The VBAC Link

Stephanie’s first two births were vaginal deliveries, her third was a peaceful, scheduled C-section after declining an ECV, and her fourth was an empowering VBAC with an ECV at 37 weeks. She is a doula, prenatal/postpartum fitness specialist, and the founder of Mission Rise and Mission Motherhood. 

We loved this piece of advice Stephanie sent us in her intake form: 

“One thing I don’t think we talk about enough is that birth preparation should evolve with each pregnancy. 

“For a first-time mom, that often means learning as much as you can so birth doesn’t simply happen to you—attending childbirth and breastfeeding classes, considering a doula, and preparing for postpartum (your bedside, having a meal train, etc.). 

“For moms who’ve given birth before, preparation often means processing your previous birth before preparing for the next one. 

“Every birth deserves to be treated as its own story, and each pregnancy offers a new opportunity to advocate for yourself, explore your options, and prepare with fresh eyes instead of assuming this birth will be just like the last.” 

This episode was SO fun to record. We just basked in the beautiful way Stephanie talked about birth, advocacy, faith, and all of her practical tips. And another fun piece of her VBAC was that Stephanie and her sister were pregnant together and got to be each other’s doulas at their births, only 13 days apart!

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Natural Hospital Birth, The Best of Both Worlds

Stephanie's Website

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

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We know her and love her from jingles on all the socials with her husband, Steven. She documented her VBAC prep journey on the internet, and now Blair aka @6.lair is here sharing ALL details with The VBAC Link! 

About Blair: She’s a 2x mom based in Michigan who had an unmedicated hospital VBAC in May 2026. As a pediatric ICU nurse herself, she’s a huge advocate for patient centered care, non-pharmacological pain interventions, and informed consent. Her first birth was a scheduled C-section due to placenta previa. Her VBAC was just under 24 hours with AROM, lots of movement, using the shower during contractions, pushing for 1hr and 40 min, the fetal ejection reflex, and no tearing. 

You will walk away from her stories with such a deep understanding of the step-by-step process of unmedicated birth. From trying to induce spontaneous labor all the way to the nitty gritty of what recovery from a vaginal delivery feels like, Blair is a girl’s girl who REALLY wants you to know what to expect. It was hard, transition was scary, pushing wasn’t what she thought it would be, AND it was the most empowering thing she’s ever done. 

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Blair's Linktree

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

Online VBAC Doula Training

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She’s the chick who helps moms and babies, the one and only Nina Spears, founder and CEO of The Baby Chick®, is hereeee! Nina is a certified baby planner, birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, newborn care specialist, infant massage instructor, and perinatal nutrition expert who has worked with more than 800 families in person, thousands virtually, and has supported over 350 births over the past 15 years.

She’s also the host of Chick Chat: The Baby Chick Podcast and the author of The Baby Chick Guide to Positive Pregnancy, which just published June 2026. She says it’s, “essentially what I’ve been wanting my clients to have for the last 15 years”. 

And what does it mean to have a positive pregnancy? 

Nina says it’s all about feeling informed, supported, and empowered. 

But, it’s also having conversations about the realities of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum that just aren’t happening…until this episode. 

What we aren’t talking about enough that we take a deep dive into today: 

• The invisible load of motherhood that starts DURING pregnancy
• Not just holding the baby, but also holding the mama
• Patrescence and the hormone shift of dads 
• What actually helps women feel prepared and supported for a baby
• Why peace on earth begins with birth
• Villages are never free
• Deciding to VBAC and honing in on what YOU really want
• The pressures that VBAC moms carry
• Debunking the superiority of birth

Nina is an absolute joy! We promise this episode is SUCH a good one. 

The Baby Chick Guide to Positive Pregnancy: How to Prepare Your Mind, Body, and Partner

The Baby Chick Website

The Baby Chick on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok

Chick Chat: The Baby Chick Podcast

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

Online VBAC Doula Training

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Hannah's first labor began at 40 weeks, the day after a membrane sweep. She opted for an epidural but due to fetal tachycardia, had an unplanned cesarean. It was a lonely and confusing postpartum not coping well with the emotional trauma of that birth. 

Hannah prepared for a VBAC and planned a home birth with a midwife hoping for a different experience. She felt peaceful about transferring to the hospital when labor stalled at 9cm. She talks about what made that transfer feel empowering, including the sweetest affirmations from her cute husband. 

She also shares about her baby girl’s diagnosis with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) at just 7 weeks old and how walking through a rare childhood illness (quite literally 1 in a million!) changed her perspective on birth, motherhood, and life's hardest seasons.

Hannah was a TVL podcast listener herself long before she had her own VBAC. We hope you can find the same inspiration and love that Lily, Paige, and Hannah did when prepping for their own births!

To Lily, she said, “The way that you and Paige honor women’s birth stories is just so beautiful. It’s such a powerful service you provide. It was so inspirational and hopeful, and I still listen every week.”

Our birth stories are meant to be held and shared communally. And this is why we are here.

