Blessed To Have My Essure Reversal Baby
Dr. Monteith
I was blessed to be able to have baby Jazlyn vaginally without complications. She is truly a joy to our family.
Patient age: 27
Tubal ligation type: Essure
Patient hometown: Plainfield, Indiana
More information: Is Essure reversal successful?
Vaginal Birth After Essure Reversal: Is It Possible?
The benefit of reversing Essure is you can become pregnant again naturally. The chance of pregnancy after Essure reversal with Dr. Monteith is approximately 40%.
There are two main pregnancy risks from Essure reversal:
1) Ectopic pregnancy
2) Uterine rupture.
Ectopic pregnancy. The risk of ectopic…or tubal pregnancy… is increased.
We recommend all patients who become pregnant after Essure reversal see their doctor and follow the Early Pregnancy Monitoring Protocol.
Uterine rupture. Removing the Essure devices can cause the muscle of the uterus to weaken in the area where the Essure devices were located. If this happens the uterus could tear (or rupture) in the last several weeks of pregnancy and, especially, during the stress of uterine contractions experienced in labor.
Dr. Monteith recommends all patients have a planned c-section for pregnancies after Essure reversal to decrease the risks and problems that may occur with rupture of the uterus.
Vaginal birth after Essure reversal is possible but not recommended because uterine rupture can cause serious problems.
Can You Have A Vaginal Birth After Essure Reversal?
It is possible to have a vaginal birth after Essure reversal but this requires two things:
1) You be aware of the risks of uterine rupture
2) Your local Ob/Gyn doctor needs to be willing to work closely with you during pregnancy and labor
Dr. Monteith recommends a planned c-section before going into labor… but he also calls his practice A Personal Choice for a reason… because he believes patients are the best ones to make their own personal choices about their fertility.
Some patients have had vaginal birth after Essure reversal with Dr. Monteith.
Vaginal Birth After Essure: Other Patients Success Stories
Some patients have had a vaginal birth after Essure reversal. This patient had vaginal birth of twins after Essure reversal: Vaginal birth of twins after Essure reversal
This patient was an Ob/GYN doctor from Iceland who travel to have Essure reversal with Dr. Monteith. She was well aware of the risk of uterine rupture but was able to have a planned and controlled delivery in her local hospital with her physician friends who were willing to work closely with her: Traveling from Iceland For Essure Reversal
If you choose to have a vaginal birth after Essure reversal then you need to:
1. Understand and accept the fact uterine rupture is a very serious risk, cannot always be prevented, diagnosed, or treated quickly enough to save your uterus or your baby.
2. Have a doctor who is willing to work with you during your pregnancy.
3. Have your baby at a hospital where an emergency c-section can be performed ASAP.
Uterine Rupture: Important Facts
Rupture or tearing of the uterus is very common in the United States.
Any surgery on the wall of the uterus (c-section, fibroid removal, or Essure reversal) can weaken the uterus and cause it to tear in a future pregnancy. Another risk factor is grandmuliparity (having 5 or more vaginal births).
The single most common reason for rupture of the uterus in the United States is having a previous c-section. This is why most doctors recommend repeat c-section if you have had a previous c-section.
Important Facts About Uterine rupture
The most common reason for uterine rupture is having a prior c-section.
1. Risk of rupture after prior low transverse c-section (side to side incision on the uterus) around 1%
2. Risk of rupture after prior Classical C-section (up and down incision on the uterus) around 10%
3. Risk of rupture after Essure reversal (unknown but likely less than 10%)
These are important facts about uterine rupture:
- Can occur at anytime in pregnancy
- Risk increases in the third trimester
- Most often occurs when in labor
- Can be sudden and unpredictable
- Can result in serious harm to baby
- Can result in heavy bleeding requiring a blood transfusion or a hysterectomy
The most important fact to realize is that uterine rupture can not always be predicted, it can be sudden, and there can be very serious problems.
Essure Reversal Techniques That Allow You To Safely Have A Vaginal Birth
Some doctors advertise they reverse Essure in such a way that a vaginal birth is safe and possible. There is very little published medical information about Essure reversal and pregnancy after Essure reversal.
The most recent study on Essure reversal was published in October 2018 by doctors at Brigham and Women’s hospital, which is associated with Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. They published their results on laparoscopic Essure reversal in 3 patients. They did not comment on the best way to deliver an Essure reversal pregnancy. In the paper they acknowledged:
“Montieth et al. are the only authors to publish their experience using tubouterine anastomosis to reverse Essure sterilization.”
More information: Laparoscopic Essure tubal reversal
Unfortunately the claims by some doctors that vaginal delivery after reversing Essure is safe and does not increase the risk of rupture of the uterus are neither supported by evidence nor medical literature.
They say this because they know many women want to avoid c-section. Many women will have surgery with them because they perceive they are getting some benefit that others doctors cannot provide.
Someone is likely to get hurt by this inaccurate observation.
These doctors can easily be identified because they use similar advertising techniques with other aspects of their surgery…offering the cheapest price and offering/requiring other procedures which are medically not necessary (for example, mandatory liposuction during tubal reversal surgery) and they claim offer some benefit that has never been supported by medical research.
