Australian VBAC Stories

We’re overjoyed to bring you the incredible story of Carissa’s three births. She takes us deep into her journey from a planned caesarean with a private obstetrician, to her emergency caesarean in hospital, to her powerful and joyous freebirth with her third son. Carissa hired a private obstetrician in her first pregnancy and was devastated to learn that the myomectomy, that she had previously undergone, led to being recommended a planned caesarean at 39 weeks. This was a very difficult experience and ultimately led to a disconnect in bonding with her son, that resulted in a very challenging postpartum period. After significant preparation of her body and womb, Carissa and her husband consciously conceived their second son, Aubrey. They considered a homebirth with a private midwife, though ultimately planned to birth in the local public hospital within the continuity of midwifery care program. Carissa hired a doula for this birth, and reflects very openly and deeply about how she feels she handed over her power to others around her, hoping for them to “save her”, and looking outward to them to ensure she had the birth she wanted. After a marathon labour, which involved discovering she had contracted an infection, Carissa made the decision to have a second caesarean. She describes the trauma she experienced when her son was taken from her for resuscitation and the separation they experienced after she was taken to recovery. Carissa speaks about reclaiming this postpartum and having much more connected and healing experience with her second son, including what she describes as a beautiful experience of tandem feeding him and her first son, Teddy. As soon as Carissa fell pregnant with her third son, she knew she would not be birthing in a hospital. She and her husband ultimately chose to have a freebirth, and Carissa shares her wealth of wisdom gained on that journey. These learnings include how Carissa empowered herself from within to birth the way she wanted; the need to ride the wave and rewrite the story in a birth that unfolded in a similar way to her previously traumatic one; and the importance of and the power found in surrounding yourself with a tribe of like-minded people. Carissa describes her gorgeous, undisturbed, empowering and healing freebirth at home, with just her husband and a trusted friend present. We were so moved by this story and know all our listeners are going to love the abundance of wisdom and emotion shared in this episode, no matter how and where they are choosing to birth. Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

Today we are excited to share Emma’s beautiful birth stories, her first baby boy, Eric, born via caesarean after an induction, and her second baby girl, Chloe, born via a repeat caesarean after reaching full dilation during a spontaneous labour.   Her first pregnancy resulted in a pre-eclampsia diagnosis which led to an induction. Emma beautifully describes this birth journey of labouring with a posterior baby with a deflexed head, her experience of having an epidural and then eventual decision to have a caesarean section at 7cm dilation. While Emma’s caesarean section was done via general anaesthetic due to the spinal anaesthetic not working, she describes having a very positive experience of meeting her baby. She describes an initially difficult postpartum experience followed by months of positive breastfeeding with her son before falling pregnant with her next baby. Emma’s next baby, Chloe, was conceived just 7 months after her son, Eric’s, caesarean. Emma describes the discussions she had with the OBs, her decision to plan a VBAC for the easier, more positive recovery it would bring and this subsequent labour, birth and postpartum experience. Emma was an incredible advocate of the birth she wanted, including planning out what a future caesarean might look like so as to avoid the difficulties with epidural/spinal anaesthetic and having these difficult conversations before labour. She shares her labour with another posterior baby (but this time, no deflexed head!), what it was like receiving sterile water injections and also talks about getting to full dilation and pushing only to be told her pelvis was incorrectly shaped and not allowing her baby to descend. Emma describes her second caesarean, again via general anaesthetic, and the way that her empowered decisions during pregnancy and birth led to a much more positive recovery and easier breastfeeding journey too. The reflections shared in this episode are rich and vulnerable, and we believe will be so helpful for women processing their own experiences and journeys through a repeat caesarean after a planned VBAC. We hope you love listening to this episode and learning from Emma’s journey as much as we have enjoyed sharing it with you.   Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA ⁠https://panda.org.au/⁠ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/⁠ COPE Australia ⁠https://www.cope.org.au/⁠ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia ⁠https://www.maternitychoices.org/⁠ Maternity Consumer Network ⁠https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/⁠ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

