TOLAC

VBAC means vaginal birth after cesarean.

So the guidelines are that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that it's medically correct, if you so desire, to try for a trial of labor after cesarean, known as a TOLAC, T-O-L-A-C, to then have a VBAC.

So I was known in the community for that.

And she had two sections.

a cesarean.

In the mid-1980s to 1990s, TOLAC was encouraged.

And TOLAC, as a reminder, is trial of labor after cesarean delivery.

And we saw those vaginal deliveries, VBACs, start to slowly increase.

But what occurred was there was an increase in complications and malpractice suits.

And so TOLACs became less prevalent in the early 2000s.

So we see the decline again.

But since 2016, VBAC rates have increased again, and we're seeing it come around.

Another thing that I really wish I would have done differently with my second pregnancy and then birth was dealing with a lot of VBAC anxiety that I truly didn't need to carry.

My entire pregnancy, I was so anxious about attempting a VBAC or a TOLAC, a trial of labor after a C-section or going for a vaginal birth after a C-section.

That was my plan the entire pregnancy.

And I really, really wanted to have a vaginal birth for my second baby.

I love that.

They're like, "She's a TOLAC," which means attempt to labor after cesarean.

Yeah, so there's complications, you have to go to...

They're like, "She's a TOLAC.

And do you..." They said, [laughs] "Go stand by her door.

She is in transition.

Yeah.

And so, um, we get there, they put me on the monitors, and I had told them, like, my goal is to not use, like, any type of, like, induction medications if at all possible, and especially because this was, uh, like I think they call it, uh, TOLAC.

What does that mean again?

Attempt to labor after cesarean.

... which created this whole backlog of epidural needs, and they had to make a decision on, okay, who do we help first?

I'm so grateful that my do- I'm so sorry to those other moms, but I'm so grateful that my doctors and my nurses advocated for me because I do know that I was further along than them.

And also, because I was a TOLAC-

Yeah