VBAC

What do you consider a good VBAC success rate?

I'm kind of obsessed with finding the perfect practice for my next annual so I can be an established patient when we're expecting baby #2. Of course my #1 priority is being supportive of a VBAC, but I want to be in-hospital this time.

There's a practice in my area that self-reports a rate of 24% attempted VBACs and an 85% VBAC success rate. The 85% sounds great to me, but what about the 24% - I'm not sure if that's 24% of their patients are attempting VBACs or of those with prior c-sections, 24% attempt a VBAC. The former would be great, the latter not so impressive. I actually was with this practice for the first few appointments of my first pregnancy and I liked them alot but wanted a home birth, so I switched. They said they were supportive of natural birth, but when I said needle-free (as in no IVs) they were pretty nervous but I still strongly about IVs - I think it does more harm than good to dilute the blood during labor if the woman isn't dehydrated.  

Would you consider these stats to be good? I don't know how to benchmark this. 

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Re: What do you consider a good VBAC success rate?

  • My guess is the 24% is those who are VBAC eligible who decide to attempt a VBAC.  And that is actually a really good number.  I believe the nationwide attempt rate is much lower than that.  85% success is also a great rate.  That suggests that of those who decide to attempt a VBAC, they are very supportive. 

    I delivered with a CNM who has a consistent 90-95% success rate.  I did have to have a hep-lock in just in case (they insert the needle in your arm and lock it so it is available in case of emergency).  I really didn't notice it.  They did not have anything going through it unnecessarily.  Actually, a nurse wanted to start an IV to keep me hydrated and my CNM stopped her and said she doesn't do that unless needed for her patients.  So maybe that could be a compromise you can come to if their concern is access in an emergency.

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  • The 24% of women with a prior CS rate is a good thing, nationally the rate is 8%. I think finding out how many women have VBACs per year, and how long they've been doing VBACs are both good numbers to know, also.

    There's a hospital in my city that has a really high success rate, but doesn't do very many VBACs per year. I ended up going with a practice that is a lot bigger and does a lot more VBACs, because I figured they would be more supportive of VBAC even if things got complicated during labor.

    As for the IV, you can get a hep/saline lock instead.

    DS1 - Feb 2008

    DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)

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