We are so excited to bring you the incredible Zelda's four epic birth stories for our 22nd episode! First things first: We had a few technical struggles recording this episode, so please forgive the occasional glitchiness of the audio quality and consistency. We hope you will still experience the richness of Zelda's experiences as she shares them It's not often we get to hear about VBA3C stories, and we are so grateful to bring you the second of these stories to the podcast with the incredible Zelda, who shares with us her experiences of planning for a vaginal birth with her first baby, the trauma of her journey to an emergency caesarean and the serious challenges that followed with a baby who didn't feed. Zelda went on to plan a VBAC with her second baby, only to be thwarted again and find herself with a second caesarean. This time, she knew a lot more and demanded skin-to-skin with her baby, and latching and feeding in theatre, and both this bub and her third bub who was born via a planned elective caesarean, she had much smoother feeding and postpartum experiences with. However, when she unexpectedly fell pregnant with her fourth baby, her first son, she knew she wasn't going to accept another elective caesarean as her only option, and she sought out the support of a private midwife with hospital admitting rights. Zelda shares her powerful and redemptive VBA3C with her biggest baby (a healthy 5kg baby boy!) and how she reclaimed her power and her faith in her mind and body in doing so. Thank you, Zelda, we can't wait to hear what you all think! Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In this episode, we are so incredibly fortunate to have the beautiful Claire share her birth stories with us. Claire is an absolute wealth of wisdom, and the beautifully articulate and insightful way she shares her journey with us opens up some gorgeous, deep conversations with our co-hosts Katelyn and Aimee that you won't want to miss. Claire takes us through her first pregnancy, where it was flagged that her baby may not have been growing as they should, and the growth scans she underwent, along with a diagnosed breech position and an unsuccessful ECV, led to booking in a planned caesarean. Claire did go into spontaneous labour just before the scheduled date, and was able to labour for a period, but ultimately ended up birthing her baby via caesarean. Claire openly and vulnerably shares her first postpartum experience, involving a postpartum haemmorhage once she was home from hospital, and the intense physical and mental journey to recovery. We are so grateful that Claire shares a powerful poem she wrote in the trenches of that postpartum, 'Go Home Woman', which beautifully expresses the raw, visceral emotional experience of leaving the hospital with your baby in those fresh days post-birth. We know her words will resonate with so many of our listeners, as they did with us. After trying to conceive for a year, Claire was able to fall pregnant again. This sadly resulted in a miscarriage, and Claire speaks about the need for women and families to talk more about these experiences. Not long after, Claire fell pregnant again and began preparing for her VBAC. She talks us through consciously choosing her care provider and place of birth, and gathering her birth support team, which included a particularly-requested third-year midwifery student and her wonderful doula. Claire's labour and birth is a stunning story, and she takes us on the journey in a beautifully intimate way, generously sharing her insight and wisdom. We won't spoil too much for you, but just know it involves so much power and strength, and will be a wonderful source of inspiration for all women on their VBAC journeys. Claire reflects with us on her birth journeys, and talks about discovering she was worthy of investing in an experience that, for Claire and her family, was momentous and important and worth treating with the reverence it deserved. We know you are going to absolutely love Claire's story and know it will be an incredibly popular episode. We can't wait to hear what you think. Find out more about the poetry anthology that Claire mentions in the episode: What We Carry: Poetry on childbearing brings together the voices of more than 60 contemporary Australian poets. Featuring diverse perspectives on experiences of infertility, conception, termination, loss, pregnancy, birth and the early postpartum period, this collection illuminates the endlessly different ways the potential to carry life is experienced. https://recentworkpress.com/product/what-we-carry-poetry-on-childbearing/ Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

