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• Pregnancy & children >> Making decisions about birth after caesarean >> Aged 36-39 >> Interview 06 >> Her questions changed throughout her pregnancy. She would have liked to talk to a midwife outside of formal appointments. Having web-based information

Had planned CS with 1st child due to his expected size. Felt CS was unnecessary, but stress-free way of having baby. Difficult decision with 2nd child, felt both anxious and curious about labour. Now pleased to have had vaginal birth with ventouse.

• Pregnancy & children >> Making decisions about birth after caesarean >> Aged 31-35 >> Interview 11 >> She would have liked to attend antenatal classes to refresh her knowledge of labour and pain relief. Women in the parentcraft classes had other intere

Rushed to have CS after baby passed meconium and stopped moving. Had quick recovery. Keen to experience vaginal birth with 2nd child, laboured for 66 hours. Some complications afterwards but glad to have experienced giving birth both ways.

• Pregnancy & children >> Making decisions about birth after caesarean >> Aged 31-35 >> Interview 26 >> She did not experience many worries during her pregnancy and was happy to leave things to professional judgement.

1st child born prematurely at 30 weeks by emergency CS due to preeclampsia. Had good physical recovery but felt 'in shock'. 13 years later felt keen and confident to have VBAC with 2nd child. Had short but intense labour, birth was painful but 'amazing experience'.

• Pregnancy & children >> Making decisions about birth after caesarean >> Aged 36-39 >> Interview 12 >> She gathered information from as many sources as possible, but her decision to attempt VBAC was made independently of what she found out. Represented

Keen on vaginal birth with 1st child, felt she lost control at hospital, had various interventions and emergency CS. Decided to have VBAC with 2nd child against consultant's advice, but supported by doula and midwife. Very pleased with unassisted birth.

• Pregnancy & children >> Making decisions about birth after caesarean >> Aged 30 and under >> Interview 14 >> She read pregnancy magazines to help her make up her mind about how to give birth.

Admitted to hospital with pre-eclampsia, 1st child was born 6 weeks premature and had to spend 10 days in SCBU. Found it very difficult to decide how to give birth to 2nd child, worried about risks either way. Had vaginal birth assisted by ventouse.

• Pregnancy & children >> Making decisions about birth after caesarean >> Aged 40 and over >> Interview 05 >> Because of a previous miscarriage, she did not start to think about how to give birth until her hospital appointment at 20 weeks.

Had a very traumatic 1st birth, long labour, CS was offered only after baby went into distress. Felt excluded from decisions and treated unsympathetically. Felt pushed into VBAC with 2nd birth. Chose to go private instead and had planned CS.

• Pregnancy & children >> Making decisions about birth after caesarean >> Aged 31-35 >> Interview 27 >> She did not see her midwives much in her second pregnancy and was unsure where to look for balanced and reliable information, so she was pleased to ta

1st child was breech, had planned caesarean. Struggled to breastfeed and felt low for long after. Wanted planned CS with 2nd child, but felt pushed into VBAC by clinicians. Went into labour early and had emergency CS at 38 weeks, found experience worse than previous.