Unmedicated Hospital VBAC after CPD and FTP Diagnoses

I found the Christian Hypnobirthing book and app only four weeks before I delivered my second son. I’m now 4 weeks postpartum and still processing, but I cannot believe how beautiful this experience was. I am forever grateful to have found these resources when I did. 

My First Birth

I went into my first birth with a positive attitude but little mental preparation. Two weeks before my due date, my water broke around 7 AM and I started having contractions pretty much immediately. I labored at home with my husband, Nathan, and we went into the hospital that night around 9 AM when the contractions were starting to intensify. I was 7 cm when they checked me. I spontaneously started pushing without prompting and pushed for almost 4 hours without much progress–baby wasn’t descending, and they could only see a tiny circle of his head when I was bearing down. I pushed in a couple of positions, but my energy levels were waning. It was about 2 AM and I’d been laboring for about 19 hours. I was exhausted and sitting on the toilet when the midwife walked in and said “I don’t think the baby can fit out of your pelvis, and I’m recommending a C-section.” At that point, I was so tired I could barely think straight, and I was being told that I couldn’t get my baby out myself by someone I had trusted to give me solid medical advice. My husband and I briefly talked and decided to do it; we thought we were doing the right thing for our baby. Baby W was delivered safely via C-section at 3:19 AM weighing 6 lb 10 oz. At the time, I was just grateful that he was safe. 

Later, that same midwife told me that I had “the narrowest pelvis [she’d] felt in 7 years of midwifery.” She was insistent that I’d never deliver vaginally. My C-section was labeled as “Failure to Progress” with a note on my chart saying “narrow pelvis.” I hadn’t had any medication until they gave me a spinal for anesthesia, but because I was actively having contractions, I was left with nerve damage in my back that has continued to cause me pain in the years since the birth. This was just one of the reasons I wanted so badly to avoid an epidural or a C-section the next time.  

Changing my Mind 

Fast forward 18 months and I find out I’m pregnant with a second baby. My husband and I were thrilled! By this point I’d done a lot of reading about the CPD diagnosis and how it can be used to excuse unnecessary caesareans. I was skeptical of this diagnosis as I had no history of injury to my pelvis or family members who had trouble delivering babies vaginally. Our family moved to North Carolina during this time, and I found a practice known for being VBAC friendly. I was still nervous about attempting another vaginal birth, but I did want to try again before I resigned myself to scheduled caesareans. 

Making a Plan 

During my second pregnancy, I thought a lot about how much I wanted to have an unmedicated VBAC, but I didn’t actually have a plan. About four weeks before my due date, I spoke with my friend Anjelica, a midwife who had done some of my prenatal care with my first baby. She was the initial inspiration behind me desiring an unmedicated birth, and she made me feel like I was absolutely capable of doing it. In that call, she encouraged me to be more proactive if I truly wanted a VBAC and she strongly recommended we hire a doula. Even though we were getting close to my due date, I decided to change my approach. 

I was so blessed to get connected with Cari, a doula who was a fellow believer. We bonded immediately in our first call and in-person visits, and I was so thankful to develop that trust with her so late in the process. She suggested I check out your book Faith-Filled Childbirth. I read about a third of it and was fascinated by the Christian hypnobirthing idea. I downloaded the app and started listening to the tracks. This was transformative for me in ways I didn’t even understand at the time. I started practicing the 4/7 breathing as well as gratitude and birth affirmations. I really loved the encouraging scriptures track as well. It was a great way to wind down for afternoon naps while my toddler was sleeping. 

Only about a week after I started using the app, I hit the 38-week mark in pregnancy, lost part of my mucus plug, and started having prodromal labor. I spent multiple nights with contractions waking me up around midnight only to disappear by about 5 AM. Those nights, I was getting just a few hours of sleep total. The CH app helped so much during this time. I started listening to the tracks (especially the labor-encouraging one) while taking baths before bed, sometimes even in the middle of the night. In the frustration of not knowing if I was actually in labor, God’s presence was right there. I found myself hungering for more and more of Him as I got closer to my due date, and I know the affirmations and encouraging scriptures from the app had a lot to do with that. 

