Ultrasound may be able to predict who can have VBAC and who shouldn’t
February 1, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Women's Health
It used to be that "once a Cesarean, always a Cesarean," but this isn’t the case any longer. Many women who have had C-sections want to try to deliver vaginally for subsequent pregnancies. This is called a Vaginal Delivery After Cesarean, or VBAC.
While VBACs do have risks, including rupture of the uterine walls, many women do deliver vaginally after a C-section and don’t have any complications. The problem, however, lies in how to tell in advance who may be at higher risk if they have a VBAC.
A study presented on January 30th at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) showed how physicians could use an ultrasound (sonagram) to measure how thick the lower uterine segment is. With this measurement, they would be able to see who may be at higher risk of a uterine rupture while is labor.
The small study of 236 women involved measuring the uterine thickness when the women were between 35 and 38 weeks pregnant. During labor, three women had complete uterine rupture and six had scar dehiscence, splitting open of the earlier C-section scar.
You can read more about this study over at DocGuide.com: Sonogram Able to Predict Uterine Rupture Risk for Women Attempting VBAC
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Tags: pregnancy blog, VBAC, vaginal delivery after cesarean, uterine rupture, cesearean sections, c-sections
