24 | Alys Gagnon, Breech Elective Caesarean, VBAC

Oct 18, 2017

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Today, Alys takes us through her decision to have an elective caesarean section with her first son William due to his breech position and then going on to have a VBAC. Alys describes William's conception as a ‘deliberate surprise” after a few jokes around the table on a family New Zealand holiday with her partner’s family. Alys laughs about the fact that the first thing she did after taking a home pregnancy test was to go straight to the Good Guys to buy a clothes drier.

Living in Canberra at the time Alys went through Canberra’s Public Hospital for her care. At 32 weeks she discovered her baby was breech. Alys’ doctor said she could decide on how she wanted to move forward. She shares how she made the decision to have a caesarean based on her readings and understandings that in a caesarean birth more of the risk is held by the mother and with a breech vaginal delivery the risk is held more with the baby. She said she probably wouldn’t make the same decision now, however, she was confident with her elective caesarean section choice at the time.

When Alys found out she was pregnant for the second time she began to explore her delivery options. A girlfriend of Alys’ had recently had a Calm Birth, and another friend had had a VBAC home water birth. Having never had a contraction in her first pregnancy, Alys decided she'd like to give a VBAC a try. Alys shares how she went back and forth with the idea and it wasn't until she took her midwifery lead VBAC birth education class at Box Hill Public Hospital. that she felt confident in her decision. The midwife who lead the class convinced Alys that the benefits of a VBAC outweighed the risks. She walked away knowing that she wanted to go for a VBAC.

To hear more about how Alys’ successful VBAC went tune into the show.

Topics covered: Breech baby, elective caesarean, chemical pregnancy, VBAC, low milk supply, formula feeding, retained placenta.

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