We have received so many messages and emails from you requesting more VBAMC stories and today, we are giving you just that. Susana joins us from Mexico sharing her VBAC story after five Cesareans!

Each of Susana’s Cesarean experiences was unique in their own way, but the dream of a vaginal birth never left her heart. When she found a supportive midwife and doctor during her VBA5C pregnancy, Susana knew this was her chance to finally achieve that goal. 

With her husband by her side encouraging and supporting her, Susana powerfully pushed her baby out. The hospital staff and community buzzed with shock and amazement over what she had achieved!

“That moment was unlike any other moment in my life.”

ACOG Article: Dr. Angelica Glover

Evidence-Based Birth: The Evidence on VBAC

Needed Website

How to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for Parents

Full Transcript under Episode Details 

Meagan: Women of Strength, this is the moment so many of you have been waiting for. We have a VBA5C so for anyone who doesn’t know what that means, it is a VBAC after 5 Cesarean story for you today. This has been requested so much. We received emails in our personal email. We have gotten it on social media saying, “Please, can we get some stories that have VBAC after more than 3 Cesareans?” We know so many people out there don’t know that this is an option or they know it’s an option but they don’t find the support or they can’t find the support. 

They are few and far between but we have our friend Susana today who is going to be sharing her VBA5C story. Welcome, Susana. How are you?

Susana: Hi. Thank you so much for inviting me. I’m so excited. 

Meagan: Oh my gosh. I am so excited. 

Yes. I am so excited and you are in Mexico, correct? Is that where your VBAC was? 

Susana: I’m sorry? 

Meagan: Was your VBAC in Mexico?

Susana: Yeah, but it was a very, very hard way. I’m going to share what I did. 

First of all, I can’t separate this way from my faith because I prayed so much for this and I trusted so much and also, I trusted so much in the process and in the body and those things 

But okay, I’m going to tell you what happened with me and why I had five C-sections. 

First of all, I got pregnant in 2009. My pregnancy went very healthily with no problems at all. I was 41+5 weeks and I had a doctor who was– well, he said he was for natural birth. I don’t know how to say it. He was pro-birth. 

Meagan: Yeah, that he’s pro. He’s supportive. 

Susana: Supportive. Yeah, that’s the word. But in reality, he was more C-section-supportive. While we were passing a very difficult part of our life because my father-in-law passed away exactly on my due date. We were very emotional and very sensitive. Labor wasn’t starting so the doctor said, “No, baby is not engaged. You are only 3 centimeters. I can say that baby is not going to birth naturally. I say that it is better for you to go directly to the C-section.” 

I was disappointed because I was walking so much every day, but for the situation for my husband and all of the family, I accepted. We went to the C-section. 

I got pregnant again in 2010 8 months later and I was very excited to now get a VBAC. The doctor said he wasn’t going to support me but in the end, I had a TOLAC, a trial. I was progressing well. I was 5 centimeters when I went to the hospital and the doctor was a little bit nervous because the C-section that I had before was one year and five months before so he was like, “You have to be fast because we have the risk of uterine rupture.” 

He started to make an impression on me and I was starting to be stressed. After 5 hours I think, he said, “Baby is not getting down. You are still at 5 and we are going to the C-section again.” I cried a lot and my husband said, “We tried and we can’t do this anymore. It can be dangerous. Go to the C-section.” 

It was very traumatic because they put in the epidural and it only worked in half of my body. I started to scream, “No, please. No. I can feel everything.” They put the epidural in again. It was difficult. 

Then I got pregnant again in 2012 but I didn’t fight anymore. I decided for a repeat C-section. The good part is that it was peaceful because I was accepting the situation. Everything went well. 

Then I got pregnant in 2013. Also, we were going to opt for a C-section because I didn’t have any other chance but the doctor started saying, “No more babies. Four C-sections is a thing,” and things like that but my husband and I were talking about it and we thought that it wasn’t an option for us to have– I don’t remember the word. Tying the tubes. 

Meagan: Oh yeah, a tubal. 

Susana: Yes. The sterilization. 

So we went to a repeat C-section. It wasn’t as smooth as the one before because my baby was 37.5 weeks so we had a little problem with maturity. Is that the word? She was very small. 

Meagan: She was technically preterm. 

Susana: Yeah. Preterm. She showed signs of preterm. She was whimpering and something like that. We had to go to the neurospecialist. Everything was going well and there was no problem at all, but we were careful for another pregnancy. 

We waited a lot and we got pregnant again in 2017. I spent the half of my pregnancy with the same doctor, but at half of the pregnancy when I was 20 weeks, some friend told me, “Oh, you know what? There is a mom in Brazil who had a VBAC after four C-sections.” I was like, “What?” I didn’t know that existed. 

I started to inform myself and I found a supportive midwife but she said, “We aren’t going to chance it to go to the hospital. We have to have the birth in your house.” 

We prepared everything for the home birth and the bad thing is that I was anxious at 39 weeks and had prodromal labor. I passed the due date. I was 41 and 42 and then 42.5 weeks so stress started to play a role here. 

I started labor but I passed three days in labor so that was really, really hard. I passed two days at 5 centimeters dilation. Then my midwife said, “I don’t know what has happened. I think we can’t wait anymore. You have to go to the hospital. Baby is good.” 

The heart rate was optimal but I didn’t know what to do anymore. We went to the hospital. It was the only public hospital. 

Oh, the doctors were freaking out like, “What are you doing? Come on. You have to get the C-section 2 weeks before.” I suffered very, very much obstetric violence. It was very traumatic. Baby was very low. I was at 8 centimeters when I got to the hospital. I was begging for them to let me try and let me push but they said, “No. You are crazy. We have to go to the C-section right, right now.” 

When they pulled baby out, they broke the uterine artery and I lost a lot of blood. I was very weak and it was very painful. That was a disaster. 

We were like, “No more babies I think”, but by the grace of God, I got pregnant again in 2021. Sadly, I had a miscarriage on Christmas actually. It was very sad. But I don’t know. That miscarriage let me know that my body works and that I would be able to have good contractions and my body was able to give birth. 

I prayed, “God, if you want, I want another baby.” 

In November of 2022, I got pregnant again and that time, I was totally strong to fight for another try to have a vaginal birth. My husband was totally against the trying. He was so scared. Also, I was a little bit scared, but I was trusting at that time. I was trusting so hard. I was praying so hard. I decided to not go to the doctor because I was so scared of the doctor. I was hesitant. 

I don’t know why I didn’t want to hear, “You are in danger. No. This is so dangerous. You can’t try. You have to go directly at 38 weeks to the C-section and you have to have a blood transfusion and you are of advanced maternal age,” because I am 41 years old, but I don’t know. I said, “I don’t want that in my pregnancy.” Actually, I had a friend who had seven C-sections and then had four home births. She was telling me, “No. Trust God. You have to know when they talk from fear and when they talk from the truth.” 

I could tell that a lot of people were speaking to me from the fear they felt, not from the truth. 

I stayed with that doctor until 28 weeks. I found a doctor who wasn’t judging me and who was open but he didn’t have experience with VBAC after multiple C-sections so he said, “I can check you and support yo