibility to help inform them of the actual truths and statistics of having another cesarean verses a vaginal birth.  It wasn't an easy task with a husband who grew up solely relying on doctors and medicines and naturally he was hesitant to hop on board.  I wore him down, gently, and provided him with articles to read.  And after seeing how important it was to me, he changed his tune and started supporting the idea.  100%. 

And so, our decision, my choice, had been made.  I was in charge and I called the shots.  And it felt damn good.