About VBAC.com
VBAC.com is a self-funded website that has been providing evidence-based information and educational resources on VBAC and reducing the odds of a cesarean section since 1998. This website can help childbearing women and birthing families with a prior cesarean make their own best decisions about how, where, and with whom they want to give birth.
Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a safe alternative to a routine repeat cesarean and is recommended as an option by the world’s leading professional associations of obstetricians and gynecologists. But, many women with a prior cesarean are encouraged to have a repeat operation.
About 70 to 75 percent of women who labor for a VBAC have a healthy birth. Yet many birthing families in the United States who want to labor for a VBAC find it difficult to access VBAC-friendly medical care and ultimately have a routine repeat cesarean.
Repeat cesareans put mothers at risk for serious complications including life-threatening hemorrhage, blood clots, infection, surgical adhesions, cardiac complications, hysterectomy, uterine rupture, and a higher risk of serious problems related to the placenta. Most expectant parents are not aware of these complications.
Babies born by cesarean are at greater risk of having complications including breathing problems and asthma and are more likely to need specialized care from a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) after birth. With a cesarean birth, babies are less likely to have skin-to-skin contact and to be exclusively breastfed.
To make informed decisions about laboring for a VBAC or choosing a repeat cesarean expectant parents need accurate information on the choices available to them and the benefits and risks of those choices.
VBAC.com provides evidence-based resources from a variety of sources; scientific studies, professional guidelines, government reports, advocacy groups, as well as successful and established VBAC programs.
We encourage expectant parents to gather the evidence and to have an honest and respectful dialogue with their caregivers about their options during prenatal care.
Our most recent educational offering is the 2022 edition of the VBAC Education Project a web-based teaching tool for parents and birth professionals available as a FREE download.
We Welcome All Families
Our understanding of gender identity in relation to pregnancy and birth—and of the diversity of what constitutes a family unit in the communities we serve—is continually evolving. In that respect, the VBAC Education Project reflects gender and culturally inclusive language.
Although the terms “woman” and “mother” are included throughout the website, and specifically in reference to results of scientific studies, the VBAC Education Project acknowledges that not all pregnant people identify as women or mothers. It is our hope, however, that all expectant parents find VBAC.com a safe, affirming, and welcoming source of information and support for birth after a cesarean.