Opinions of Obstetricians and Midwives for Vaginal Birth after Cesarean Section: A Qualitative Study in Türkiye

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The most effective strategy to stop the increasing worldwide popularity of cesarean delivery and to break the logic of "once a cesarean, always a cesarean" is "vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC)". Health professionals are highly influential in women's birth preferences. Therefore, there is an urgent need to focus on the views of midwives and obstetricians about VBAC section. The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions of obstetricians and midwives about VBAC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study adopted two qualitative research approaches, phenomenology and case study. A total of 26 healthcare professionals, including 12 obstetricians and 14 midwives, were interviewed in this study. One-to-one in-depth phone interviews were held with the midwives and obstetricians and these interviews were audio-recorded. The obtained data were written out completely and analyzed thematically. This study aligns with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist. RESULTS: Three main themes and nine sub-themes were obtained in this research. The main themes described are "Healthcare Professional CONCLUSION: As a result of the interviews, in addition to the lack of information about VBAC delivery, various factors which prevent this application from being widespread were determined. Accordingly, with these ideas in mind, there is a need to organize training programs in order to improve healthcare professionals' knowledge and skills about VBAC section. It is recommended to provide the necessary legal regulations and raise awareness on vaginal births after cesarean deliveries.