The power of VBAC.

The alarming fall in the rate of VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean) and the increasing difficulty in finding providers who will support them concerns us all, birth professionals and birthing women alike. Below is the testimony of a woman whose successful VBAC, encouraged and supported by her doula, LaNette McQuitty, inspired her to write a powerful letter of thanks to LaNette:

"It has now been nearly two weeks since Caden was born and the profound changes that I have experienced are difficult to articulate. Unlike the traumatic "train wreck" birth experience I had with Breanna [my first child, born by cesarean section], which left me feeling scared and vulnerable, Caden's birth experience leaves me feeling like I climbed Mr. Everest on a cold day in my shorts. I don't mean to over dramatize, but after Breanna's birth I lost virtually all of my "warrior woman" self. The strong, self-reliant, warrior woman had always been a key component of my identity, but somewhere in the process of a 24-hour labor, cesarean, and long, painful recovery, I lost that part of myself It's as if [that warrior woman] got "checked at the door" of the hospital ... and never returned. That is, until Caden 's birth.... The experience of his birth was more than empowering, it was positively life changing and allowed me to recover a powerful part of myself that had been lost along the way. For that, I will always be grateful.

Thank you for helping me to achieve an unmedicated birth and to be fully present and ready to discover all the delights this child will bring without the fog/haze of anesthesia.

Thank you for helping me to avoid another c-section that would have left me cowering from the pain of major surgery. Instead I'm relishing each milestone (I feel great! I checked out of the hospital immediately after the 24-hour waiting period!) and can't wait for the next day.

Thank you for helping to create an experience that allowed me to recover an important and powerful part of myself that had been lost for far too long.

For all the positive ways that this experience has and will continue to change my life, thank you. "

As you meet with your students and clients and attend their births remember this woman's words and let it remind us all of the awesome power women possess. And let it inspire us to do all we can to prevent that power from being taken away.

LaNette McQuitty is an ALACE certified labor assistant and a certified childbirth educator. She lives in New Berlin, Wisconsin. She co-created a game called Whose Having This Baby Anyhow? See www.babysbirthbenefits.com for more information.