Australian VBAC Stories (2025)

10/06/2025

A delayed post here to announce our latest episode is now LIVE!

We were so delighted to sit down and hear Freyja's birth stories, and we know you're going to absolutely love this "big baby" VBAC! After a tumultuous first birth experience being induced with a suspected big baby and insulin dependent gestational diabetes, as well as navigating COVID restrictions and floods locally, Freyja talks us through her journey to her epic VBAC with her second son. There will be plenty in here that others will relate to, we have no doubt! 🥰

About Freyja: I am a 33 year old mother of 2 boys. A 4 yr old and 4month old. We live on the Mid North Coast of NSW. I'm a teacher at the local primary school. We've had first hand experience of 2 regional hospitals I was lucky enough to choose between for this birth. Our family loves to camp around our area. I'm part of a book club, a local soccer team and motherhood world full of diverse, powerful and incredible mammas who cheered me so hard for this vbac. Between me and a woman I met after my "emergency" cesarean in 2021 (we shared a room) we have created an annual women's night to celebrate and connect women in our area.

We hope you enjoy listening to this wonderful episode, all the links to listen are in the bio ❤️🎧

27/05/2025

We are absolutely thrilled to share that a new episode of the podcast is out now! ✨

In this very special episode, we hear from our beloved co-host Aimee () as she steps into the storyteller’s seat to share the deeply personal journeys of her three births - a path woven with loss, healing, and profound transformation.

Aimee begins with the unexpected birth of her first baby, Willow - a planned homebirth that turned into an emergency caesarean at 36 weeks due to a placental abruption. She speaks candidly about the grief of losing her envisioned birth, the joy and relief of her daughter’s safe arrival, and her conviction to follow her intuition when hospital breastfeeding support fell short.

Her second birth was a redemptive and empowering homebirth after caesarean (HBAC) with her son Hamish, following multiple miscarriages and the emotional imprint of her first birth. Surrounded by a trusted team and held in safety, Aimee surrendered to the rhythm of labour and birthed her baby in a beautiful, supported water birth.

She then shares the story of her third baby, Evalie - a triumphant second HBAC. This birth unfolded during the still hours of a new moon, with her children present and her birth space lovingly prepared. Through the intensity of a long transition, emotional highs and lows, and a stubborn cervical lip, Aimee ultimately welcomed her daughter into her own hands in a euphoric, joy-filled moment.

With humour, honesty, and raw vulnerability, Aimee reflects on the mental load of labour, the importance of advocacy and support, and the transformational power of birthing on her own terms. This episode is a celebration of birth in all its forms - intense, ordinary, sacred, and wildly powerful.

We’re so honoured to share these stories from our co-host and friend. Aimee, thank you for your courage, your voice, and your unwavering belief in the power of birth.

23/12/2024

We are so thrilled to deliver this early Christmas present to you in the form of Episode 26 with

Caitlyn shares her incredible birth journey and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Her story begins with the traumatic birth of her eldest daughter in 2020 during lockdown, which set her on the path to pursue a VBAC with her son.

Despite her hopes for a more straightforward, peaceful experience, her son’s birth did not go as planned, as she faced a cord prolapse after her membranes were ruptured, which ultimately resulted in a CAT1 emergency cesarean. While the outcome could have been far more difficult, Caitlyn reflects on how the situation was much smoother and less traumatic than it could have been, and how kind and considerate treatment from care providers makes all the difference in a woman’s birth journey.

Now, Caitlyn is expecting her third baby and, once again, she’s holding onto her dream of a VBAC. In this episode, she opens up about her experience navigating these challenges, the emotional rollercoaster of working towards a VBAC, and what she’s hoping for in her upcoming birth.
Her story is one of resilience, hope, and the power of learning from each experience, and we know you’ll find her honesty, strength, and humour incredibly inspiring.

Join us as Caitlyn takes us through her birth journey, with all its ups and downs, and her ongoing hope for a beautiful, healing birth this time around.

