The VBAC Link · Lily Wyn & Paige Lloyd

Episode 426 Rachel's Three VBAC Stories + VBAC With Gastroschisis

October 22, 2025·45 min·3 clips

Rachel hemorrhaged alone after delivery while her husband followed baby Elliot to the NICU, with no doula and an overwhelmed doctor who did not give her Pitocin.

1. The VBAC Link Episode 426 features Rachel, a mother of four in the United States, sharing her second VBAC (November 2020) and her third VBAC story, the first of which was shared in Episode 56. 2. Rachel, who works full-time for Ceres Chill as director of customer service, homeschools her oldest two children, and is a pastor's wife, is a returning guest who describes herself as a repeat precipitous laborer. 3. The episode's thesis is that birth plans frequently collapse under unexpected medical circumstances, and that preparing for alternate scenarios—including having a backup plan in a mental drawer—is as important as the primary plan. 4. At Rachel's 20-week anatomy scan, the sonographer went quiet and grabbed the screen; two weeks later Rachel's midwife called to explain that her son had gastroschisis, meaning his intestines would be outside his body at birth. 5. The MFM specialist confirmed the gastroschisis diagnosis and told Rachel that vaginal birth was actually preferable to cesarean for a gastroschisis baby because passage through the birth canal can reduce bowel inflammation and excess fluid. 6. Rachel had to switch from her planned out-of-hospital midwife birth to a hospital with a level-four NICU and a surgeon, complicated by the fact that her preferred VBAC-supportive OB did not have privileges at the required hospital. 7. After extensive searching on Facebook groups and provider reviews, Rachel found a supportive OB at the level-four NICU hospital who agreed to support her VBAC attempt; the birth, however, happened so rapidly that an on-call doctor delivered instead. 8. On November 10th—one day after her oldest son's birthday—Rachel woke at 2 AM with contractions, took a bath, and left for the hospital at around 4 AM; she called ahead to warn the NICU team and told the nurse she believed she was seven or eight centimeters dilated. 9. The nurse dismissed Rachel's self-assessment; Rachel arrived at 4:30 AM confirmed at eight centimeters, and delivered Elliot at 5:57 AM—87 minutes after arriving—with meconium-stained fluid that 'flew everywhere' in what Rachel describes as a scene from Grey's Anatomy. 10. Elliot was born with his small and large intestines outside his body—twice the extent of what ultrasounds had predicted—and required immediate intubation in the delivery room as his heart rate dropped. 11. Rachel's husband followed Elliot to the NICU, leaving Rachel alone as she began hemorrhaging; the on-call doctor did not proactively offer Pitocin and Rachel had to ask for it repeatedly while being manually managed for clots. 12. Rachel reflects that her hemorrhage was worsened by acute stress—watching her baby intubated, her husband's departure, and the absence of a doula she had not been able to hire, possibly due to COVID visitor restrictions. 13. Elliot wore a silo for one week—a device that stacks intestines above the abdomen to reduce inflammation before gradual reintroduction—then had closure surgery at one week old and went home from the NICU after approximately one month. 14. Rachel says the hardest part of the NICU stay was not being allowed to hold Elliot until after his closure surgery because his bowels were exposed, a restriction she says she had mentally prepared for but found unexpectedly difficult. 15. Megan notes that precipitous labor is associated with increased hemorrhage risk and lists interventions beyond Pitocin that providers can use, including rectal Cytotec, intramuscular methergine-adjacent shots, nipple stimulation, and cord-in-mouth as uterine-tone stimulants. 16. Rachel's fourth VBAC involved a posterior baby (OP presentation) that caused significant back labor, ruptured membranes without immediate contractions, and nearly required Pitocin; the labor and delivery nurse who cared for her happened to be the same nurse from Rachel's original C-section birth. 17. Host Megan teaches a doula intake protocol in which she asks clients to describe what they look like when stressed and what kind of support helps them—information versus physical touch versus verbal reassurance—before labor begins, because clients cannot articulate needs in crisis. 18. Rachel applies the lesson from her traumatic third birth by telling her husband before her fourth birth that if the baby went to the NICU, he was to remain with her rather than follow the baby. 19. Listeners who have navigated high-risk pregnancies, unexpected diagnoses, or previous birth trauma while attempting a VBAC will find Rachel's story directly applicable to their own situations. 20. Listeners seeking a straightforward, complication-free VBAC story or those with no interest in neonatal conditions or postpartum hemorrhage may find this episode emotionally intense.

As heard by us

A fast VBAC birth, a NICU scare, and hard-won perspective.

This episode follows a rapid VBAC labor that soon becomes a newborn needing immediate NICU attention. The practical delivery details and the emotional aftershock stay closely tied together, which gives the story a lived-in feel instead of a polished recap.

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Why you'd press play

A VBAC birth story that moves from planning to a very fast, very intense hospital delivery.

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