I am only 8 weeks pregnant, but decided to switch OB docs (among other reasons) because she suggested to take the baby as soon as it was healthy to leave the womb. I have no complications and rocking a 6.1% A1c. I understand I likely will have a C-section, but would love to have my team support a vaginal delivery until that is not safe. Has anyone had a vaginal delivery?
I’m not sure why, and you’re not the first I’ve heard this from, but a c-section is not a guarantee just because you have diabetes. I’ve had 2 full-term deliveries, both vaginal. With Gus I went into labor at 38w4d, which was 4 days before his induction date. With Lucy, we were induced at 39w2d. Both were vaginal deliveries. The usual standard is for T1 diabetic moms not to go too much past 39w, as even with great control, the placenta can age faster and not be able to last all 40w of a pregnancy. That’s why we have increased monitoring and NST’s.
I also am not sure why they say you have to have a c-section. I just had my son 8 months ago and had a vaginal delivery.However, I did go into preterm labor and had my son 7 weeks early, but the plan was always for me to have a vaginal birth unless I surpassed 39 weeks and then they would induce. My perinatal specialist didn’t want to do a c-section unless absolutely necessary because of the healing time it takes for us Type 1’s. A vaginal birth is absolutely possible! Good luck.
Thank you for sharing! I didn’t even think about the extra healing time! My new OB said she only does c-sections if it is necessary; that made me feel like she is in my corner.
I had a vaginal delivery! They early on warned me that I likely would be a C and halfway through they said 1 in 3 I could go vaginal but it was important to me and I kept healthy and my doctor advocated for me. And baby wasn’t crazy big. I did it. You can too!
I have had 5 diabetic pregnancies and not a single c section with any of them. Three of them were on the larger side, 9lbs 4ounces, 10lbs 1ounce and 11lbs 14ounces! Anything is possible.
My high risk obgyn said they try to avoid c sections because of surgery taking longer to heal from my diabetes. They did say they will induce me at 39 weeks but still prefer vaginal.
I have also gotten the story about being induced at 39 weeks. I come from a family where no baby was ever delivered more than 5 days after their due date. I have told them that I will refuse based on baby size and the health of my placenta/diabetes/etc. If my baby is abnormally large or I’m having medical issues, than I am happy to be induced. Otherwise, it seems to me that it doesn’t make good sense. I do understand the concerns about having a c-section from doctors. However, looking at family history, there is no genetic predisposition for situations in which one will be needed. My A1C is great and I’m only in the 51% for size. So, I’m as average as a diabetic can be. I feel babies need their time in the womb and to induce could cause later issues. Ultimately, you have the say in what you will do in your plans… unless there are complications. In which case, you may want to look into a very vocal person in the room with you (mom, spouse, etc), or a doula.
My OB (Canada) didn’t have a strict “recipe” (as she called it) for her D patients which was great as I had wanted to wait until 40w IF possible. Her only concern was that me and the baby were fine so she said as long as everything was okay, she had no issue with me going to 40w but she would not let me go over like someone with non-D might.
I was also given the option to have a vaginal birth if I wanted or schedule a c-section. When it became apparent I was having a big baby when I was 30w along and she predicted 8lbs by 38w, along with saying she’d like to induce at 38w if he continued to grow at that rate, she again asked if I wanted an elective c-section or to try a vaginal birth. I still opted for vaginal. I also kept my A1C in the 6.3% range my whole pregnancy and had no issues…it was a pretty easy pregnancy other than the water retention which my mom also had in both her pregnancies.
I did end up with pre-e being dx at 36w+2d though and induced at 36w+3d (she saw no reason to wait the extra few days to hit 37w, technically if you go into pre-term labour as early as 35w the hospital wouldn’t stop it anyways). My water broke 36w+4d and my son was born via “emergency” csection 36w+5d. I tried a vaginal birth but after an hour and a half of pushing not only had he not moved lower, they couldn’t even tell which way he was facing (sunny side up or not) so they predicted he was bigger than the 7lbs10oz my OB had estimated using her machine (I got an ultrasound every appointment!) two days before and that my body couldn’t handle it. I ended up with an “emergency” (aka non-elective) csection 5hours later and he came out 9lbs1oz!
Even though I laboured, pushed and had a csection I healed really fast. I was off the hard painkillers within 3hours of waking from the csection (could have been due to having two failed epidurals and one failed spinal before being put under general though haha) and was back to myself pretty fast. My doctors (endo, OB and GP) were all really impressed with how fast I bounced back! Recovery is very individual, some people take a long time and some people don’t!
The reason I am telling you my story is because you need to be ready for anything. I think if you want to have a vaginal birth you need to tell your OB and advocate for yourself to have one but be aware you may end up with a csection whether after you try a vaginal birth or not. I went into my delivery open minded for whatever happened and I have no regrets in what happened; I knew it there was a chance so I let what needed to happen, happen. I trusted my medical team and I don’t regret that either. My OB afterwards joked that if she had let me go to 40w he would’ve been 14lbs! haha
I just had my baby in March with an A1C or 6.1 as well. There was no talk of a C-Section, just a planned induction at 38 weeks. But she ended up coming at 37½ weeks anyway.
I just had a successful vaginal delivery 2 weeks ago after being induced at 38 weeks. Like Joanie, my doctor never pressured me into feeling like a c-section would be necessary unless the baby was looking heavy on growth scans, or if either of us were in distress and it was medically necessary. Being type 1 diabetic AND being induced, I beat both odds and had a vaginal delivery!! 
It is possible.