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The VBAC Link · Lily Wyn & Paige Lloyd

Episode 434 Kela's Redemptive HBA2C with a 9.5lb Baby + Cervical Scar Massage During Labor

December 17, 2025·48 min·4 clips
Midwife Lucy massaged away cervical scar tissue during a single contraction, and Kella went from four to seven centimeters instantly after two prior labors had stalled at the same dilation.
1. The VBAC Link Episode 434 features Kella, a mother of three from the Tampa/St. Pete, Florida area, sharing her journey through two C-sections and a successful home birth after two cesareans (HBA2C). 2. Host Megan, a VBAC-after-two-C-sections mama, doula, and VBAC educator, interviews Kella toward the end of 2025 as one of the year's final episodes. 3. The episode's central argument is that provider belief in a birthing person's capability—not just technical support—is a measurable factor in birth outcomes. 4. Kella's first birth in 2018, planned as a home birth with midwife Mary Catherine from St. Pete, ended in a hospital transfer after 42 hours of labor stalling at four to six centimeters, with a chorioamnionitis diagnosis she later questioned because her placenta—which she took home—was never tested. 5. Eleven family members were present at Kella's first home birth, nearly all opposed to the plan; her mother and sister had pre-arranged a code word for hospital transfer, and Kella reflects that this unsupportive energy directly affected her labor progression. 6. When her husband asked everyone to leave during the first birth, Kella's contractions temporarily eased—demonstrating the physical impact of emotional environment on labor—but her own mental state had already spiraled into doubt. 7. An OB who performed Kella's first C-section visited her postpartum room before the end of her shift to say the surgery was caused by her son Molokai being asynclitic and posterior—not by Kella's pelvis being too small, a false diagnosis she had been given multiple times by multiple providers. 8. Kella's second birth, with a different midwife she felt no connection with, ended in another hospital transfer at 38 weeks; she got to eight centimeters before a second fever triggered a second chorioamnionitis diagnosis and a second C-section at Tampa General Hospital, where staff confirmed her pelvic capacity was not the issue. 9. Kella's third pregnancy was unplanned, with her second son only 13 months old; she discovered the baby was a girl via early blood test, and decided this would be her final birth and she would do 'everything possible' for a home birth. 10. After her original midwife, Mary Catherine, declined to attend HBA2C cases, she recommended midwife Lucy Bryant of Indu Season, whom Kella describes as having delivered over 3,000 babies with six VBACs and deep clinical knowledge of cervical scar tissue. 11. Lucy Bryant taught Kella about cervical scar tissue—described as feeling like 'bubble wrap' during a contraction check—a condition Lucy had observed in many labors that stalled, which she addresses with massage during a contraction to release the tissue. 12. Kella's water broke spontaneously on her due date at 12:30 AM—just hours after Lucy returned from her daughter's wedding dress fitting—and contractions were coming every two to three minutes; by 1:30 AM Kella was already four centimeters. 13. When Lucy arrived at 4:00 AM and performed a cervical check during a contraction, she confirmed significant scar tissue and massaged it; Kella dilated from four to seven centimeters in that single contraction. 14. Kella reached full dilation at 6:30 AM after laboring from 12:30 AM—six hours total—and began pushing, but her daughter adopted a posterior asynclitic position, exactly mirroring the position of her first baby Molokai. 15. Lucy prescribed 10 contractions on the toilet followed by 10 contractions on each side with a peanut ball to rotate the baby; after these 30 minutes, the baby shifted to an optimal position. 16. Kella pushed for a total of approximately three hours, was physically exhausted and inadequately hydrated—her lips were dry—and had not eaten in approximately 24 hours; Lucy and the support team continued coaching her through what Kella describes as 'purple pushing.' 17. Kella delivered her 9.5-pound daughter at home, proving the CPD diagnoses she had received for years were incorrect; she describes the moment as redemptive and cries during the interview reflecting on her two previous C-sections. 18. The episode has a warm, emotionally candid tone; Kella cries multiple times when recounting her first C-section, reflecting on birth trauma that has persisted nearly seven years after the fact. 19. Women who have had two C-sections and are considering an HBA2C, particularly those who have been told their pelvis is too small or whose labors have stalled at consistent dilations, will find this episode directly relevant. 20. Listeners seeking a quick, complication-free birth story or those who are not interested in detailed discussions of cervical mechanics, labor position strategies, or postpartum doula care may find the episode's length and clinical detail excessive.

As heard by us

A direct HBAC story about support, instincts, and changing course.

Kella's story stays close to labor and the small decisions around it. Two planned home births ended in cesareans, then research and a better provider opened the door to a redemptive HBAC.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

A warm HBAC story about provider choices, transfer pressure, and how support can change the whole labor.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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