E19 Surviving Placenta Percreta After Three Cesareans with Dawn Baranski episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 5, 2025 · 1H 16M

E19 Surviving Placenta Percreta After Three Cesareans with Dawn Baranski

from The VBAC Facts® Podcast with Jen Kamel

93% of women pregnant after one or more cesareans are not informed about the risk of placenta accreta spectrum that rises with each subsequent cesarean. Instead, they are assured that a repeat cesarean is safe and a planned VBAC is risky and, as a result, they schedule another cesarean. Dawn Baranski was one of those women. After enduring the bait and switch after her first cesarean, she had one more cesarean with her OB's assurance that placenta issues are a "one in a million chance." When she got pregnant again after three cesareans, she developed placenta percreta - the most severe degree of placenta accreta spectrum - where the placenta grows through the uterine wall and attaches to other abdominal organs, most commonly the bladder. The safest way for her baby to be born was a complicated cesarean hysterectomy ending her fertility. Dawn recounts inadequate informed consent, her emotional and physical recovery from a cesarean hysterectomy, and why she considered an unassisted birth. She shares how her hysterectomy impacts her health to this day as she manages a vaginal prolapse and rectocele and her important message for parents and health care professionals. Jen also contrasts new research which found VBAC was accessible in only 16% of U.S. counties against a report from earlier this year where 84% of hospitals said they offered VBAC as well as her next virtual speaking engagement, opportunities for VBAC education for medical, midwifery, and nursing students, and reader feedback on therapeutic rest.03:34 16% of US Counties Offer VBAC11:06 Leapfrog Report: 84% of US Hospitals Offer VBAC14:18 Next Speaking Engagement: Keynote at InJoy's 5th Annual (Virtual) Summit16:29 VBAC Education for Medical, Midwifery, &amp; Nursing Students17:40 Reader Feedback: Therapeutic Rest &amp; 24 Hour Labor Limit19:51 Introducing Dawn  Baranski20:50 Six Prior Vaginal Births, First Cesarean22:20 Bait &amp; Switch Strikes Again24:49 What the OB Advised After Two Cesareans26:29 Thought About Unassisted Birth, Had 3rd Cesarean27:43 What the OB Said About Cesarean Complications30:51 Mother's Autonomy &amp; Decision Making Scale32:18 Why She Wanted An Unassisted Birth After Three Cesareans35:45 Why She Choose to Birth Her Baby in Texas41:33 Birthing Her Baby via Cesarean Hysterectomy45:18 Health Issues From Her Hysterectomy47:13 Why She Had a Cesarean Hysterectomy For Her Percreta49:33 Hysterectomy Induced Early Perimenopause/Menopause51:00 Hormone Replacement Therapy During Perimenopause51:50 How Recovery From a Cesarean Hysterectomy is Different Than a Cesarean55:32 What Hysterectomy Has To Do With Vaginal Prolapse &amp; Rectocele57:44 Advice For Those Who Need A Cesarean Hysterectomy58:39 "I Wouldn't Have Showed Up For My Scheduled C-Section"01:00:07 Advice For Those Pregnant After One Cesarean01:01:01 Advice For Those Pregnant After Two Cesareans01:01:48 "There Was So Much Information That I Was Not Told"01:02:24 Physician Dismisses Future Risks as "Theoretical"01:05:14 "VBAC Poses Unnecessary Risk We Can Avoid Through C-Sections"01:07:04 "It's Hard 'Cause I Don't Trust Them"01:09:12 "We Don't Attend VBAC Because We Can Get Sued"01:12:59 What She Would Say To The OB Who Performed Her First Cesarean01:13:57 What Dawn Wants You To Know01:15:02 How Her Births Have Changed Her01:15:50 Her Advice: "My Doctor Won't Let Me Have a VBAC"Want to suggest a guest we should interview, topic we should discuss, or share your birth story? You can at https://vbacfacts.com/podcast!<a...

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E19 Surviving Placenta Percreta After Three Cesareans with Dawn Baranski

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How long is this episode of The VBAC Facts® Podcast with Jen Kamel?

This episode is 1 hour and 16 minutes long.

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This episode was published on September 5, 2025.

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93% of women pregnant after one or more cesareans are not informed about the risk of placenta accreta spectrum that rises with each subsequent cesarean. Instead, they are assured that a repeat cesarean is safe and a planned VBAC is risky and, as a...

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