Keywords: VBAC, planned HBAC, hospital transfer, cesarean birth, tachycardia, membrane sweep, epidural, PPA, birth trauma, husband, birth advocacy, Histiocytosis, infant cancer

Hystiocytosis Association

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

Online VBAC Doula Training

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One of Paige’s dearest friends and fellow doula in South Korea, Ali Craft, joins the pod today sharing her incredibly inspiring (and hilariously narrated!) seven birth stories, including four cesareans and three vaginal births. Ali was able to advocate for not only a VBA2C in Korea, where it is extremely uncommon for hospitals to offer VBAC support, but she also had TWO VBA4Cs. 

Ali’s stories remind us that every.birth.is.different. From long labors to short ones, planned cesareans to unplanned CBACs, induction, epidural, spontaneous labor, and so much more in between, we know you will take away so much inspiration from her stories. 

“I love supporting moms now because in labor when they’re dying, I can say, I KNOW. When it’s taking forever, I KNOW. When they end up with the C-section they didn’t really want, I know.” 

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Craft and Co. Doula Services

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

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For the first time EVER, all four of The VBAC Link hosts are together in one episode! Founders and original pod hosts Julie Francom and Meagan Heaton join current hosts Lily Wyn and Paige Lloyd to answer your live VBAC questions. With more than 15 years of combined doula experience and hundreds of births attended, this episode is jam-packed with wisdom, evidence-based birthy tips, and so much love for our listeners who have been with us all of these years.  

Topics include:

• How to decide between a VBAC and repeat cesarean
• Preventing PROM and chorioamnionitis 
• 39-week induction recommendation early in pregnancy
• Engaging baby's head before labor
• How to trust your intuition 
• Coping with fear
• Tips on practical birth prep

Tiny Blessings Doula Services

Julie Francom Birth Stories

Love Wyns Doula Services 

The Birth Narrative Doula Services

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

Online VBAC Doula Training

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Today we sit down with Alex, a nurse practitioner and mama of two, who shares her journey from a scheduled breech cesarean to a fast, spontaneous VBAC at a birth center. After two unsuccessful ECV attempts, Alex planned for a cesarean with her first baby. Along the way, she also experienced the heartbreak of miscarriage before welcoming her daughter. Alex opens up about navigating conflicting medical opinions (including being told by an MFM that her baby would die– not okay!!) and how her and her medical doctor husband’s views on out-of-hospital birth evolved over time. 

Alex also shares why practicing for labor could only take her so far before surrender became the greatest lesson, the importance of surrounding yourself with more than just a supportive provider, and how having an encouraging birth team made all the difference. Alex especially talks about how her VBAC-certified doula was an invaluable part of that team. 

We also discuss some of the evidence behind using ultrasounds to measure scar thickness as a predictor of a VBAC outcome or uterine rupture, and why ACOG does NOT recommend it.

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

Online VBAC Doula Training

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Today’s episode is a deep dive with just Paige and Lily all about LONG pregnancies and LONG labors. Are due dates expiration dates? Is it okay to go past 41 weeks with VBAC? How do you stay sane and steady when you are more than readyyyy for labor to start? 

And when it does and things take much, much longer than you hoped, (you’re in good company because Lily knows all about this with her 66-hour VBAC) we’ve got you. How do you overcome a labor stall? How to reset on the morning of another full day of labor? When is it time to reassess? 

Lily and Paige share a peek into their doula brains with lots of tips, research, and stories as two gals who love birth and want you to know that you are stronger than you ever thought. 🙌

2013 PubMed Study - Length of Pregnancies

2001 PubMed Article - Estimating the Normal Duration of Human Pregnancies

The Honey Jar Honey Sticks

Summer Fridays Face Mist

20 Questions to Ask a Doula

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

Online VBAC Doula Training

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Casey is a L&D nurse who had both of her babies at the same hospital where she works. Her first birth was an unexpected C-section, but thankfully not traumatic.. Casey brings up how working as a nurse can sometimes make birth harder from seeing the tough stuff, but how that can also actually be really helpful when things don’t go to plan too. 

Casey knew she wanted a VBAC, but she didn’t expect anger to show up the way it did during her pregnancy. She fielded a lot of insensitive comments at work but was able to tune out the noise and tune in to her spirituality and faith to keep her grounded. 

She was supposed to work L&D the night her baby was born! But instead of helping other moms welcome their babies, her nurse friends were there cheering for her. Casey’s surprise gender VBAC was sweet, sacred, and empowering! 

We know you'll love Casey's beautiful personality as much as we do.

Needed Website: Code TVL for 20% Off

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

Online VBAC Doula Training

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Willa joins the pod from San Francisco, CA to share her journey from a 41+5 spontaneous 30-hour labor with OP positioning and a cesarean with her 9lb, 6oz first baby to a VBAC with her 10lb, 3oz second baby. She talks about switching providers, using Dilapan rods for cervical ripening, being induced at 41 weeks, and navigating another OP baby. 

Willa shares the lessons she learned about preparing emotionally for birth, the nuances of birth language, trusting that each birth can be different, and surrounding yourself with people who will be your biggest VBAC champions. And stay until the end to hear the most beautiful poem about her VBAC journey!

How Dilapan-S Rods Work

EBB Birth: Pros and Cons of Foley and Dilapan-S® for Induction

The Ultimate VBAC Prep Course for Parents

Online VBAC Doula Training

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