20/10/2024

Thank you so much to the beautiful for sending us copies of your poetry anthology! And for the extra treats too 🤭 can't wait to pack this on holiday with me (Katelyn) next week.

More episodes are in the works, thanks for your continued patience - it's a busy season we're in but we've got some truly incredible stories lined up to share with you!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

08/10/2024

We are so thrilled to announce that Episode 25 with the wonderful Cara is now live! Cara shares her three very different birth experiences with us and we know our listeners are going to be so inspired by her story of wisdom, resilience and empowerment.

During her first birth, Cara had done independent birth education and felt able to say no to some things that didn’t feel right to her, but found herself in a difficult situation with prelabour rupture of membranes and a slow early labour that eventually led her to being induced and put on the cascade towards an emergency caesarean.

A very difficult postpartum period followed, where her son was diagnosed ‘failure to thrive’ and she needed to be readmitted to hospital. Despite this, she managed to go on to breastfeed her first son well into toddlerhood.

She knew she wanted a VBAC immediately after that first birth, and began down the rabbit hole of education. This time, she laboured spontaneously but after arriving at hospital, was allocated a midwife whose poor treatment and disrespectful care really coloured her VBAC experience, which ultimately saw the use of a vacuum to support the birth of her second son, and also eventuated in a third degree tear and a delayed postpartum haemorrhage.

By her third birth, Cara had learned so much more and this time employed a doula to support her and her husband. This birth was a redemptive and healing experience, beautifully supported by midwives in the same hospital with incredible respectful care that made the world of difference. She pushed her baby out on her own terms, and speaks to how significant this was after her prior two births.

We know you will adore the wealth of knowledge and experience that Cara shares with a gorgeous and light hearted approach to her stories, and many amusing anecdotes along the way. We had a ball recording this with Cara and are so grateful for her honesty and vulnerability.

Cara would love to mention her doula, (our gorgeous co-host) the birth education she engaged in and loved, and her trusted women’s health physio Brooke at .

🎧 Find all the links to listen via our link in bio.

19/09/2024

Episode 24 is out now and we can’t wait for you to listen! ✨🙌🏻 We’re overjoyed to bring you the incredible story of Carissa’s three births. She takes us deep into her journey from a planned caesarean with a private obstetrician, to her emergency caesarean in hospital, to her powerful and joyous freebirth with her third son.

Carissa hired a private obstetrician in her first pregnancy and was devastated to learn that the myomectomy, that she had previously undergone, led to being recommended a planned caesarean at 39 weeks. This was a very difficult experience and ultimately led to a disconnect in bonding with her son, that resulted in a very challenging postpartum.

Carissa and her husband consciously conceived their second son, Aubrey. They considered a homebirth with a private midwife, though ultimately planned to birth in the local public hospital within the continuity of midwifery care program.

Carissa hired a doula for this birth, and reflects very openly and deeply about how she feels she handed over her power to others around her, hoping for them to “save her”, and looking outward to them to ensure she had the birth she wanted.

After a marathon labour, which involved discovering she had contracted an infection, Carissa made the decision to have a second caesarean. Carissa speaks about reclaiming this postpartum and having much more connected and healing experience with her second son, including what she describes as a beautiful experience of tandem feeding him and her first son, Teddy.

As soon as Carissa fell pregnant with her third son, she knew she would not be birthing in a hospital. She and her husband ultimately chose to have a freebirth, and Carissa shares her wealth of wisdom gained on that journey. These learnings include how Carissa empowered herself from within to birth the way she wanted; the need to ride the wave and rewrite the story in a birth that unfolded in a similar way to her previously traumatic one; and the importance of and the power found in surrounding yourself with a tribe of like-minded people.

[Continued in comments…]

04/07/2024

Episode 21 is now live! In this episode, we are so incredibly fortunate to have the beautiful Claire share her birth stories with us. Claire is an absolute wealth of wisdom, and the articulate and insightful way she shares her journey opens up some gorgeous, deep conversations with our co-hosts .doulaandnbac and that you won’t want to miss.

