In this episode of “The VBAC Link Podcast,” Meagan is joined by Lauren from Alabama. Lauren’s first birth was a Cesarean due to breech presentation where she really wasn’t given any alternative options. Her second was a VBAC with a head-down baby, and her third was a breech VBAC with a provider who was not only supportive but advocated on her behalf!

Though each of her births had twists and turns including PROM, the urge to push before complete, frequent contractions early on, and NICU time, Lauren is a great example of the power that comes from being an active decision maker in birth. She evaluated pros and cons and assumed the risks she was comfortable with. 

Thank you, Lauren, for your courage and vulnerability in sharing not only your birth stories with us but also your incredible birth video!

Lauren's YouTube Channel

Cleveland Clinic Breech Article

The VBAC Link Blog: ECV Explained

Needed Website

How to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for Parents

Full Transcript under Episode Details 

Meagan: Hello, Women of Strength. If you have ever wondered if a breech vaginal birth or a breech VBAC is possible, let me just tell you right now, the answer is yes and our friend Lauren today is going to share her story to confirm that it is 100% possible. Obviously, we do have some breech VBAC stories on the podcast but they are few and far between. 

I mean, Lauren, when you were going through it, did you hear a lot of breech births in general let alone VBAC? Did you hear a lot of people having those? 

Lauren: No. I had heard a few on The VBAC Link but that was really it. 

I did a lot of research. 

Meagan: Yes and it’s so unfortunate. This story is a double VBAC story but also a breech VBAC which we know a lot of people seek the stories for this because as she just said, there is not a lot of support out there when it comes to breech birth in general. We have a client right now who was just told that her baby was breech and they’ve already said, “We’re going to try to flip this baby but if not, it’s a C-section.” They didn’t even talk about breech vaginal birth being an option and it makes me so sad. 

I’m really, really excited to get into your episode. You are in Alabama. Is that correct? 

Lauren: I am. 

Meagan: Awesome. So any Alabama mamas, listen up especially if you have a breech VBAC but VBAC in general. If someone is willing to support a breech VBAC, I’m going to guess that they are pretty supportive of VBAC in general. 

We do have a Review of the Week so we will get into that. This is by sarahinalaska. It says, “HBA2C attempt”. It says, “Thank you, thank you. Your podcast came to me at such an amazing time. You ladies are doing something amazing here. I’m planning on (I’m going to) have an HBAC after two C-sections in February. I look forward to listening to your podcast on repeat to fuel my confidence, ability, and knowledge.” 

Sarahinalaska, this has been just a minute so if you had your VBAC or just in general, if you are still listening, let us know how things went and congratulations. Late congratulations because this was a couple of years ago. 

Meagan: Okay, everybody. Lauren, thank you again for being here. 

Lauren: Thank you for having me. 

Meagan: Yes, so okay. Obviously, every VBAC journey starts with a C-section so if you want to start right there. 

Lauren: Yeah. So my first son was about 7 years ago. He was born by C-section. He was also breech. 

Meagan: Oh, interesting. Okay. 

Lauren: He was breech through the entire pregnancy. We had talked to my doctor about doing the version but at 36 weeks, my water broke. 

Meagan: Okay. 

Lauren: So once your water breaks, you can’t attempt a version. I went to the hospital and they said that it would have to be a C-section at that point. I really didn’t have the knowledge that I do now and basically, it was worded as “I don’t have an option” and that’s just it. 

So that’s what we did. 

Meagan: Yeah. It’s so common. Even with non-breech, there are so many times when we come into our birth experience and we are left feeling like we don’t have an option. 

Lauren: Yeah. 

Meagan: It’s just so hard to know. Obviously, that’s why we created this podcast so you know all of your options. And then talking about flipping a baby and doing an ECV after your water broke, that is something I’ve only seen one time in 10 years of practicing so most providers will be like, “Nope. I won’t even attempt it.” I was actually floored when my client was actually offered that. 

Obviously, it’s a more difficult experience and it can be stressful on the baby as well so there’s that to consider. She ended up trying it. He tried it twice and it didn’t happen and then they ended up going into the OR. 

So okay. Baby was breech. Do you know why baby was breech? Did they say anything about your uterus or any abnormalities there? 

Lauren: No. They said sometimes it just happens. They knew how badly I wanted to have a vaginal birth and they said, “You are an excellent candidate for a VBAC.” So I was like, “Okay, great.” 

Meagan: Awesome. 

Lauren: That’s when I really took a deep dive into birth in general because the stuff that they were saying just didn’t sound right to me. 

Meagan: They said you were a candidate. So where did your VBAC journey start as you were diving in? How did that begin? Did you do that before pregnancy or after you fell pregnant? 

Lauren: Before pregnancy. Probably before the time I came home from the hospital with my son, I was already researching. 

Meagan: Baby was a couple of days old and you’re like, “And let’s figure this out.” Listen, I get that. That’s exactly how I was too with becoming a doula. It was literally two days after I had my C-section. I signed up to become a doula. 

Okay. You started diving in and what did you find? 

Lauren: It was very shocking to me how most providers don’t practice evidence-based. I found out the difference between evidence-based versus the standard of care. I was shocked about that too. I was just like, How can you do that as a doctor when you’ve got all this evidence here? But another doctor is practicing this way so it’s okay for you to do that. 

Meagan: Right. It becomes the norm or it has become the norm. Yeah. Okay. So you get pregnant and you know VBAC is possible. Tell us that VBAC story. 

Lauren: So that was just a wonderful experience but part of my research, I joined ICAN and I wanted the most VBAC-supportive provider out there. I did switch providers and I switched even before I was pregnant. Right when we were trying, I was like, I need to get in with a provider who is supportive. I found a wonderful provider. 

The pregnancy was great. I did all the things. I sat on the birth ball instead of on the couches. I made sure to take walks every day. I kept up with my chiropractic care. All of that were just tips that I had seen so I did that. 

She was head down by 20 weeks so I was super excited about that and she waited until 40+3 which was also a big thing for me because with my first son, they took him to the NICU so I did not want the NICU. The NICU was a horrible experience. I was like, Please, please, please hold on until 37 weeks. 40 would be great.

She did. She held on until 40. It was funny too. It was like a switch flipped at that point and I was like, okay. Now I want to get her out. I was eating the spicy food and everything to try to get labor started. 

But 40+3, my water broke with her as well before labor started. I panicked a little bit because I didn’t want to be on a clock. Although I felt that I was with a good provider, I still hadn’t birthed with her yet and I’ve heard stories about people having this doctor who tells them everything they want to hear and then they get in the birth room and it’s completely different. 

Meagan: The bait-and-switch, yeah. It’s so hard because they talk about how we have to have this proven pelvis to be considered the best candidate or to have full faith in our ability, but at the same time, I feel like sometimes from us at a patient’s standpoint, they need to prove to us. They need to prove to us that they are supportive throughout. 

Lauren: Yes. For sure. So pretty quickly a