Just to clarify, I wasn’t suggesting you look for another doctor, since it sounds like you like the one you have. I was just suggesting looking at the hospital’s/doctor’s VBAC stats. If the rate of successful VBACs is low, it might be a point against trying it. (IME, the success rate did vary quite a bit from hospital to hospital, and it seemed to be linked to experience of staff with VBACs and hospital policies.)
I think one difficulty in deciding on complication rate is that, as far as I can tell a successful VBAC has the lowest complication rate and an unsuccessful attempt has the highest, with planned c-section somewhere in between. The odds of a successful VBAC are generally in your favor, but you can’t know. I understand the reasons many women are more comfortable with planning and feeling more in control.
I really wanted to avoid a second c-section if I could, so it was worth it to me, personally. Part of that, certainly, is emotional. Like Manda JO, I found my emergency c-section traumatizing. My VBAC was wonderful. I was in labor 3 hours and went home the next morning.
Best of luck making the right decision for you.
