Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) Comes Back to Light

Due to the decreasing number of vaginal birth after cesarean or VBAC, a number that in fifteen years has dropped to 10 percent from 30 percent, a panel of specialists convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), propose that obstetricians and gynecologists give women a chance to have vaginal birth after undergoing cesarean birth in the past. Dr. Nancy Frances Petit of the U.S. Uniformed Health Services, said: “We believe that many women should have an opportunity to give it a try.”

In 1999, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued guidelines saying VBAC should be attempted only in hospitals equipped for immediate emergency surgery, and in many cases small rural hospitals are not equipped for that, thereby diminishing VBAC. Another reason for the widespread use of “once a C-section, always a C-section” rule, something that the NIH panel clearly demonstrate that is not for medical reasons, is the fear of lawsuits.

For Californians, you can go to the website: http://www.calhospitalcompare.org, which lists VBAC availability for every hospital in California.

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