Health Quality Ontario’s Vaginal Birth After Caesarean Quality Standard addresses
care for people who have had a Caesarean birth and are planning their next
birth. It focuses on care for people who are pregnant with one baby who is
head-down and at full term. The primary goals of this quality standard are to
improve access to safe vaginal
birth after Caesarean (VBAC) and promote informed shared
decision-making. Achieving these objectives is also expected to increase
Ontario’s rate of planned vaginal births after caesarean over time.
The quality standard includes 9 quality statements addressing areas that have high
potential for improving quality of care in Ontario for people considering
a vaginal birth after caesarean.
Below is a sample of tools that may help you with the
implementation of the quality statements into practice, organized according to
purpose. Some of these tools will help to support multiple quality
statements.
Are there other tools or resources you use? Do you have
experience implementing these tools? If so, please use the comments section
below to share!
Tools to Support Clinical Practice
Shared Decision-Making Aids
- Thinking About VBAC:
Deciding What’s Right For Me
—a client handout by
the Association of Ontario Midwives to help pregnant people who have
previously had a caesarean birth weigh the benefits and risks of a VBAC
versus a repeat cesarean and make an informed decision. This tool is
also available in
French, Spanish, Farsi, Arabic and Simplified Chinese
- TOLAC or ERCS: Making a Decision—an online
tool by North York General Hospital to help pregnant people
determine whether to plan a trial of labour after
caesarean section or an elective repeat caesarean section. (Note:
Search the webpage for “TOLAC” to find the
appropriate information/tool.)
Resources for Patients and Families
Other Tools and Resources
Comment below to describe your experience with these
tools or share any others you have found useful!