The VBAC Link

We’re so excited to bring you another episode in our Cesarean Awareness Month series! This one was highly requested in our VBAC Link Facebook Community and we can’t wait for you to hear Catherine’s stories. Today’s topic is all about BREECH, one of the most common reasons for cesareans. Catherine, a mom of four with a bicornuate uterus, shares her four births: a scheduled breech cesarean, a precip...

As we continue our Cesarean Awareness Month series, CBAC and RCS moms, this one's for you. If your future birth looks like a subsequent cesarean, we want to make that cesarean the best, most peaceful, and empowering experience it can be. Better birth after cesarean means better options, and today's episode takes a deep dive into the option of Maternal Assisted Cesareans (MAC).  We are join...

Is it possible to have a VBAC with multiples? YES. In honor of Cesarean Awareness Month, Erin, a registered dietitian and mom of four (under 5!), shares her journey through cesarean, VBAC, miscarriage, and a twin VBAC. She opens up about navigating postpartum anxiety, benefiting from medication, and how her hard work and growth helped her have a different mindset when a lot of similar things happe...

April is Cesarean Awareness Month and Women of Strength, we are aware of YOU. All month long, we are bringing you VBAC stories & discussions featuring these most common reasons for cesareans: • Big babies • Failure to progress • Twins • Breech • Fetal heart tones And for our CBAC and RCS mamas, we’ve got a special episode all about maternal assisted cesareans, so stay tuned!!  In today’s episo...

Rachel, a VBAC mom, NICU nurse, researcher, and soon to be women’s health NP, shares her healing VBAC journey with us today. Her first birth started as an induction and quickly turned into an urgent cesarean. She experienced a failed spinal, aggression from providers, and general anesthesia.  Rachel talks about some tough things she’s seen as a NICU nurse and how trauma can show up secondhand. She...

If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ve probably heard women say they did all the things to get their VBAC.  But what actually are “all the things”?  This episode covers it! As moms prepping for their own VBACs and now doulas helping others do the same, Paige (coming hot off a birth!) and Lily sit down to talk about everything you can do before conception and during pregnancy to prepare for an...

Breastfeeding is natural, but that doesn’t mean it always comes naturally. In this episode, we chat with Lily’s personal boob fairy🧚🏼 Angela Das (IBCLC, CLC, CNPE and two-time VBAC mom!) about how preparing BEFORE birth can make a big difference in your feeding journey. Angela first shares her own birth stories from her unexpected c-section to her two induced VBACs and the differences in her bre...

Ashley Adynah is a wife, mom of four boys (one bonus son and three birth stories of her own), and the creator behind The Parenting Strategy. She went into her first birth aware of the gap in Black maternity care, spoke up, and was assured by her team that she would be well taken care of. But Ashley’s induction ended in a traumatic C-section compounded by a uterine infection, infected incision, pas...

Liz's first birth was an induction that ended in a cesarean. When she said, “I can feel that,” referring to pressure, her doctor put her under general anesthesia without consent. With her second, Liz planned for a VBAC. The midwife broke her water without consent. She labored to 9.5 centimeters and stalled with a cervical lip. She was overwhelmed by so many hands touching her as they tried to...

Allison Champ is a mama of three and a VBAC Link Certified VBAC Doula serving families in the Dayton, Ohio area. Her first birth was an induced, epidural vaginal delivery with a premature manual removal of the placenta, which required a uterine scraping procedure. Allison, Lily & Paige chat about that third stage of labor and what is/isn’t evidence based.  Her second pregnancy began as a plann...

“Women should feel excited about giving birth and every woman should feel confident in giving birth.” Brianna’s first birth didn’t feel this way. She transferred to the hospital from a birth center at 42 weeks for a Foley induction. And before labor even started, she was already mentally preparing for a c-section. Pitocin was started without her consent. After about 14 hours, an epidural, AROM, an...

Our first VBAM (vaginal birth after myomectomy) was Episode 189 with Mabel back in 2022 and we are SO excited to finally be bringing you another! Maria Magdalena “Mags” Campbell joins us from Cape Town, South Africa to share her inspiring story through loss, fertility challenges, and ultimately TWO VBAM births.  With the support of Chinese medicine, acupuncture, progesterone, and a fertility coach...

