In this episode, Jen shares a personal update and announces that the podcast will be on hiatus.

Have a comment or question for the podcast? Want to suggest a guest we should interview or a topic we should discuss? Go to https://vbacfacts.com/podcast to give us your feedback!

• Downloadable Handout: 3 Surprising Things US National Guidelines Say About VBAC | VBAC Facts®
• Downloadable Checklist: The 5 Simple Steps to Planning a VBAC | VBAC Facts®
• Downloadable Report: Top 5 Uterine Rupture Myths Debunked Once and For All | VBAC Facts®
• Professional Speaking & Continuing Education Training with Jen Kamel- VBAC Facts®
• The Truth About VBAC™ for Families | VBAC Facts® Course for Parents
• Consulting for Parents, Professionals, Legal & Policy Teams │ VBAC Facts®
• VBAC Facts® Professional Membership | VBAC Facts® Continuing Education

Music produced by (Analogue)/(prod. Analogue).

Instagram: @prod.analogue

Licia Popernack was told that she had a curved tailbone and would never give birth vaginally.

And after two cesareans, both after reaching 10 centimeters and pushing for hours, could that be true? Plus, she was only five feet and one inch tall...

Licia shares with us the challenges she faced on her journey to a victorious hospital VBA2C from friends and family who wondered why this was so important to her to skepticism from healthcare providers and her own fears.

She reflects upon her choices during her first and second pregnancies and labors, including why she didn't, and then did, get an epidural as well as reveals how she processed her cesareans.

She recounts how her third labor was different than her first two - including her nurse who helped her into various positions that facilitated her VBA2C - showing that if you just change one thing, you can have a totally different outcome.

With her two prior FTP cesareans, the VBAC calculator would have predicted very low odds, but Licia pursued her dream of a vaginal birth proving that it is possible!

00:00 Meet Licia Popernack!

03:44 Why She Wanted to Share Her Story

08:02 What Her Doctor Said About Her VBAC Odds

08:52 Her First Pregnancy

10:53 Biggest Regret: "But That Locked Her In..."

12:01 Pushed For Four Hours, Then Cesarean

14:32 Her Doctor Had An Early Flight

15:24 Postpartum: "I Felt Really Isolated"

18:05 What Would Have Felt Supportive and Validating to Her

20:49 Download Our Free Resources

21:43 What Was She Told About VBAC?

23:00 Her Second Pregnancy

24:43 Changed Providers at 34 Weeks!

27:54 "Why Don't You Just Schedule Another Cesarean?"

31:07 Her Second Labor: "She Said I Could Never Have a Vaginal Birth"

32:25 Her Decision To Get An Epidural

34:12 Vacuum, FTP, Second Cesarean, and NICU

35:58 Processing Her Planned VBAC and Second Cesarean

39:08 Pregnant After Two Cesareans, Now What?

42:21 How Her Third Labor Was Different Than The First Two

48:23 " Made Me Get Into Positions That Weren't Comfortable For Me"

51:30 Did Anyone Mention Placenta Accreta?

52:39 Her VBA1C and VBA2C Advice

55:41 What She Would Have Done Differently

58:54 "Changed Me To Be More Accepting Of Things"

59:54 Advice: "But My Doctor Won't Let Me Plan a VBAC"

01:00:55 "There's Not One Thing That's Right For Everyone"

Have a comment or question for the podcast? Want to suggest a guest we should interview or a topic we should discuss? Go to https://vbacfacts.com/podcast to give us your feedback!

• Downloadable Checklist: The 5 Simple Steps to Planning a VBAC | VBAC Facts®
• Downloadable Report: Top 5 Uterine Rupture Myths Debunked Once and For All | VBAC Facts®
• Professional Speaking & Continuing Education Training with Jen Kamel- VBAC Facts®
• The Truth About VBAC™ for Families | VBAC Facts® Course for Parents
• E7 40+ VBAC Myths Busted! Plus Hospital VBA2C After Uterine Defect - The VBAC Facts® Podcast - Apple Podcasts
• Consulting for Parents, Professionals, Legal & Policy Teams │ VBAC Facts®
• Sign up for your copy of the Top Three VBAC Myths! | VBAC Facts®
• Vaginal birth after two cesareans (VBA2C): An overview of the evidence - VBAC Facts® Article
• The Truth...

