Has anyone had an ECV ?

[FoghornLeghorn]

Am trying to get as much info on this as possible so i can make an informed decision if needs be.

I am 32 weeks pregnant but bump is measuring 37 weeks. I have a growth scan booked in for 2 weeks time when I will be 34 weeks.
As well as measuring big my baby is also in a breach position - now i know at 32 weeks with a 2nd baby this isn't uncommon but considering that I am measuring 5 weeks bigger than I should be I want to be prepared for whatever they may throw at me at the hospital.

From what I have read so far I do not want a ECV, I have seen them done on television programme's before and they look horrendous, plus I believe there is only a 50% chance of them working, there is then a chance if it does work the baby can move back into a breach position, have also read there is a risk of causing the baby distress and even problems occuring with the cord getting tangled.
If a doctor recommended one right now I would say no based on this information - anyone got any personal opinions to add ?

[FoghornLeghorn]

.

[frogs]

Don't believe the hype, foghorn. A lot of the old wives tales date from the days before ultrasound, where Drs used to get gung-ho about shoving the baby round without having a real clue about what was where and what state the baby was in.

A modern ECV is nothing like that, as long as you have it done at an experienced centre. I had one with dd2 at 37 weeks and it was fine -- uncomfortable, yes, but not agony by any means. And over very quickly. The worst bit was the drip they put you on to soften the uterine muscles, which contains an adrenaline-y drug that makes your heart race a bit.

They spent ages beforehand scanning the baby to see where the cord and placenta, and what the baby's position was. Then I was monitored for an hour or two to get a trace of the baby's heart. They scanned again just before the ECV for a final check, then had an obstetrician and a midwife do the turning. They told me before there was a time limit on the turning, so that if the baby won't move they call it a day after no more than 2 minutes of trying. I was just bracing myself for the real agony to start, when they told me it was all over and she'd turned. They then pull all the drips out, bring you a nice cup of tea and put you back on the monitor for an hour or two to make sure the baby's okay. Then you get to go home and hopefully come back three weeks later for a nice natural birth.

The overall 50% success rate is about right, but the success rate is much higher for second and subsequent pregnancies and concomitantly lower for first babies, simply because the uterine muscles are much tighter. At our hospital (central London teaching hospital) they told me they were doing a couple of ECVs a week, and the last time they'd had to do an emergency caesarean was 4 or 5 years ago. They also told me it is very rare for the baby to turn back once it has been successfully turned to cephalic position.

Sounds like pretty good odds to me, and definitely less risky on all counts than a caesarean.

hth

[frogs]

Oh, and antenatal estimates of the baby's size are notoriously unreliable. They told me dd2 was going to be small-for-dates -- she turned out to be 9lb 10oz.

[Mum2Ela]

Would go for an ECV definitely. Worked wonders for me and following a v. easy and quick 1st birth, really wanted to avoid c-section on 2nd baby if at all poss. The ecv wasn't painful and it was v quick. It wasn;t offered to me - i did my resrach and asked th question.

Do a search on this webiste - there have been many similar threads that will benefit you.

[humfrey]

It all depends how much you want a "natural" birth. My dd1 was breech and they offered an ecv and I agonised just like you over it. Went for it in the end, on the basis I might as well see how it went - having been assured if it was at all painful they'd stop. In the end, the consultant put his hands on my bump, said the baby was already engaged and far too in place to turn so there was no point in even trying and was booked for a c-section the following week (I then went into labour early but that's another story). I was glad I'd given it a shot, but if the idea freaks you out and you'd prefer just to go straight for a c-section ask for that. Just bear in mind that five days in hospital or thereabouts post-birth is pretty horrendous, I had a private room and it was still no fun. Good luck

[Nome]

I had an ECV, but it didn't work (1st pg). ds was a footling/flex beech, he sat cross-legged/lotus position for the last part of my pg.

The consultant and specialist midwife tried twice to turn him clockwise and one to turn him anti-clockwise and it was uncomfortable for ten minutes and felt a bit bruised afterwards.

The worst bit was them tipping the bed so my feet were higher than my head to make sure the baby was fully out of my pelvis.

