Whether your hospital will even allow it
Many will not, and this is often not disclosed early.
A trial of labor after cesarean requires staff able to perform an immediate cesarean if the scar gives way. Many hospitals have decided not to offer it at all.
In a statewide survey of all 243 California birth hospitals, 139 (57.2%) offered a trial of labor in 2012, which was 16.6% fewer than in 2007. In other words, about 44% did not offer it.
Find out earlyAsk at your first prenatal visit, not at 36 weeks: "Does this hospital allow a trial of labor after cesarean, and does my specific doctor attend them?" If the answer is no, you still have time to change where you deliver.
Where this comes from:
289. Barger MK, Dunn JT, Bearman S, DeLain M, Gates E. A survey of access to trial of labor in California hospitals in 2012. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2013;13:83.
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This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.