Claire takes us through her first pregnancy, which involved a suspected growth restricted baby, diagnosed breech position and an unsuccessful ECV, which led to Claire booking in a planned caesarean.

Claire openly and vulnerably shares her first postpartum journey and the intense physical and mental road to recovery. We are so grateful that Claire shares a powerful poem she wrote during that time, ‘Go Home Woman’, which beautifully expresses the raw, visceral emotional experience of leaving the hospital with your baby in those fresh days post-birth.

After trying to conceive for a year, Claire was able to fall pregnant again. This sadly resulted in a miscarriage. Not long after, Claire fell pregnant for a third time and began preparing for her VBAC. She talks us through choosing her care provider and place of birth, and gathering her birth support team.

Claire’s labour and birth is a stunning story, and she takes us on the journey in a beautifully intimate way, generously sharing her insight and wisdom. We won’t spoil too much for you, but just know it involves so much power and strength, and will be a wonderful source of inspiration for all women on their VBAC journeys.

We know you are going to absolutely love Claire’s story and are sure it will be an incredibly popular episode. We can’t wait to hear what you think.

Find out more about the poetry anthology that Claire mentions in the episode: ‘What We Carry: Poetry on childbearing’ brings together the voices of more than 60 contemporary Australian poets.

https://recentworkpress.com/product/what-we-carry-poetry-on-childbearing/

🎧 Find all the links to listen via our link in bio.

17/06/2024

Today, we are so pleased to be bringing you the beautiful Anushka’s incredible birth stories.

Anushka walks us through her journey to her caesarean birth with her first son and explains how a posterior baby and long labour contributed to a cascade of interventions, including receiving syntocinon that she had not consented to, that ultimately ended with her meeting her baby via caesarean. She powerfully describes how she refused to let this birth be anything other than beautiful and sacred, and it was only much further down the track that she really accepted the trauma that she had experienced - not as a result of having a caesarean, but from the cascading labour and the treatment from maternity staff in the lead up.

In her second pregnancy, she was in the middle of her midwifery studies, and originally decided to go back through the team midwifery clinic she had used in her first pregnancy with student midwife, after being unable to find available support for a hospital birth from doulas or private midwives in the area. Divine intervention, you might call it, saw her turn her plans around completely when she realised she wanted to birth at home and she found a wonderful PPM to support her HBAC.

Another posterior labour, but this time with solid support around her, and Anushka brought her second son into the world with one foot in her bedroom and the other firmly planted in the stars. She shares vulnerably about her more complicated breastfeeding journey with her second son, and the impact of ongoing and unrelenting sleep deprivation over his first year of life.

It was such a joy to interview Anushka for our podcast, and she shares her experiences so generously and with such thoughtfulness that we know you are going to absolutely love this one.

🎧 Find all the links to listen via our link in bio.

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Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country by subscribing on your favourite podcast platform.

Tell us what you think of the episode in the comments! We’d love to hear what you thought of Anushka’s story.

📸 of HBAC: Elm Photography
📸

03/06/2024

In today's episode, we hear from Jo about her journey to her TWO VBA2Cs!

Jo is a mum of 4 who enjoys fitness and a healthy lifestyle. Since having a successful vba2c, she discovered a whole new outlook of pregnancy and birth and would love to be able to inspire and encourage other women who want to go down the vbac journey. Knowledge is power!

We think you're going to love these gorgeous stories and hearing the absolute power and self-belief that grows within Jo over her journeys. From an initial emergency caesarean, planning a VBAC with her second but being foiled at the last second by an infection, and then rocking 2VBA2Cs in the face of so much negativity and coercion from hospital staff, Jo birthed all her babies in public hospitals under fragmented care like an absolute powerhouse.

