Background Despite the documented rise in the rates of births by cesarean section (CS) in Australia, there is scant work on the psycho-social aspects of such birth choices. To address the lack of research on this topic, this article presents a subset of findings from a research project that explored, from the mothers' perspectives, the birthing experience and process of decision making about the mode of delivery for a subsequent birth after a previous CS. Objective The focus of this article is on the subset of findings that recorded the frustration of women who valued a vaginal delivery but who delivered by CS. Methods The study utilized descriptive phenomenology, with in-depth, open-ended interviews conducted with the research participants. The setting was a small regional hospital in Queensland, Australia, with about 20% of patients managed on the midwifery model of care. This article is based on the subset of findings that record the frustration of women (eight mothers of a total participant group of 20) who valued a vaginal delivery but who delivered by CS. The women all had a previous CS and had a subsequent birth at the Redland Hospital 6 weeks prior to the interviews, which were held in June 2008. Results The findings establish that this group of mothers felt frustrated by their body's inability to give birth naturally, disappointed that they had no option but a CS, and carried emotional pain about the unfairness of the judgment that they should have achieved a vaginal birth after a birth by CS. Conclusions These women expressed a strong desire to have their story told. It is the hope and expectation that this article will enable their voice to be heard and, in so doing, make a contribution towards deepening our understanding of the multiplicity of perspectives that women bring to their birthing experiences. The findings are a strong argument against any generalization that women who opt for an elective CS are doing so simply for reasons of ease and convenience.