VBAC birth plan: planning a vaginal birth after a cesarean, with both outcomes on the page
A VBAC plan has a job no other plan has: it carries two births on one page, the vaginal birth you are planning and the repeat cesarean that remains a possibility, without letting either one crowd the other out. It also usually carries a previous birth story, which the people in the room have not read. Whether a VBAC is right for you is a decision for you and your provider; this guide is about writing the plan once that conversation has happened.
Start from the one-page template
The free template covers a VBAC as it stands; the sections below are what to add and what to ask.
Download the template (PDF) Or let the free generator ask youAsk your care team
- What does my own history mean for this plan: the reason for the previous cesarean, the type of incision, how long ago?
- What does the hospital require for a VBAC: monitoring, IV access, where I labor, who has to be available?
- Can I move around, use the shower or tub, and eat and drink, within those requirements?
- What are my pain relief options, and does an epidural change anything about the plan?
- What would lead you to recommend a repeat cesarean during labor, and how will you tell us?
- If labor does not start on its own, what are the options, and what is your view on induction for me?
- Who will be with me, and what happens at a shift change?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' patient page on vaginal birth after cesarean explains the terms and the considerations; read it before the conversation so you can ask about your own situation rather than about VBAC in general.
What to add to the plan
Last time, in one sentence
The staff will know you had a cesarean. They will not know what it was like. One sentence at the top of the plan ("my first birth was a long induction that ended in an unplanned cesarean; nobody told us what was happening behind the drape, and that is what we remember") does more for the next twelve hours than any preference below it. If there is something you do not want repeated, say it here, plainly.
The requirements, in your words
Whatever the hospital requires for a VBAC, write it on the plan as a known fact so your partner is not surprised by continuous monitoring or an IV and does not spend energy arguing about something that was settled at 36 weeks. Then write what you want within those requirements: wireless monitoring if available, movement, the shower, positions.
How decisions get made
This section matters more in a VBAC than anywhere else. How you want to be told if a repeat cesarean is being recommended. The four questions (what, why, what if we wait, how long do we have) and who asks them. Who has the final say when it is not an emergency. Your word for "give us a minute". If a previous birth left you with a hard time trusting the room, say so; it helps the staff help you.
The cesarean block, written as a real plan
For a VBAC the cesarean block is not a footnote. Write it as fully as the cesarean birth plan describes: partner present, drape, skin to skin in the operating room, partner goes with the baby, narration, recovery.
The partner's job in a VBAC
Knowing the previous story as well as you do, so they can say "last time" to a nurse in two sentences. Knowing the requirements so they are not surprised. Practicing the comfort measures, because movement and position may be the main tools. And, if a repeat cesarean is recommended, asking the four questions and then switching to the cesarean block without a pause. The partner birth plan has a free one-pager; put the previous birth's one-sentence summary on it.
Two stories, afterwards
However this birth goes, it will be told alongside the last one. Some people find that telling the first birth's story properly, before the second birth, changes how they go into it; the guide to writing a birth story years later is for that. Afterwards, the second story belongs to both of you, and the partner's version is worth recording separately.
The planner has a VBAC section
Say a VBAC is planned and the planner asks what your care team has told you about your situation, the hospital's requirements and the alternatives, collects your open questions, and links to the ACOG page. It organizes and clarifies; it does not recommend or predict. Your partner's own path covers their side of it. No account; answers stay on your device.
Open the free planner The cesarean block, in fullQuestions people ask
What should a VBAC birth plan include that a regular plan doesn't?
A one-sentence summary of the previous birth, the hospital's VBAC requirements written as known facts, a fuller decision-making section covering how you want to be told if a repeat cesarean is recommended, and a complete cesarean block rather than a footnote.
Should I tell the hospital staff about my previous birth?
Yes, in one or two sentences at the top of the plan: what happened, and what you do not want repeated. They will see the cesarean in your chart; they will not see what it was like for you unless you tell them.
Can I have an epidural with a VBAC?
Often yes, but it is a question for your care team about your situation and the hospital's practice. Ask, and write the answer on the plan.
How do I plan for a VBAC without bracing for another cesarean?
Write the cesarean block fully, once, with your partner, and then put it at the bottom of the page. People who have written it properly tend to describe being able to stop thinking about it.