QuestionHi. I have just given birth to my 4th daughter, which resulted in an emergency caesarian, after my uterus ruptured. My first daughter was a caesarian (7 years ago),due to fetal distress, but then I had 2 natural, drug-free births (4 and 2 years ago) I was curious as to any statistcs on this, as my doc at the time had not experienced it before??
I had been induced with all 4 as I was overdue.
AnswerUterine rupture is a risk, although it doesn't happen very often, with labor after a previous cesarean birth. The rate of uterine rupture for a woman having a VBAC is 1/2 of 1% (0.5%)This means out of 200 women attempting a VBAC, 1 of them will have a uterine rupture. Induction does increase the chance of uterine rupture, although the numbers are still small.
A pitocin induction increases the risk to 3/4 of 1% (0.77%) And with a prostaglandin induction (cervidil or cytotec) your risk of uterine rupture increases to 2.45%.
Even without a previous cesarean, there is always a very small (0.012%) risk of uterine rupture.
I'm glad that you and your baby are ok. Congratulations on the birth of your 4th daughter (I have 4 daughters myself!)
Sincerely,
Dorothy H, LCCE
