Q: God bless you Doc for your medical contributions and advice. Please I am a mother of one, expecting the second soonest. I gave birth to my first girl through CS because of prolonged labor. Now can I deliver this second baby through vaginal birth without any complications as my Doc has not prescribed CS for me? What are the chances of delivering normally? Thanks ma’am

A: Thanks for your kind words and I’m eagerly waiting for your second with you 😀

Can you deliver vaginally? Yes, you can. Having had one C-section means you can still try for a VBAC (pronounced Vee-Back and means Vaginal Birth After a Caesarian) but a few years back,  once you’d had two C-sections, it meant you could only have subsequent children with the same procedure. That thinking has changed now and so even having had 2 C-sections may not be an automatic sentence to the knife, anymore 😀 However, there are a few factors that influence the decision for or against a VBAC. An important factor is that people who have had a transverse cut C-section (Lower Segment C-Section in which the cut on the abdomen is made from in the lower abdomen running from left to right) are more likely to be successful candidates for VBAC than those with vertical cuts (classical C-section in which there is a longitudinal cut on the abdomen). So, be guided by your doctor and remember that just because your doctor has said it is okay to try for a vaginal birth after a Caesarian Section does not necessarily mean that it will be successful. The woman may very well still end up having a Caesarian Section if a vaginal delivery is tried and it fails.

Generally, there is no specific number of C-sections that a woman is meant to have (especially in centers with significant technological advancement), though about 3 used to be the mark. There are women who have had more than 3 and are alive to tell the story. Having said that, the more the number of sections, the more the risks and complications the woman is exposed to.

Common risks and complications include:
• Weakening of the wall of the uterus wall with risk of uterine rupture!

• Healing after a C-section comes with development of scar tissue which may subsequently cause adhesions as they cause abdominal organs to stick to each other. This may lead to obstruction of the bowel or even block the fallopian tubes, leading to infertility. These adhesions may develop between the uterus and the bladder making it easier to injure the bladder with subsequent C-sections.

• Placental problems may occur in people who have had C-sections as the placenta may be implanted too deeply into the womb or there may be placenta previa. In these instances, removing the placenta presents a challenge and may result in profuse bleeding which requires blood transfusion.

For more on placenta previa, please click on these:
https://chatwithdrketch.com/2015/03/09/daily-health-tips-can-placenta-previa-recur-in-my-pregnancy/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/06/29/daily-health-tips-placenta-previa/

Have a good night, y’all 😀