09/29/2024
Last night, I had the privilege of attending a birth for a mama who was a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). She came to me a bit later in pregnancy after some friends recommended Oregon Birth & Wellness Center. She told me at our initial visit that the OB she was seeing didn’t even physically assess her during her initial visit. That he merely took one look at her and then proceeded to go to his computer where he put in her height, weight, age, and based on her BMI and other factors (I don’t know exactly what his “other factors” were) calculated a success rate for her of 17%. She obviously was very discouraged but she really wanted to try.
Well, if anyone knows me, you’d know if I’m told I can’t do something I’m going to work even harder to prove to you it can be done! This “algorithm” he put her through does NOT know the capacity of a women. What I loved the most about this mama is that she is also a firecracker and determined to succeed.
Last night, while supporting her through labor I noticed her tattoo on her inner left arm close to her heart. It read, “She believed she could, so she did.” And do you know what? I believed her, her husband believed her, her family believed her, her friends believed her, God who created her believed her, and her doula believed her! What’s more? She did! She had a beautiful successful VBAC of a healthy baby girl! Words can’t express how proud of her I am.
You are a woman, so therefore you are capable of birthing your baby the way your body was designed! No one should ever tell you a success rate based on a calculation that a computer gives you! That fact alone lit a fire for me to be determined she would succeed. So far this year we have had 100% success rate with our VBAC mamas.
Unneeded cesearan sections are increasing morbidity and mortality for moms and babies! They have a place and can be lifesaving and necessary at times. Healthy People 2020 goal for c-sections is 23.9%. That’s still pretty high but would be better than the 33-39% c-section rates in Lane County. Oregon’s overall c-section rate is 29.1%. In Oregon in 2022 the rate of vaginal birth after a c-section was 19.3 per 100 live births. So much room for improvement.
The point is that women should be supported and allowed to believe in their bodies. I’m so glad I had the privilege of seeing this overwhelming success last night and I am honored to have been part of her journey