93% of women pregnant after one or more cesareans are not informed about the risk of placenta accreta spectrum that rises with each subsequent cesarean. Instead, they are assured that a repeat cesarean is safe and a planned VBAC is risky and, as a result, they schedule another cesarean.

Dawn Baranski was one of those women.

After enduring the bait and switch after her first cesarean, she had one more cesarean with her OB's assurance that placenta issues are a "one in a million chance."

When she got pregnant again after three cesareans, she developed placenta percreta - the most severe degree of placenta accreta spectrum - where the placenta grows through the uterine wall and attaches to other abdominal organs, most commonly the bladder.

The safest way for her baby to be born was a complicated cesarean hysterectomy ending her fertility.

Dawn recounts inadequate informed consent, her emotional and physical recovery from a cesarean hysterectomy, and why she considered an unassisted birth.

She shares how her hysterectomy impacts her health to this day as she manages a vaginal prolapse and rectocele and her important message for parents and health care professionals.

Jen also contrasts new research which found VBAC was accessible in only 16% of U.S. counties against a report from earlier this year where 84% of hospitals said they offered VBAC as well as her next virtual speaking engagement, opportunities for VBAC education for medical, midwifery, and nursing students, and reader feedback on therapeutic rest.

• 03:34 16% of US Counties Offer VBAC
• 11:06 Leapfrog Report: 84% of US Hospitals Offer VBAC
• 14:18 Next Speaking Engagement: Keynote at InJoy's 5th Annual (Virtual) Summit
• 16:29 VBAC Education for Medical, Midwifery, & Nursing Students
• 17:40 Reader Feedback: Therapeutic Rest & 24 Hour Labor Limit
• 19:51 Introducing Dawn  Baranski
• 20:50 Six Prior Vaginal Births, First Cesarean
• 22:20 Bait & Switch Strikes Again
• 24:49 What the OB Advised After Two Cesareans
• 26:29 Thought About Unassisted Birth, Had 3rd Cesarean
• 27:43 What the OB Said About Cesarean Complications
• 30:51 Mother's Autonomy & Decision Making Scale
• 32:18 Why She Wanted An Unassisted Birth After Three Cesareans
• 35:45 Why She Choose to Birth Her Baby in Texas
• 41:33 Birthing Her Baby via Cesarean Hysterectomy
• 45:18 Health Issues From Her Hysterectomy
• 47:13 Why She Had a Cesarean Hysterectomy For Her Percreta
• 49:33 Hysterectomy Induced Early Perimenopause/Menopause
• 51:00 Hormone Replacement Therapy During Perimenopause
• 51:50 How Recovery From a Cesarean Hysterectomy is Different Than a Cesarean
• 55:32 What Hysterectomy Has To Do With Vaginal Prolapse & Rectocele
• 57:44 Advice For Those Who Need A Cesarean Hysterectomy
• 58:39 "I Wouldn't Have Showed Up For My Scheduled C-Section"
• 01:00:07 Advice For Those Pregnant After One Cesarean
• 01:01:01 Advice For Those Pregnant After Two Cesareans
• 01:01:48 "There Was So Much Information That I Was Not Told"
• 01:02:24 Physician Dismisses Future Risks as "Theoretical"
• 01:05:14 "VBAC Poses Unnecessary Risk We Can Avoid Through C-Sections"
• 01:07:04 "It's Hard 'Cause I Don't Trust Them"
• 01:09:12 "We Don't Attend VBAC Because We Can Get Sued"
• 01:12:59 What She Would Say To The OB Who Performed Her First Cesarean
• 01:13:57 What Dawn Wants You To Know
• 01:15:02 How Her Births Have Changed Her
• 01:15:50 Her Advice: "My Doctor Won't Let Me Have a VBAC"

Want to suggest a guest we should interview, topic we should discuss, or share your birth story? You can at https://vbacfacts.com/podcast!