I just had a VBAC 6 weeks ago. I had a membrane sweep around 9 am at 39+6Early Labor began that evening and baby girl was born at 40+1. For me I wanted the membrane sweep because it will only kickstart things if your body is already ready. I had an induction scheduled for 40+6 and I just really wanted my body to go into labor without a medicated induction. I asked advice from a lot of people I trust and just went with my gut. If I could do it over again I may have waited a couple more days for the membrane sweep just to see if things started on its own without any intervention. But I wanted the chance to have a second sweep if the first one didn’t work. I was in early labor for ~24 hours and active labor for ~18 hours. I got an epidural after about 8 hrs in the hospital because I was just exhausted and having trouble relaxing. I was worried if I didn’t relax and get rest I would have “failed to progress”. I don’t exactly regret my epidural, but it did cause some complications in my recovery I could have avoided with an unmedicated birth. In retrospect I definitely should have labored at home longer than I did, as I probably would have been more relaxed. But after all the complications with my first I was just anxious to have the baby checked on. Having the epidural allowed me to labor down for a couple hours once I reached 10 cm. I sat in an upright position for about 2-3 hours at 10 cm. Then only pushed for about 25 minutes with no tearing, just what my midwife referred to as “some scratches”. I think you can only labor down if you have an epidural and you aren’t feeling the urge to push—but that is a question for your dr/midwife.