We’re thrilled to welcome back Dr. Hazel Keedle from Sydney, Australia! Dr. Keedle is a researcher, midwife, Director of Midwifery Academic Programs and Senior Lecturer at Western Sydney University back to discuss her book, A Clinician’s Guide to Birth After Cesarean, released in August 2025. In this episode, Hazel shares insight from her years of research into VBAC experiences and clinical care....

After an induction at 41+3 weeks turned emergency cesarean with her first and a second cesarean at 42 weeks due to failure to progress, Irene had an unmedicated VBA2C with full placenta previa pregnancy that resolved at 30 weeks! Irene started her VBA2C pregnancy journey at a new practice that was not VBAC supportive and told her to schedule a cesarean at her first 8-week appointment. She switched...

“You only have to make one good decision at a time.” We are so excited to welcome our very own TVL team member, Ashley Marg, back on the podcast today! Ashley is our Maternal Health & Communication Strategist and you will find her beautifully writing VBAC content on our blog and in your email inboxes. You can find her first three birth stories in depth on Episode 249, but after a short recap,...

We’re bringing you a bonus episode this week!! Your new hosts Lily and Paige sit down and turn the tables on each other with a fun game of 20 Questions. They share everything from their personal backgrounds to their favorite things, silly stories, and opening up about what led them to The VBAC Link and doula work. They also talk about their hopes for the future of the podcast and how much they’ve...

We’ve been keeping this secret for months and are so excited that we get to finally share!! Join us in this tender and bittersweet episode as we honor Meagan for the legacy she has created through her work hosting this podcast. Meagan has changed SO many lives, and our TVL team is so happy she’s sticking around to help this movement continue to grow and thrive! And let’s give the warmest welcome t...

For this last episode of 2025, we wanted to emphasize just how unique all VBAC journeys really are, and Amanda’s story does just that! Women of Strength, VBACs are possible in sooo many different scenarios, even the ones that weren’t planned or prepped for.  Amanda thought she was having a planned C-section, but with a little gentle encouragement from her care team, she ended up with an unplanned,...

This Christmas Eve episode is something a little different and very special! For over 400 episodes, you’ve heard our founder, Meagan Heaton, encourage, educate, and validate women through all types of birth stories. Now, she’s slowing down and speaking that encouragement directly to YOU . This episode is just a warm moment to simply pause, breathe, and feel supported. This episode is for all women...

Kela is an inspiring mama who joins us today sharing her HBA2C story! All three of Kela’s pregnancies were planned home births, yet her first two ended in cesarean after long labors labeled “failure to progress”, concerns of chorio, tachycardia, and fever. Though the odds were stacked against her, Kela never let go of the dreamy home birth she knew in her bones was possible.  With the support of a...

“Peace on earth begins with birth.” In this powerful episode, Meagan sits down with Anna Lundqvist, founder of Sacred Birth International. Anna is a seasoned midwife from Sweden whose work has evolved into educating birthing families, doulas, and birth professionals on how to protect birth as a sacred, primal, and physiological event. Drawing from years of attending births around the world, Anna n...

Women of Strength, you won’t want to miss this one!! In today’s episode of The VBAC Link Podcast, we welcome Sarah, a mom of three boys, an active duty Air Force officer (AND a spouse to one as well!) about her incredible VBA2C during an overseas PCS move from South Korea to Florida.  Sarah’s first birth was a c-section for breech presentation. Her second was a scheduled c-section timed around her...

Catie, a pediatric physical therapist from Northern Kentucky, joins Meagan on the podcast today sharing her three birth stories– a vaginal delivery, c-section, and VBAC! Catie struggled with hyperemesis gravidarum (among other complications) during all three pregnancies but wasn’t officially given the diagnosis until she was hospitalized with her third. By that time, she had researched hard and wa...

We are so excited to welcome back our favorite registered dietician and bestselling author, Lily Nichols! Lily is here to chat with us about her third book, Real Food for Fertility. She explains how while the title focuses on fertility, this book goes far beyond that, diving into how nutrition supports hormone health and overall well-being at every stage of life. Meagan and Lily talk about nutriti...

Kari joins us today from Huntsville, Alabama sharing her story of two induced but very different births. Her first was an unplanned Cesarean after a 39-week induction and the second was a medically induced VBAC due to preeclampsia.  With her second baby, Kari saw a new provider who was VBAC supportive, hired a doula, and went to a chiropractor. She also found out that she had a velamentous cord in...