I hit such a low point when I was a few days over 39 weeks. I had had several nights in a row with 3-4 hours of sleep each, and I was not doing well. I’d had a prenatal appointment with a midwife the morning after one of these nights thinking I was possibly in early labor, only to find out I was still only around 3.5 cm dilated. I went home from that appointment with instructions to nap if possible, and I reached out to the women in my small group at church and asked them to pray that I could sleep. I slept for 8 solid hours that night–the first time in weeks I’d had such good rest. Seeing God answer prayer for me so directly was amazing; that night of uninterrupted sleep was exactly what  I needed. 

 Finally in Labor!

Three nights later, I woke up around midnight to a surge that was strong enough I couldn’t stay lying down. I figured this could easily be a repeat of the many other nights of prodromal labor, so I just processed the way I had been. Lots of relaxing breathing and finding positions to help me cope. At one point I was having surges every 3 minutes lasting only 30 seconds for over an hour–I still had no idea what was going on! I was so thrilled when the surges finally started getting longer and intensifying, but I still wasn’t positive this was labor. I eventually woke Nathan up around 5:30 am and had him doing counter pressure on my back and helping me breathe. At one point, I was on all fours in the bathroom breathing and moaning through a contraction, and he asked “Do you still think this is false labor?” I snapped at him that I DIDN’T KNOW. He thought this was pretty funny at the time. Since I had thought I was in labor other times, I didn’t want to assume anything. 

At this point, the contractions were getting longer and closer together; around 7:35 AM, I felt my body start bearing down without any effort on my part. I panicked and called my doula, who told us to head to the hospital. I thought that pushing too early was a possible issue with my first birth, so I was a bit paranoid this time around. Thankfully, we only live 5 minutes from the hospital! I was panting and breathing in the parking garage trying desperately NOT to push.

When we arrived at the hospital around 8:10, I was already 8 cm dilated. Within maybe 30 minutes of arrival, my midwife checked me again and I was fully dilated. I didn’t realize she had because I was on all fours at the time. I was told by my wonderful L&D nurse to “stop fighting” the urge to push, and I had to surrender in that moment to trust my team and trust that God was in this birth. 

As we settled into the rhythm of birth, I entered this beautiful period where time didn’t exist and I could just flow through all the pain and sensations. I was extremely verbal, too, crying out to God and expressing every fear I’d had to process before birth. Was my pelvis actually too small? Would my baby be able to fit out of my body? Was that midwife correct? 

Something took over in those hours of pushing. I’ve never felt God’s presence as near as I did during this labor. My friend Kate called my husband and prayed for me on speaker for about 2 hours. She stayed on the phone until our son was born. Meaning as I brought my son into the world, I could hear Kate praying for me. What a gift. I was so supported by my husband, my doula, the labor and delivery nurse, and my midwife. The way they all worked together to take care of me was so encouraging. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people around me. 

My team was proactive about making sure the baby was actively descending, and they had me change positions frequently. A few hours later, I started feeling the ring of fire. This was a bit scary but such a good sign. They’d also brought a mirror in, and I could see the top of my son’s head. This was great motivation as I was starting to get quite worn out. 

As I continued pushing, the baby got stuck on my perineum. My midwife was hesitant to suggest an episiotomy, but the baby had been stuck there long enough to develop a blood blister on his head. Apparently I just have very tough tissues down there.  I trusted my midwife and doula and I don’t believe this was an unnecessary intervention. As soon as the episiotomy was done, my son was out in one last push. They placed him on my chest, perfect and healthy. I had been dreaming about this moment for two years. I was in a lot of pain, but so proud of myself. I was beyond empowered being able to birth my child on my own terms rather than having him removed from my body in the harsh lighting of an operating room. I ended up having a second-degree tear but felt like a warrior. From beginning to end, my labor took 12 hours including 3.5 hours of pushing. 

 Final Thoughts

Pregnancy, the birth process, and the ups and downs of postpartum are hard. But they are so worth it. I absolutely loved my labor and birth. I have found myself wishing I could just relive those moments in the delivery room. I did something I wasn’t sure I was capable of doing, and it was incredibly validating. 

When I talked to Kate (my prayer support) after my birth, she pointed out that I had been praying a lot during the birth. I told her that I felt like a sponge. All of the affirmations and beautiful scriptures I took in during the end of my pregnancy got squeezed out of me subconsciously through the labor process. I now understand the idea of “renewing your mind” (Romans 12:2) in a new way, and I’m forever changed from it. Birth is so spiritual, and our minds are so powerful when we fix them on Christ.

I’m so grateful to the Christian Hypnobirthing community for their resources. You’re doing vital work. 

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