Doctor Wants to Schedule a C-Section, I Want a VBAC, What Can I Do?

I am 32 wks w/ # 4. 1 & 2 were both vag del. #3 was a c- sec she was small and there was like no fluid in sac. when induced her heart rate kept dropping. Baby # 2 was 7 days overdue baby #3 ( my c-sec) was 10 days overdue. I am due next week. I hated my c-sec. My dr. says If I go into labor on my own by the 41st week we can try v-bac but if not he wants to schedule a c-section in the week after my due date. I really don’t want a c-sec what can I do naturally & safely that may help labor begin? I know about sex and walking.”

Statistically, a vaginal birth is safer than a caesarian, even if you’ve had a c-section before. Surgical birth poses very serious health risks for you and your baby, and is painful and debilitating, as you know. You do not have to consent to surgery if you don’t think it’s in your best interest, and you’re always free to seek other opinions or to deliver elsewhere.

Your doctor does have understandable concerns: overdue babies run the risk of having a sudden, potentially catastrophic event, like running out of fluid, the placenta breaking down or meconium in the amniotic sac. The associated risks of being overdue begin to increase every day after your due date. For reasons unknown, going past 41 weeks appears to be more dangerous to women of African and Asian descent, and less dangerous for women of European descent, who appear from research to have longer-lasting average pregnancies. No matter a patient’s history or genes, though, few doctors are comfortable with letting women go past 42 weeks, even if a mom has a history of long pregnancies. The 41st week of pregnancy and beyond also appears to be more dangerous for older mothers.

A possible compromise is to ask your doctor if he’s be comfortable with you having daily fetal non-stress tests after your due date to check the baby’s health, placenta function and amniotic fluid levels.

As for inducing labor, yes, there’s sex, walks, also eating fruit with tissue-softening bromelian, such as fresh pineapple or papaya. Some women also wear by spicy foods, believing that the intestinal contractions can set of uterine contractions. So why not a spicy pineapple curry?

If you have a breast pump, nipple stimulation can also help encourage contractions. Sweeping the membranes at 40 weeks may also be helpful. For more on that, see here.

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