Today, we are so pleased to be bringing you the beautiful Anushka's incredible birth stories. Anushka walks us through her journey to her caesarean birth with her first son and explains how a posterior baby and long labour contributed to a cascade of interventions, including receiving syntocinon that she had not consented to, that ultimately ended with her meeting her baby via caesarean. She powerfully describes how she refused to let this birth be anything other than beautiful and sacred, and it was only much further down the track that she really accepted the trauma that she had experienced - not as a result of having a caesarean, but from the cascading labour and the treatment from maternity staff in the lead up. In her second pregnancy, she was in the middle of her midwifery studies, and originally decided to go back through the team midwifery clinic she had used in her first pregnancy with student midwife, after being unable to find available support for a hospital birth from doulas or private midwives in the area. Divine intervention, you might call it, saw her turn her plans around completely when she realised she wanted to birth at home and she found a wonderful PPM to support her HBAC. Another posterior labour, but this time with solid support around her, and Anushka brought her second son into the world with one foot in her bedroom and the other firmly planted in the stars. She shares vulnerably about her more complicated breastfeeding journey with her second son, and the impact of ongoing and unrelenting sleep deprivation over his first year of life. It was such a joy to interview Anushka for our podcast, and she shares her experiences so generously and with such thoughtfulness that we know you are going to absolutely love this one. Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

Welcome to Episode 19 of Australian VBAC Stories, and today we’re thrilled to be hearing from Jo who shares her journey to her 2VBA2Cs! That’s two vaginal births after two caesareans. You already know this is going to be a good one.  Jo experienced the very classic cascade of intervention in her first pregnancy and birth journey, and found herself with a caesarean that was unexpected and traumatic. While she scrambled to figure out how to take care of her baby and what she was meant to do with her, she was told off by staff at the hospital for things beyond her knowledge or control as a first time mum, and overall had a rocky start to feeding and motherhood. She planned a VBAC with her second baby, but despite doing some incredible work in her labour reaching almost fully dilated, she developed an infection and was immediately taken for a caesarean to birth her baby. Despite a much calmer and more positive caesarean experience, and easier breastfeeding journey, Jo’s recovery was far more challenging while she now balanced her surgical recovery with caring for a newborn and a toddler.  Her third baby was born during covid, and Jo found some key players at the hospital who supported her goal of a VBA2C, despite the overwhelming negativity and naysaying from hospital obstetricians in particular. She laboured beautifully, and achieved her VBA2C with the assistance of forceps, and was over the moon. Her recovery was tougher than she expected with an episiotomy also involved, but she felt physically better far quicker than with her caesarean recoveries, and emotionally and mentally felt significantly better.  She was then blessed with a surprise fourth baby, and thought having a 2VBA2C would be a much more straightforward and supported journey, given she had now done this once already. Unfortunately, she experienced just as much push back and even coercion from the hospital. She stayed firm, and did a huge amount of mental preparation as well as physical, and ultimately pushed her beautiful boy and pulled him up to her chest from standing next to the bed in the hospital.  We know you will all benefit so greatly from Jo’s stories, and how she advocated for herself in the face of so much negativity. We hope you enjoy learning from her incredible birth experiences! Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

Welcome to Episode 18 of the Australian VBAC Stories Podcast! Today we are delighted to have Imogen on the podcast sharing her somewhat unusual journey to VBAC with us. Imogen's first pregnancy was a beautiful surprise, but before she could really come to terms with it, sadly, she lost that baby at 7 weeks. However, this experienced had opened up her heart to the idea of having a baby, and her and her partner Courtney started trying to fall pregnant again. Imogen was very motivated to have a natural birth, and ended up at a private midwife information night where she was quickly sold on the idea of a PPM and a homebirth that the immediately booked in for. As her pregnancy progressed beyond 40, and then 41 weeks, nerves kicked in from all sides as she faced needing to transfer into hospital if she passed 42 weeks gestation in her corner of the world. After a couple of stretch and sweeps, she did begin contracting just ahead of the deadline, and a long and challenging labour began. Imogen shares her experience of labouring at home and knowing things weren't happening as they should, and before long, being transferred into hospital. A classic cascade of interventions occurred once in hospital, and she eventually found herself labelled "failure to progress" and being wheeled into an emergency caesarean. She talks us through the delay she found in bonding with her baby, and her chaotic experience of postpartum including moving house multiple times. When she was ready to have another baby, Imogen knew she wanted a VBAC, and she decided to try a different model of care and booked in under the public hospital. This birth involved a similarly long and challenging labour, and Imogen expresses how important her support team was in holding her through those crises of confidence along the way, including the beautiful hospital midwives who she met at arrival to the hospital who really advocated for her to get the birth she wanted. We hope you are inspired by Imogen's tenacity and strength as much as we were, and that you can take away some incredible inspiration for her story! Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In this episode we have Nadia, an incredible mama of two, sharing her caesarean and VBAC journeys. Her stories are rich with reflection, exploring her first birth journey involving a baby with Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) and sudden induction leading to a caesarean, and her following, empowering VBAC with the support of her husband, doula and a private OB. Nadia beautifully shares her thought processes and reasoning throughout these journeys with such wisdom, including her struggles with breastfeeding and perinatal anxiety and how she worked through these experiences. We are sure you will love hearing her incredible birth stories. We are so excited to share it with you and would love to hear your thoughts! Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA ⁠https://panda.org.au/⁠ Gidget Foundation ⁠https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/⁠ COPE Australia ⁠https://www.cope.org.au/⁠ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia ⁠https://www.maternitychoices.org/⁠ Maternity Consumer Network ⁠https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/⁠ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

Welcome to Episode 16 of the Australian VBAC Stories Podcast! Today, on the International Day of the Midwife (5th May), we are so excited to be sharing Kim's incredible birth stories! Kim shares her inspiring and awesome journey to a VBA3C, including 3 public hospital caesarean births and then a VBA3C with a private midwife. Kim's first pregnancy resulted in a little girl born via caesarean due to high blood pressure and breech positioning at her local, low-risk public hospital. While Kim wasn't thrilled at the prospect of birthing via caesarean she describes that she had a positive caesarean experience, but also that her partner (Nick) struggled with this birth given it was unexpected and he hadn't experienced theatre previously. Kim describes her breastfeeding journey and the sudden conception of her next two babies within a year of birth each time. Given the local public hospital didn't support VBAC she prepared herself for a repeat caesarean each time, though she did ask about VBAC not only at her local hospital, but further afield as well. A little over a year after her 3rd baby's birth, which was another caesarean, Kim found out she was pregnant again! In the interim she had spoken with a private midwife and this time she knew she was going to plan a VBAC! She contacted the private midwife, Ashlee Anslow, who had admitting rights at a hospital about 2 hours away and she prepared for her VBA3C. Kim's story is rich with information and inspiration, guiding women towards trusting their innate knowledge and intuition. It not only talks about her incredible VBA3C but also about her caesarean experiences, pelvic floor and core rehabilitation, navigating breastfeeding struggles, having small age gaps between children, relationship changes and dynamics with multiple babies and the fragmented hospital system. Kim describes navigating all of these hurdles in an empowered and conscious way, finally celebrating the triumph of birthing her baby into her arms, in the water, after having not experienced a single contraction during any birth prior. We know you'll be so inspired by Kim's powerful story and can take so much hope, information and encouragement from her sharing. Thank you, Kim! Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA ⁠https://panda.org.au/⁠ Gidget Foundation ⁠https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/⁠ COPE Australia ⁠https://www.cope.org.au/⁠ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia ⁠https://www.maternitychoices.org/⁠ Maternity Consumer Network ⁠https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/⁠ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In honour of Caesarean Awareness Month this April, we are bringing you some incredible stories from women whose VBAC journeys resulted in repeat caesarean sections. Today, on her birthing day, we are so excited to share Emma's incredible birth stories! Emma journeyed through a planned caesarean for her twin babies' births, where the presenting twin was breech, through the public hospital system. During this pregnancy, birth and postnatal journey she experienced fragmented care, a term pregnancy with twins, a planned caesarean, the special care nursery, breastfeeding difficulties and postnatal depletion. Emma went on to plan a homebirth with a private midwife, Teena Welsh, and her doula (our co-host Aimee). She describes the challenges of getting beyond 42 weeks when all of her homebirth plans changed, and she agreed to an induction which ultimately failed and resulted in a repeat caesarean. Emma shares her breastfeeding experiences, how she avoided postnatal depletion the second time around, and what it felt like transitioning from a family of 4 to a family of 5. Emma shares her birth journeys with us complete with such beautiful insights into her decision making processes and feelings throughout the journey. She describes how different the care of her team was in each birth journey and beautifully highlights the benefits of having both private midwifery and doula support, especially in the hospital setting. We know you'll find this episode incredibly inspiring and insightful, and are sure you'll learn so much from the wisdom Emma so willingly shares. Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA ⁠https://panda.org.au/⁠ Gidget Foundation ⁠https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/⁠ COPE Australia ⁠https://www.cope.org.au/⁠ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia ⁠https://www.maternitychoices.org/⁠ Maternity Consumer Network ⁠https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/⁠ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In honour of Caesarean Awareness Month this April, we are bringing you some incredible stories from women whose VBAC journeys resulted in repeat caesarean sections. Today, we are thrilled to share Helen's incredible journey from a failed induction after suspected preeclampsia under fragmented care in the public hospital system where she was bounced around between a couple of hospitals and really suffered from a lack of continuity and of not being known at all to any care provider she met along the way. Her first caesarean also meant a separation from her baby Theo, who was fed formula before she had a chance to latch him, and they continued to experience significant breast refusal from then on, meaning Helen's breastfeeding journey with Theo was not at all as she desired. Helen knew she wanted a very different experience with the birth of her second child, Hannah, and had done her own research which led her to plan a HBAC under the care of a privately practicing midwife. She was supported to wait for spontaneous labour, and had a long but lovely labour at home before a few indications that something wasn't quite right led them to transfer into hospital. Another long while later in hospital, Helen eventually decided to accept a repeat caesarean, and it was in the theatre that her baby's shoulder was discovered to have pushed through a rupture in her uterine scar from her first caesarean. Helen describes the difference in these two experiences of caesareans in such a beautiful expression of just how crucial continuity of carer can be. We hope that you will find this an inspiring and wonderfully educating episode, learning from Helen's wisdom and eloquent discussion around comparing her care models and treatment within the hospital during her two births. Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In today's episode, we are thrilled to have Tegan share her journey to motherhood including beginning with back-to-back ectopic pregnancies, followed by IVF conception and a rare diagnosis of Vasa Praevia which saw her on bed rest in hospital for weeks leading up to her first birth, a very necessary planned caesarean. She knew she wanted to pursue a VBAC with her next baby, and after another IVF journey to conceive, she sought the care of a doula (our lovely Aimee!) and enjoyed an uneventful pregnancy this time around, preparing herself mental and physically for labour. She shares her very fast labour and birth experience, and what that has meant for her long term in taking years to fully process, and how it has impacted the way she sees herself, women generally, and mothers in our world, especially now that she is three years on from that experience. We know you will absolutely love hearing Tegan's insightful and powerful storytelling, and are so thrilled to share it with you today! Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In this episode, we invite you to listen to Olivia’s powerful story of her two very different births. Olivia is from a large family, and was introduced to birth from a young age when she attended her mother’s homebirth of her younger sibling at 10 years of age. Olivia was diagnosed with oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid) at a routine scan at 41 weeks and was recommended an induction. After being told her baby was in distress, Olivia ultimately had an emergency caesarean, despite feeling a very strong urge to push, even as she was being prepped for surgery. With her baby so low down, there were complications, and Olivia came out of her caesarean with a special scar: a T-incision.  Concerns with Olivia’s post-op health led to a hospital transfer, during which she was separated from her baby and partner, which was incredibly traumatic for her. Not least because of the disrespectful and insensitive care she received from many of the medical staff. Olivia shares her long journey of processing her trauma, seeking help that led to a PTSD diagnosis, and the way that she and her partner were able to acknowledge and ultimately heal from that experience. Olivia became pregnant with her second baby just over two years later, and knew immediately she wanted a VBAC. She decided to hire a private midwife for a homebirth, and found someone whom she immediately felt was the right addition to her birth team. Olivia and her midwife were both comfortable going ahead with her homebirth after doing their own research into the statistics on Olivia’s scar. Olivia takes us through her peaceful, gentle, pain-free and empowering homebirth, which happened very quickly, and ultimately her baby was born before her midwife’s arrival. We know you are going to love listening to Olivia’s emotional, raw