Liza | Three births, VBAC after two caesareans, birth trauma recovery, mental health support

Liza’s motherhood journey began unexpectedly when she fell pregnant at 24 whilst living in Perth, where her husband Jarvis was stationed as a submariner in the Navy. “We were 23 and 24 and definitely eventually wanted children, but not probably to happen so soon,” Liza reflects. The reality of potentially birthing alone whilst her partner was deployed for months at sea prompted a significant decision at 30 weeks pregnant.

After experiencing a preterm labour scare at 27 weeks, when she had to drive herself to hospital whilst Jarvis was “on a submarine somewhere in the ocean,” Liza made the brave choice to relocate back to New South Wales to be near family support. “The doctor basically said to me, look, you are fine. However, if I was you maybe go somewhere where you have some support,” she recalls of that pivotal moment.

First Birth: Navigating Breech Presentation and Caesarean

Liza’s first birth at Lismore Hospital involved discovering her daughter Naya was in a footling breech position. “I didn’t know you could have a breech birth. I went into the hospital and they weren’t doing breech footling breech births,” she explains. What she didn’t initially realise was that a large 10-centimetre fibroid was preventing Naya from turning, making the caesarean not just recommended but medically necessary.

“After the surgery, the doctor came in and said, ‘I took your fibroid out for you. I’m so glad you chose a caesarean, because that could have been detrimental to your birthing outcomes,'” Liza shares. Despite the positive medical outcome, she struggled with the recovery from heavy medications and the emotional impact of not experiencing the physiological birth she’d hoped for.

The challenges continued postnatally, with Naya being a baby who “woke every hour overnight.” Combined with Jarvis returning to deployment for eight months when Naya was just six weeks old, Liza found herself struggling with what she now recognises as postnatal anxiety. “I didn’t wanna come across as ungrateful, so I did definitely struggle to reach out for help,” she admits, highlighting the common struggle many new mothers face in asking for support.

Liza’s second pregnancy brought hope for a VBAC, but her experience with the medical system initially felt adversarial. “I was so prepared for the negative side of things. I was so prepared to go in with guns blazing,” she reflects. “But I forgot to relax and enjoy my pregnancy and let things just happen.”

After agreeing to a stretch and sweep at 40+2 weeks, Liza experienced four days of prodromal labour before active labour began. Despite labouring intensively, she remained at four centimetres dilation for hours. When her son Odie’s heart rate began showing concerning dips, she made the decision for a repeat caesarean.

However, the birth took a traumatic turn when Liza had a severe reaction to intravenous Maxolon during the surgery. “I ended up having a panic attack on the table,” she describes. “The anaesthetist said, ‘I’ve heard of this happening, but I’ve never seen it happen before.'” The situation escalated when the oxygen mask wasn’t initially turned on, leaving Liza feeling like she couldn’t breathe during the panic attack.

Adding to the trauma, staffing shortages meant Odie was taken to NICU for two hours whilst Liza remained alone in recovery. “Sitting in a sterile room for two hours after you’ve just experienced something like that… I can realise how much of an impact that had on my recovery and connecting with my baby,” she reflects.

The turning point came when Liza’s caesarean scar became infected and reopened. The GP who treated her recognised her distress and immediately provided a mental health care plan. “He was like, ‘here is mental health plan. Here is the psychologist you’re going to see. She’s amazing,'” Liza recalls gratefully.

Working with her psychologist weekly for about a year proved transformative. “What she taught me was that my memories were on a loop because my brain couldn’t comprehend the trauma,” Liza explains. Through specialised therapy, she learned to process the traumatic birth experience properly. “We did a type of therapy where I’d go in and I’d tell the story from start to finish and we’d talk about the ending and that it did happen like that and that it’s okay.”

This therapeutic work was crucial not just for processing the birth trauma, but also for addressing the postnatal anxiety she’d experienced after her first birth. “It turns out I was probably struggling with postnatal anxiety after my first birth, but I just had this fear of if I tell people that I’m not coping, they’re not gonna think I love my baby,” she shares.

Four years later, when Liza decided to try for a third baby, her approach was completely different. After experiencing an early miscarriage, she eventually conceived again and returned to the same hospital – but this time with a transformed mindset and the benefit of years of therapeutic work.

The difference in her care was immediately apparent. “Dr. Tanney said, ‘oh, I read you want to have a VBAC after two caesareans.’ And I said, ‘yeah.’ And she went, ‘why not? You can do it,'” Liza recalls. Instead of focusing on risks, the consultant reframed the statistics positively: “She’s like, ‘it’s around a 1.5% chance of uterine rupture, but that means you’ve got like a 98% chance of not having a uterine rupture.'”

Crucially, the doctor also acknowledged Liza’s previous traumatic experience. “She said, ‘I on behalf of everyone here, I want to apologise. I am so sorry. No one should ever have an experience like that at my hospital,'” Liza shares emotionally. “Just having someone acknowledge and apologise… it only took you saying sorry. That’s all it took, and I feel so differently about it.”

This time, Liza approached birth with openness rather than rigidity. “Instead of saying to yourself, ‘I’m going to have a VBAC,’ why don’t you say ‘I’m going to have a birth without trauma?'” her consultant suggested. This reframing proved crucial to Liza’s mental preparation.

Liza’s labour began naturally at 39+4 weeks after a reflexology session. “I went into labor that afternoon. Maybe I was obviously ready, I was in a positive head space. I was really relaxed,” she reflects. She laboured at home through the night using her TENS machine and birth ball, describing it as “really enjoyable.”

At the hospital, despite initially being only three centimetres dilated, labour progressed rapidly. When Liza reached transition, she experienced the classic feelings of wanting to give up. “I said to my midwife, ‘I would like a caesarean, thank you… Someone get the theatre ready. I’m done,'” she laughs, remembering how her birth team calmly supported her through this normal phase.

The actual birth was swift and powerful. “I pushed him out in only about two contractions,” Liza describes. “I felt that euphoria that I hadn’t felt before and it was so cool.” The healing nature of this experience extended to her partner as well: “It was also so healing for him too, seeing me coherent and happy and healthy and a baby just thriving.”

The contrast in recovery between caesarean and vaginal birth was stark for Liza. “It was like night and day. Within a week I think I was completely pain-free,” she shares, despite having a second-degree tear. “I felt like myself and I hadn’t experienced that before, after birth.”

Liza’s story powerfully demonstrates how therapeutic support can transform not just mental health, but subsequent birth experiences. Her journey from trauma to healing offers hope to anyone who has experienced birth trauma or is considering a VBAC after previous caesareans.

“No matter where you are, where you go, what happens, there is going to be some trauma or some things that aren’t going to go right necessarily,” Liza reflects wisely. “But because I’d done work in that space, I’d realised it wasn’t the hospital or the doctor… I actually had the strength and the capacity to go into this birth with an open mind.”

For anyone struggling after a difficult birth experience, Liza’s message is clear: “Whatever has happened, even if you had a birth that you were really happy with, there might be some things that you might need to get off your chest or you might need to talk to someone about. I could not recommend it highly enough.”

This episode offers invaluable insights into birth trauma recovery, the importance of mental health support in the perinatal period, VBAC preparation, and how therapeutic work can fundamentally transform our approach to subsequent births and life challenges.