Successful VBAC without doula?

celiacmama

I am hoping for a VBAC this time around...I fall into the cheated out of birth by cautious provider category. DS#1 measured big and I let the fear of big baby get to me - when the OB suggested a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks due to macrosomia and 'small pelvis' I felt scared into it. He was only 8lbs 3 oz.......and to this day I feel I should have tried on my own. It felt completely unnecessary to schedule a c/s...

So with my daughter, due in Dec, I have a new OB who is pro VBAC and excited to help me try for the birth I hoped for this time around. I honestly have read Hypnobabies and Ina May but otherwsie haven't done any more "prep." I am finding it really hard to justify the price of a doula to my husband (who is a surgeon!) and am curious if people have had successful VBACs without hiring a doula? If so, what can you suggest that offered help during L&D? My husband is a surgeon with only OB experience during med school and he keeps trying to tell me L&D nurses will get us through it, but I hear more negative L&D nurse stories than positive so what if they don't help us?! 

 

MAprincess

I had a successful induced hospital VBAC with just my midwife, DH, and the nurse!  Everyone there was super supportive (actually all of the nurses on the floor were supportive and excited to have a VBACer on the floor).  My L&D nurse was AWESOME but my CNM handpicked her for my birth when she saw she was on schedule.

I have seen stories of nurses who were bad.  But you have to remember that a doula doesn't have a legal right to tell the doctors/nurses what to do for you.  That falls on you.  They can sort of lay referee a bit, but they aren't employees of the hospital- they have no real say.  They are there more to help you through labor, etc.  I know people with doulas who loved and and some who felt it wasn't necessary, so it is a personal choice.

tlew12778

My husband is also a surgeon and I just had a successful VBAC last Thursday without a doula. I live in Italy and no one but the partner is allowed in the delivery room. We do have doulas here but I wasn't about to hire one if she couldn't champion my cause at the most important moment.

Anyway... To make a long story short, my OB and the hospital is VERY VBAC friendly. Some say too much in fact. Most births are attended to by MWs and not OB bc birth is considered a natural process that should not require medical intervention. That was not my case in the end. I had a precipitous labor 3 hrs total with tetonic contractions that resulted in brachycardia for DS so they had to get him out fast. End result was natural labor no time for an epi bc I went from 0 to 10 in less than 2 hrs, episiotomy and vacuum extraction. No delayed cord clamping either as DS was blue.

DH was pretty calm throughout but seriously remembers JACK from med school about OB/Gyn. He was even shocked at the number of ppl in the delivery room 10 bc if the urgency requiring a neonatal team as well as a surgical team in case of emergency CS.

ChynaDholl

I did my VBAC without a doula. You could try asking your DH to familiarize himself with techniques to help you that a doula would normally do etc, if he doesn't want to pay for one. You could also try finding a student/new doula that is trying to build their portfolio since they normally do it free or at a reduced cost.