Like frogs I was on a monitor before and after and they had an ultrasound machine in the ECV room.

I felt that I had given the procedure a good go and that I had done all I could. Because of ds' position, I was told that if my waters went, I should kneel on the floor with my bum in the air until an ambulance arrived to bluelight me down to hospital for an emergency cs as they were worried about the cord coming down with the waters. I felt that an ECV was preferable to that! I still had that worry, but at least there was nothing else I could do about it IYSWIM. I had a lovely, calm, scheduled section in the end at 40+0.

[Toady]

this may help

[lulumama]

check your hospitals rate of success for ECV - can vary from trust to trust. If baby turns back, quite often it is because breech position is the safest for that particular baby. If you don't want to - some good anecdotal evidence that using moxybustion ( done by acupuncturist) or pulsatilla (homeopathic remedy) can turn a breech baby - not tried this myself, but might be worth a go. also, visualisation and asking baby to turn.....sounds a bit daft, but you can;t lose anything....sounds like others have had positive ecv experience..

[dollyp]

In great haste.... have you thought about moxybustion which is homeopathic way of trying to get breech babies to turn? I know 2 people who didn't want ECV who used it and it worked. I'll be back on later to find more info for you but it involves burning something (can't remember what!) near your foot and the energy channelled can make the baby turn.

I realise this isn't the best description of it but I'll try and get some proper info later.

[Toady]

also things you can do at home, talk to your baby, tell it to turn, ok but there is no harm in trying.

frozen peas at the top of your bump, shine torch at the bottom of your bump.

[alphonsa]

I had an ECV for my first pg last year... DD was breech from about 30 weeks and by the time of the ECV at 37 weeks I'd tried everything I could to get her to turn - watching TV with my bum in the air or upside down, massaging my little toes, even moxibustion. Moxibustion works on the same principle as acupuncture but with heat instead of needles; the idea is that stimulating the outside edge of your little toes will encourage the baby to turn (very amusingly demonstrated to me by an elderly, non English-speaking Chinese man in my local herbal shop ). I used to spend my evenings stinking the house out with my burning herbal sticks...

I was desperate for the ECV to work (it didn't) but - as said before - I think it's much more successful with second pgs. If you do decide to give it a go, try and find out if there are any doctors or midwives at your hospital who are particularly good at it - some people apparently have more of a knack for it than others!

[FoghornLeghorn]

Thanks for all of your responses

I am still unsure but tbh, I don't know why - there is just something about it that terrifies me but I am equally as terrified of having a CSection.
I will keep looking into it.

[dollyp]

Sorry not to get back to you last night. There is some info which I hope will be helpful here

[dollyp]

Also you could try watching tv etc on your hands and knees to help the baby turn by itself. Good luck

[RanToTheHills]

ecv isn't terrifying, honestyl! It is a v simple v v short procedure (overin acoupleof mins). Before you decide,it's worth checking how many times yr consultant has done it before and what her/his success rate is - varies hugely apparently. I had a v good consultant do mine, and it worked so wd highly recommend it. Moxibustion is a load of old cobblers, imho - tried that first(expensive & timeconsuimg) and didn't work.

[Manoo]

I had a very succesful ECV at 37 weeks - but the consultant was an amazing man with a high success rate (the midwife on duty gave a sigh of relief that I'd got him). He made it seem easy, I was in no pain, and it was done very quickly.

However, after labour I still ended up with an emergency c-section. Baby was posterior with head up - they also discovered cord round neck twice, and I've always wondered if cord went round neck because of the ECV.

Am pregnant now, and if this baby is breech, I'll try and push for a vaginal breech birth (I won't be allowed ECV after c-section). I'll even consider an independent midwife (although we can't really afford it) if they won't 'let' me go for a natural breech birth.

Good luck!

[fondant4000]

Manoo - not heard about cs meaning no ecv.

I'm 32 weeks and baby is breech at the moment. Discussed with my mw today, and she said they would offer ecv at 37 weeks. Had a cs previously (for failure to progress).

I think it's worth a try, and it doesn't seem too bad from what I've read, more uncomfortable?

(I'm still going to keep a packet of peas handy in the freezer though!)