Melle McPhee is a VBAC Link Certified Doula and mom of three girls. Her first birth was an 11-hour vaginal delivery at 39+6 with an epidural and episiotomy. After PPROM (preterm premature rupture of membranes) at 36+5 with her second, Melle found out that her baby was footling breech and had an emergency cesarean. Melle struggled with feeling like her body had failed and feared another spontaneous preterm birth.

During her third pregnancy, Melle focused on supporting a full-term pregnancy, including daily collagen protein, exercise, and a nutrient-dense diet. At exactly 40 weeks, she went into spontaneous labor and had a 12-hour physiological home birth VBAC with a midwife. Her water didn’t break until five minutes before birth, and she had no tearing. Melle shares how she approached the recommendations surrounding VBAC, home birth, continuous monitoring, and cervical checks through informed consent and her own risk tolerance. Her biggest VBAC advice is to hire a doula and know that a previous spontaneous preterm birth does not mean your body is broken or that you can’t carry a future baby to term.

Keywords: VBAC, VBAC Doula, HBAC, home birth, PPROM, preterm birth, footling breech, breech prevention, midwife, circumvallate placenta, marginal cord insertion

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“The deck was stacked against me: advanced maternal age, circumvallate placenta, marginal cord insertion, gestational diabetes, induced VBAC, delivery after 41 weeks, 4 hours of pushing, and vacuum assisted delivery.”

After 38 hours of labor, chorioamnionitis, and late decels, Stephanie’s rainbow baby boy was born by cesarean. His umbilical cord was only five inches long, her husband missed the birth after being forgotten outside the OR, and their son spent five days in the NICU.

For her VBAC, she tried all the things to go into labor naturally before being induced at 41+3 with low and slow Pitocin. With the support of a patient OB, doula, and her husband, she labored unmedicated and pushed for four hours before welcoming her daughter with the help of a vacuum. Even with a second-degree tear, postpartum hemorrhage, and a retained placenta, she says that her VBAC was much less traumatic than her cesarean.

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Joining us all the way from Edinburgh, Scotland is our friend, Mhairi. Her first birth in 2023 began with PROM (premature rupture of membranes) without regular contractions or cervical change. She was induced, and after concerns came up for both Mhairi and her baby, the birth ended in an emergency cesarean.

For her second birth, Mhairi planned a waterbirth VBAC despite it being outside her hospital’s protocol. She spent her pregnancy researching her options and met several times with consultants and the head of the birth department. After going into spontaneous labor, she had one final meeting with a doctor while in active labor to discuss waterbirth. Mhairi went on to have her unmedicated VBAC waterbirth, and it was just the empowering experience she hoped it would be.

Keywords: VBAC, waterbirth VBAC, waterbirth, NHS, UK maternity care, emergency cesarean, induction, spontaneous labor, unmedicated birth, doula, midwifery care

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