Dr. Christina Pinnock is a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist/Perinatologist based in California and creator of the ZerotoFour Podcast. She is here to help us tackle topics like what constitutes a high-risk pregnancy, lupus, preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, gestational diabetes, fibroids, and bicornuate uteruses and how they relate to VBAC. 

The overarching theme of this episode is that all pregnancies are individual experiences. If you are hoping to achieve a VBAC and you have pregnancy complications, find a provider whose goals align with yours. By ensuring that your comfort levels are a good match, you are on your way to a safe and empowering birth experience!

Dr. Pinnock’s Website and Podcast

Needed Website

How to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for Parents

Full Transcript under Episode Details 

00:58 Review of the Week

03:13 Dr. Christina Pinnock

03:56 Importance of a VBAC-supportive provider

06:36 High-risk pregnancies

11:02 Lupus and TOLAC

14:31 Preeclampsia 

17:19 Varying ranges of preeclampsia

20:46 HELLP Syndrome 

26:36 Other High-risk situations 

27:54 Gestational Diabetes

35:00 Inductions with gestational diabetes

42:25 Fibroids 

46:33 Do fibroids tend to grow during pregnancy? 

51:20 Bicornuate Uterus

Meagan: Have you ever been told that you were high risk, so you’ll be unable to TOLAC? Or maybe you can totally TOLAC assuming nothing high-risk comes into play? What does high risk mean? We often get questions in our inbox asking if having your previous cesarean makes them high risk. Or questions about topics like preeclampsiaclampsia, gestational diabetes, bicornuate uterus, fibroids, and more. 

I am so excited to have board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Christina Pinnock on the show today. She is a high-risk pregnancy doctor passionate about educating women along their pregnancy journeys so they can be more informed and comfortable during their pregnancy. She is located in California and has a podcast of her own called “ZerotoFour” where she talks about topics that will help first-time moms prepare for, thrive, and recover from pregnancy as well as shares evidence-based information and answers everyday questions like we are going to discuss today. 

00:58 Review of the Week

Meagan: We do have a Review of the Week, so I'm going to jump into that and then we can dive in to get into these fantastic questions from Dr. Christina Pinnock. 

Today’s reviewer's name is Obsessed!!!! It says, “The best VBAC and birth podcast. I am grateful to have discovered Meagan and this podcast. I definitely believe listening to stories of these amazing women and their parent’s course helped me achieve my two VBACs. Thank you for all you do The VBAC Link.”

Oh, thank you so much Obsessed!!!!!  And as always if you wouldn’t mind, drop us a review leave us a comment and you never know, it may be read on the next podcast. 

03:13 Dr. Christina Pinnock

Meagan: Okay, Women of Strength. I am seriously so, so excited to have our guest here with us today! Dr. Christina, is it Pinnock? How do you say it?

 Dr. Pinnock: Yes that’s perfect.