In this powerful episode we hear from Jessica Tabb, a mum of two boys from the Hawkesbury, who shares a deeply reflective and empowering journey to her vaginal birth after caesarean. Jessica’s story is one of navigating uncertainty, learning to trust her body, and overcoming the emotional residue of a first birth that didn’t go to plan.
Jessica’s first birth started with her waters breaking, resulted in an augmentation with Syntocinon and involved fears around a 'big baby'. After a long labour and reaching fully dilated Jessica was encouraged to consider an instrumental birth or have a caesarean. Her son was born via caesarean but due to staffing issues, Jessica was not able to have her baby in recovery with her and this led to a period of separation of mum from baby.
Her second birth, an unmedicated homebirth VBAC, was not only a physical triumph but an emotionally healing journey as well. While she was able to recognise the power of her body and heal some of those wounds that had been created from her first experience, she also ended up being separated from her baby for a significant period post birth, with baby transferred to NICU and Jessica in an isolation room due to being COVID positive. Jessica shares about the tools that helped her achieve her VBAC: from mindset work, advocacy and sourcing aligned care providers to understanding the risks without letting fear take the lead. She shares the devastation of being separated from her baby again, how she navigated establishing her breastmilk supply while being separated from her son, and how they found their way back to each other over the days post birth.
This episode is a fantastic listen for anyone planning a VBAC or supporting someone through one, with sharing of lots of curveballs and changes in plans, but a beautifully positive thread of power, support and advocacy shared throughout. We hope you enjoy it as much as we loved sharing it.
With special thanks to the amazing women who supported me along the way. Teena and Emma from @hawkesbury_midwife, B from @coreandfloorrestore, Amber from @hawkesburyfamilyhealthco and Brooke from @herhealth.physiotherapyBIO
I am a mum of two boys, Oliver (4) and Jacob (2). I live Hawkesbury region of NSW with my husband Rowan and our two dogs (our first babies). We love where we live which is close to family and plenty of open spaces with fresh air we can enjoy with our boys. We went into parenthood with intention and have had two very different birth experiences, I hope by sharing my story impending mums can learn from my hindsight, and women planning a VBAC can feel part of a group of extraordinary women, full of determination and so willing to support each other on their journey. I am so grateful to have found my “people” throughout my second pregnancy who supported me, without question, along the way.
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If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations:
Maternity Choices Australia https://www.maternitychoices.org/
Maternity Consumer Network https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/
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