Today, we have a guest speaker which is laying out how her first birth unfolded into a cesarean and how her next births were successful VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean).
In this blog post, we’ll walk alongside Melissa as she recounts her VBAC journey, offering practical tips and guidance for other mothers facing similar paths. Join us as we explore the power of resilience and the invaluable lessons Melissa learned along the way.
If you would rather listen to Melissa tell her story, please hit the play button below.
Hello, my name is Melissa Fernandez, and I’m going to be sharing about my VBAC experiences and also some tips for successful VBACs for anyone who is looking to have a VBAC for themselves.
So first off, I want to say thank you so much, Megan, for this invitation to share my personal experiences.
I appreciate the work that you’re doing with pregnant and postpartum women and families, and I think it’s so important to dive in on some of these topics and share the information for others to become aware of VBACs and choosing the type of birth experience that they desire to have. So thank you so much for this.
A little bit of information about me.
I am Melissa Fernandez. I’m the agency owner of the Atlanta Postpartum Doula serving the Atlanta metro area in Georgia, and I’m also a postpartum doula. I’m an energetic practitioner and a business mentor for other birth workers. I’m also a mom of three kids, and I’d love to start with my birth experiences.
I did not want to have an emergency c-section
So my first was a C-section, and it was from an extremely long labor. I had around 60 hours of very challenging labor. And by the end of it, the final hours of that, I decided to have a C-section because I was so exhausted.
I had not had food in 60 hours. I had not had much to eat or drink, and I was given the option to go another 10 hours of labor and to get to the 10 decided to go with a C-section because I was just physically fatigued.
I was emotionally exhausted, and I didn’t know if I would be able to push a baby out, how tired I was, and I did not want to have an emergency c-section so I chose the c-section, and the experience afterwards was unlike anything I ever experienced in my life.
my postpartum was extremely isolating
I was shocked at all of the things that happened after a major abdominal surgery, because I never had a surgery before, and it was a very extreme one. Any my postpartum was extremely isolating.
As a lot of new moms experience, there are so many skills that you must learn while you’re sleep deprived and you’re also healing from a very intense surgery. And it was very challenging for me.
It was definitely not an ideal postpartum that I wanted to have. And I was also by myself in the city. I had my partner with me and some family, but I didn’t have my immediate family or friends at that time.
I was still touring with Cirque du Soleil, so I was kind of like a transplant in the Atlanta area, and it felt a bit isolating to not be with my friends and immediate family; so it was very challenging for me.
And my other two birth experiences were successful VBACs. And I want to share a little bit about why I decided to have a VBAC for those births.
I wanted to experience a different recovery process for postpartum
The simple reason was that I wanted to experience a vaginal birth. I wanted to experience a different recovery process for postpartum. I knew I didn’t want to have another major surgery. The recovery after that was intense and really difficult and long. So when I was pregnant for a second time, I decided to look at alternative options with my background as a Cirque du Soleil acrobat.
What I know to be true is that if you have a major surgery, you usually have like four weeks to six months of physical therapy. And I was very curious around why women weren’t receiving adequate support in recovery like this after their surgeries.
Expanding my thinking
So it kind of expanded my thinking. When I decided that I wanted the VBAC, I started to look at alternative providers and I found that I went back to physical therapy because that’s really comfortable for me.
I found out about pelvic floor physical therapists and I decided for my pregnancy to work with a pelvic floor therapist. I then also decided to find a provider who was supportive of VBACs. These two pieces were elemental to the success of my VBAC.
On top of that, I find that my mindset that I held for the pregnancy also energetically prepared the success of the VBAC so that was basically how and why I went for the VBAC.
The experience of having a successful vaginal birth after C-section is the most empowering thing that you can feel.
Trusting in your body again is also something that builds a connection and repairs the necessary elements for women to feel about our bodies and recovery postpartum and caring for a newborn and breastfeeding a newborn; its really elemental to the entire continuity of support that we receive within ourselves.
A VBAC is beautiful and healing. It’s very healing.
Then I got pregnant with my third and know, of course, I want to have another successful VBAC. And I did the same process, went with a provider who honors VBAC and works with women to have a successful VBAC.
And then I also worked with a pelvic floor physical therapist and did pelvic floor PT for my whole pregnancy and had another successful VBAC. So that’s pretty much it.
It’s really a wild ride.
My number one tip
My number one tip is that… you guys can probably guess what they are…
If you’re wanting to have a successful VBAC is to find a provider you trust who will support your decision for this. And also to do some pelvic floor physical therapy.
You don’t have to always do them in person. There are online programs that can facilitate a really great pelvic floor PT session that comes at a really affordable price point. Also hiring a doula can be really supportive for the mindset perspectives that need to be anchored in for the pregnancy.
I also find that pregnancy massage is really useful for having a successful VBAC which is something that I also did.
These things that I’m sharing may not have been heard much about preparing for vaginal birth. The thing is, my background as a gymnast and a Cirque de Soleil acrobat presents these ways of optimal healing and recovery and optimal ways to prepare for a big event.
That’s my expertise. I am an expert in this system that I’ve learned for over 20 years and it simply translated over to pregnancy and postpartum. Because I had two kids – I went through two pregnancies, births, and postpartum and returned to high level performance as a Cirque du Soleil acrobat.
I was performing again at ten months postpartum after a C-section and then again at five and half months postpartum after a vaginal birth of VBAC.
It’s due to these things I did in preparation and for recovery. And I was performing eight to ten shows a week successfully. So there is reasoning behind the process of why it’s pelvic floor pt, why it’s prenatal massage, why it’s mindset preparation.
Because what we’re preparing for labor, birth, and postpartum, it’s a requirement to be prepared. It’s a requirement if we want to feel certain experiences and be held and nourished in our bodies for the big event. It’s a whole thing.
And when we can honor our bodies and prepare for what’s coming, it really opens the space to have a very easeful, successful experience like a vaginal birth after caesarean.
So that’s what I have for you guys. I hope you found this really helpful. If you would love to speak more, I am always available.
You can find me at the Atlanta Postpartum Doula on Instagram. It’s where I hang out. It’s my Internet home. I would love to chat with you. You can also find me at theatlantappd.com on my website.
Thank you guys so much! See you later.
To learn more about Melissa, visit her website at www.theatlantappd.com . You can also follow her on Instagram. Melissa is located in Atlanta, GA.
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