Vaginal Birth After Myomectomy (VBAM)
Resources

In the Spring of 2019, I had a 10cm 434g anterior fundal intramural leiomyoma (fibroid) removed via a laparoscopic myomectomy surgery. During the surgery, it was determined that both of my fallopian tubes were completely blocked after a negative chromotube insufflation test. We were told after the surgery that I would not be able to conceive naturally because of my blocked fallopian tubes and I would not be eligible for a vaginal delivery if I were to become pregnant.

In the Summer of 2021, after a holistic lifestyle shift, an 80lb weight loss journey, and incorporating regular movement and mindfulness practices, I became pregnant. My husband and I were surprised and excited, however, it was to be short-lived. I had a miscarriage early into that pregnancy but we now knew that we could conceive naturally.

In January 2022, we found out that I was pregnant again. I began that pregnancy under the assumption that I had no other option but to give birth via a scheduled pre-term cesarean. As I went through my prenatal care and began to ask questions about the possibility of even considering a vaginal delivery we were met with fear-mongering, dismissive behavior from multiple doctors. We shopped around for second opinions and were told repeatedly that because of the lack of research on vaginal births after this specific type of uterine surgery the standard of care was to perform a cesarean. It was a matter of liability.

The research below was compiled in the summer of 2022 after I had decided to not go forward with a scheduled cesarean birth and instead to birth outside of the medical system. We spent hours and hours compiling these resources, studies, and stories of vaginal births after myomectomy so that we could make informed decisions about my pregnancy and subsequent birth. Our overall findings reflected between 0.75% and 1% chance of uterine rupture if a vaginal birth is attempted after a myomectomy. There still remains a need for more research and case studies as the volume and scope of the data are limited.

As with any great collection of resources, this is an evolving document. If you have more resources to contribute to this please reach out to hello@curaehome.com

Studies

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301211518310145

• https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-020-03406-9

• https://reference.medscape.com/article/275854-overview

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01443610701811738?scroll=top&needAccess=true

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1553465005001500

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214911218300122

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1028455918300408

• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10397-014-0842-8

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08941939.2020.1836289

• https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/15/4/869/706490#google_vignette

• https://academic.oup.com/humrep/issue/37/Supplement_1

• https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aogs.12920

• https://ogscience.org/journal/view.php?number=323

• https://www.wjols.com/abstractArticleContentBrowse/WJOLS/4/1/1/4999/abstractArticle/Article

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15922982/

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25986399/

• https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/crpm-2019-0007/html?lang=en

Blogs & Forums

• https://thebirthhour.com/vaginal-birth-after-laparoscopic-myomectomy/

• https://www.sitarambhartia.org/blog/gynecology/pregnancy-after-myomectomy/

• https://community.babycenter.com/post/a62858581/vbam-after-myomectomy

• https://specialscars.org/

Podcasts & Social Media & Other

• https://www.instagram.com/p/CDCTEwWA5KP/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-vbac-link/id1394742573?i=1000567352863

• https://youtu.be/RinOy_BdAsg

• https://www.instagram.com/trashbag703/

• https://www.thevbaclink.com/vbac-class/