In the last quarter of the 20th century women who had a cesarean birth and who met certain criteria have been afforded the option of a trial of labor that, if successful, permits them to experience a vaginal birth after a cesarean (VBAC). This article provides a comprehensive evaluation of the evidence on trials of labor and VBAC rates. MEDLINE, DARE, and Cochrane databases were searched for relevant articles that were published between 1980 and 2009. Inclusion criteria were English language studies that were conducted in the United States or other developed countries that rated fair or good based on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force criteria. The original search identified 3,134 citations, and this was further narrowed to 69 studies that were included in the final analysis. The analysis concluded that women who gave birth in hospitals with higher birth volumes, teaching hospitals or tertiary care centers were most likely to be offered a trial of labor.
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