April is a doula, birth after caesarean coach and 2 x caesarean and 1x vba2c mama herself. She founded the Empowered Birth After Caesarean online antenatal programme, April feels passionately about women's choices, rights and birth experiences after caesarean. She feels it's her calling to support and educate mums so they can have a truly empowered birth after caesarean, no matter how their baby is born. April is a mum to 3 boys, she loves tea, chocolate, yoga and reading any birthy, feminist, personal development book she can get her hands on. Yes, she really lives and breathes her work! TRIGGER WARNING: In this episode, we do discuss some aspects of our caesarean experiences, which could potentially be upsetting if you have had a traumatic birth.

In this episode

• What is an empowered birth
• Birth after caesarean
• VBAC clinics
• Discussing options with Supervisor of Midwives
• Declining consultant appointments - it doesn’t mean that you will never be allowed to see a doctor ever again
• Choosing the right kind of care for you, just like if you were having any other health care!
• Language around birth
• Relative risk of uterine rupture (the big “risk” with VBAC)
• Reframing previous experiences, in order to take away the positives
• Your current birth is different to your prior births
• Taking control of your experience
• Creating a “plan C” for a more positive caesarean if your birth takes that route
• Things you may not be told about caesarean
• Protecting your own mental health
• Making peace with whatever happens, through shaping your experience in advance
• Ways to let go of your fears and previous birth experiences
• Debriefing previous birth experiences - officially and unofficially
• Support for caesarean mums
• April’s online Empowered Birth After Caesarean course

Further Resources:

• “Birth after previous caesarean birth” Greentop Guidelines
• Gentle caesarean research
• Birth preferences download (my own personal birth preferences for birth after caesarean)
• Pandas
• Doula UK
• Caesarean Support UK
• Empowered Birth After Caesarean course online

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