Listen now on your favourite podcast platform - links in the bio 🎧

20/05/2024

We are so excited to bring you Episode 18 of the podcast! ✨ Today we are delighted to have Imogen () on the podcast sharing her somewhat journey to VBAC with us.

Imogen’s first pregnancy was a beautiful surprise, but before she could really come to terms with it, sadly, she lost that baby at 7 weeks,

Imogen booked a private midwife for her next pregnancy and shares her experience of labouring at home and eventual hospital transfer, where she experienced the cascade of interventions and she eventually found herself being wheeled into an emergency caesarean. She talks us through the delay she found in bonding with her baby in her postpartum period.

When she was ready to have another baby, Imogen knew she wanted a VBAC, and she decided to try a different model of care and booked in under the public hospital.

This birth involved a similarly long and challenging labour, and Imogen expresses how important her support team was in holding her through those crises of confidence along the way, including the beautiful hospital midwives who she met at arrival to the hospital who really advocated for her to get the birth she wanted.

We hope you are inspired by Imogen’s tenacity and strength as much as we were, and that you can take away some incredible inspiration for her story! Thank you Imogen for sharing so beautifully and vulnerably with us ✨

🎧 Find all the links to listen via our link in bio.

___________

Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country by subscribing on your favourite podcast platform.

Tell us what you think of the episode in the comments! We’d love to hear what you thought of Imogen’s story.

06/05/2024

EP17 is out now! ✨ In this episode we have Nadia, an incredible mama of two, sharing her caesarean and VBAC journeys. Her stories are rich with reflection, exploring her first birth journey involving a baby with Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) and sudden induction leading to a caesarean, and her following, empowering VBAC with the support of her husband, doula and a private OB.

Nadia beautifully shares her thought processes and reasoning throughout these journeys with such wisdom, including her struggles with breastfeeding and perinatal anxiety and how she worked through these experiences. We are sure you will love hearing her incredible birth stories. We are so excited to share it with you and would love to hear your thoughts!

🎧 Find all the links to listen via our link in bio.

___________

Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country by subscribing on your favourite podcast platform.

Tell us what you think of the episode in the comments! We’d love to hear what you thought of Nadia’s story.

20/04/2024

Episode 15 is out now! ✨ In honour of Caesarean Awareness Month this April, we are bringing you some incredible stories from women whose VBAC journeys resulted in repeat caesarean sections.

Today, on her birthing day, we are so excited to share Emma’s incredible birth stories! Emma journeyed through a planned caesarean for her twin babies’ births, where the presenting twin was breech, through the public hospital system. During this pregnancy, birth and postnatal journey she experienced fragmented care, a term pregnancy with twins, a planned caesarean, the special care nursery, breastfeeding difficulties and postnatal depletion.

Emma went on to plan a homebirth with a private midwife, Teena Welsh, and her doula (our co-host Aimee). She describes getting to the point of being 42 weeks when all of her homebirth plans changed, and she agreed to an induction which ultimately failed and resulted in a repeat caesarean. Emma shares her breastfeeding experiences, how she avoided postnatal depletion the second time around, and what it felt like transitioning from a family of 4 to a family of 5.

Emma shares her birth journeys with us complete with such beautiful insights into her decision making processes and feelings throughout the journey. She describes how different the care of her team was in each birth journey and beautifully highlights the benefits of having both private midwifery and doula support, especially in the hospital setting.

We know you’ll find this episode incredibly inspiring and insightful, and are sure you’ll learn so much from the wisdom Emma so willingly shares.

🎧 Find all the links to listen via our link in bio.

___________

Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country by subscribing on your favourite podcast platform.

Tell us what you think of the episode in the comments! We’d love to hear what you thought of Emma’s story.

Australian VBAC Stories

10/06/2025

27/05/2025

23/12/2024

20/10/2024

08/10/2024

19/09/2024

04/07/2024

17/06/2024

03/06/2024

20/05/2024

06/05/2024

20/04/2024

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