So your first book was called Silent Knife and the subcaption of the book. What was the subtitle of

that book? Cesarian Prevention and Vaginal birth after cesarean. And you told people when you wrote

the acronym you put these four letters together for the first time in the world, V-B-A-C, you had to tell

people how to pronounce it. So in parentheses, it says V-E-E-E-E-E-A-C-K. And you've said to me, boy, if I knew it would catch on, I would have thought of something catchier. Oh, I would have thought of something that was so much cashier than that, but I just couldn't continue to write it all the time. And when you eventually left the hospital, the doctor said, well, now you're a C-section mom, and once a C-section,

always a C-section. And you said to him, no one is ever cutting me open again. That's what I said.

No way. Nobody's going to cut me open again. No way on the planet they're ever going to do this to me again.

Very traumatic for me. I was a very quiet and soft-spoken woman at the

time, believe it or not. And as my husband used to say, he thinks when they opened me to do a C-section,

a tiger jumped in because my life was never, ever the same. I'm Cynthia Overgard, owner of hypniburthing of Connecticut, childbirth advocate, and

postpartum support specialist.

And I'm Tresha Ludwig, certified nurse midwife and international board certified lactation

consultant.

And this is the down-to-birth podcast.

Childbirth is something we're made to do, but how do we have our safest and most satisfying experience in today's medical culture?

Let's dispel the myths and get down to birth.

Hello, dear listeners of ours. You're in for a treat for today's episode. I know for years you've heard us talk about the legend Nancy Wainer. She is the woman, the midwife, the author, the mother, who coined the acronym V-backAC, vaginal birth after Caesarian, because she herself is the first woman in the United States to have had a planned vaginal birth. This is back of the

day when all women were told. Once a C-section, always a C-section, there were no exceptions

for anyone, anywhere in the United States. And Nancy said,

absolutely not. So Nancy not only changed the trajectory of her two subsequent births, but in the

process changed birth for millions of women around the world. Because there's so much we want to

talk to Nancy about, we are splitting this into two episodes. In this

first episode today, you are going to hear Nancy tell her own story and make some comments about

...