and beautifully poignant story. We couldn’t be more grateful to Olivia for sharing so generously and vulnerably. Go on the journey with Olivia as she shares her family’s dreamy life by the sea by following her at @olivia.buchli on Instagram. ____ Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook. If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA: https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation: https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia: https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia: https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network: https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In this episode of Australian VBAC Stories, Tiarny very openly and generously shares the story of her two births. With her first baby, Tiarny planned a homebirth with a private midwife. She went into spontaneous labour at 42+5, and ultimately transfered to hospital due to a prolonged second stage, where her baby was discovered to be presenting asynclitically. She ended up birthing via emergency caesarean, and had a postpartum haemorrhage and inverted T-incision. Tiarny describes her first birth as being the source of a significant amount of trauma for her, predominantly due to the high level of coercion and lack of respectful care she experienced. Tiarny takes us through her first postpartum journey, and how she was able to begin healing from her trauma, starting with seeking the assistance of psychologist early on to address symptoms of PTSD that she recognised in herself, and also eventually with hypnotherapy and talking to her daughter about their shared story. When Tiarny fell pregnant with her second baby, she knew without a doubt that she would be planning a VBAC. She ultimately decided to freebirth with antenatal support from a private midwife. Tiarny shares so much of her freebirth preparation with us, how she was feeling so much more relaxed, open-minded and trusting of her intuition in this pregnancy. Tiarny’s second birth story took an unexpected turn when she went into pre-term labour at 36 weeks. Things progressed extremely quickly, and she gave birth to her baby vaginally, minutes after realising that she was actually in labour. Tiarny was able to experience a very brief moment of skin-to-skin with her daughter before being taken to surgery for a 3.6L postpartum haemorrhage. Tiarny’s baby was taken to special care, and ultimately ended up with an 11-day NICU stay where she sustained an IV injury, that led to another incredibly challenging postpartum period. Tiarny speaks openly about the complexity of simultaneously being proud of achieving her VBAC, while also experiencing painful and challenging aspects of this birth and postpartum journey.  We are so incredibly grateful to Tiarny for sharing her story with us on the podcast. We hope you connect with and gain insight from this episode for your own journey, and enjoy listening as much as we did. Tiarny's beautiful custom birth story books can be found at @yourbirthstorybook on Instagram. ____ Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook. If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

On today's episode of Australian VBAC Stories, we are thrilled to bring you Emily's incredible birth stories. Emily's first birth unfolds a bit differently to many of us. For a first time Mum, Emily was very prepared and very educated on the system and physiological birth, and knew exactly how she wanted to approach getting the birth she envisioned. However, that vision shifted drastically when her waters broke unexpectedly at 34 weeks pregnant, and needed to be transferred to a large tertiary hospital further from home and eventually accept a caesarean section to ensure the safety and wellbeing of her son. She talks so beautifully about how she reframed her perspective as she headed into theatre to meet her baby, and then shares with us her journey as a new mother to a premie baby. Emily knew she wanted a VBAC immediately, and she sought out the services of a privately practicing midwife for a homebirth, and you'll hear about the way she overcome the challenge to accessing this model of care with a due date near Christmas. Emily shares her experience with such openness, honesty, and vulnerability and we have no doubt there will be so much that our listeners will be able to take away from her episode. Emily wishes to thank her beautiful homebirth midwife, Leisa Gittings @leisa_homebirth_midwife and doula, Kellie Whiskin @ourdoula.com.au Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In today's Australian VBAC Stories episode, Olivia shares her incredible birth stories with us including her first caesarean with a baby discovered breech in labour, followed by a breech VBAC with the same Private Obstetrician. Olivia shares of the complexities of breech birth, including breech VBAC with births less than 18 months apart, and also birthing during COVID lockdowns. She provides many beautiful insights in how to navigate the VBAC process, including with the complexities of breech birth, and also beautifully explains her views on VBAC ‘failure’, what this means and why to her, every woman deserves to feel proud of whatever birth decisions they make. We hope you’ll enjoy this beautiful birth story as much as we enjoyed recording it – thanks Olivia for sharing! Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In this episode, we are joined by Rachel, who shares her triumphant journey of achieving a physiological VBAC against challenging odds. Having undergone a caesarean almost three years prior, she discovered at 37 weeks into her second pregnancy that her medical notes deemed her "not suitable for VBAC." Undeterred, Rachel changed hospitals at 38 weeks, advocating for herself throughout her pregnancy. Rachel's first birth was marked by a cascade of interventions and coercive measures by medical professionals designed to instil fear and doubt in the birthing process. In contrast, her VBAC journey emphasises the transformative power of informed decision-making, education, and self-advocacy in birth. Unable to get on the MGP, Rachel guaranteed herself continuity of care by creating her own beautiful support team, with her husband, doula, and student midwife. Rachel's story exemplifies the incredible strength of women, and demonstrates how education, self-belief, and the right support team can transform pain into power. _____ Resources that Rachel mentioned in this episode include: The Great Birth Rebellion podcast Core and Floor Restore free birth classes VBAC Australia Facebook page VBAC Birth Stories podcast Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskins Rachel's Birth Plan Template: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RAsK-5vOBLdInR-ZtHCwoAlYdKFZiFNI _____ Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, ⁠@australianvbacstories⁠ on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love if you could rate, review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA ⁠https://panda.org.au/⁠ Gidget Foundation ⁠https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/⁠ COPE Australia ⁠https://www.cope.org.au/⁠ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia ⁠https://www.maternitychoices.org/⁠ Maternity Consumer Network ⁠https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/⁠ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

In this episode, we bring you the story of Anna's three births. Anna shares her experience from a scheduled caesarean for elevated blood pressure with a private OB, through an extremely difficult miscarriage to two empowered, informed and supported VBACs with a private midwife, first in the hospital and then, with her third baby, at home. This episode is an absolute goldmine of information and explores the topics of prodromal labour, care provider impact on birth options, informed decision making, self advocacy, birth support, empowerment, the journey to homebirth, children in the birthspace and the transformational powers of VBAC. Anna's VBAC journey was so transformative for her that she attributes her experience as the inspiration to pursue her 'dream career' in midwifery. _____ Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love if you could rate, review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

Today's episode brings you the stories of three births told by Jess. Her first baby was born via emergency caesarean under a fragmented care model, and she was especially unfortunate to develop postpartum preeclampsia afterwards which added to the struggles of that postpartum. After a journey of self-education, Jess went on to seek out care under the MGP at her local hospital for her VBAC. She powered through a long and challenging labour, and was facing an instrumental birth after an epidural when she pushed her baby out in theatre before instruments could be used. For her third baby, Jess really wanted to achieve a calm and peaceful birth and so she sought out additional support by way of a doula. She got her peaceful and calm birth, but just not quite the way she expected... Quite an incredible moment on the side of the road! We hope you enjoy listening to these beautiful stories and can take inspiration and joy from Jess's journey. Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.

Today we are honoured to bring you Renee's gorgeous VBAC story. Renee had her first baby via caesarean following a long early labour which led to an augmentation and a classic "failure to progress" diagnosis during the pushing stage of her posterior positioned baby. When she fell pregnant with her second baby, Renee knew she wanted to pursue a VBAC. She faced a number of challenges along the way, including being told she wasn't a suitable candidate for for VBAC based on the notes from her previous caesarean - something she hadn't been told after that caesarean. Renee hired a doula to support her, changed hospitals to find someone who would at least tolerate her decision to VBAC and absolute rocked her labour and birth. We hope you enjoy this episode! Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.  If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love to rate or review, and tell your friends! If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below: PANDA https://panda.org.au/ Gidget Foundation https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ COPE Australia https://www.cope.org.au/ If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations: Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/ Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/ Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.