AIBU to consider not having ECV

[ChocolateQuiltedShitPig]

Baby is breach although I am currently only 33 weeks. Consultant suggested that of baby is still breach in 4 weeks, I should have this done.

But I'm scared! Has anyone had experience with this?

YANBU. DD was identified as being breech at 32 weeks, at a scan a few days later (I was seen for reduced movements) they confirmed she was breech. At my 37 week appt she was still breech so I went in for a scan to check her position before discussing ECV or cesarean. I went to the appt geared up to refuse an ECV but she turned, presumably during the night between the two appointments!

If they didn't mention risks when suggesting it I wouldn't let them touch me. If they don't care for informed consent are they going to care if you say "stop" while they're doing it?

I had 2 breech babies and both times went to the ECV clinic and after examining scans etc the practitioner decided that for both babies (various reasons) it wasn’t safe to attempt to turn baby. I found it really reassuring that I knew more and could decide on my birth plans with more confidence. No harm in going to the clinic and making an informed choice.

ECV doesn't have a great success rate.

I think it's worse these days as they basically stopped doing it for a bit, and the expertise is gone.

@merryoldgoat I am recovering now both mentally and physically

Huge problems bonding with baby my husband has done most of the work for 18 months. I feel hideously guilty that he had to step up so much.

We won't have more children. Had I known what was coming we wouldn't have had my little one at all.

My 1st DD was breech at 36 weeks and I was advised to have an ECV to turn her. I went home to discuss it with my husband and do some research, but she actually turned herslef, that evening when I was in the bath - I could literally see her outline as she got her knees beneath herself and turned her whole body round - it really was like a scene from alien!

This was nearly 13 years ago, and I was (obviously) a lot younger and less knowledgeable about pregnancy and birth back then and I suspect that if she hadn't turned, then I would have followed the expert's advice and gone for the ECV. With hindsight, and being more informed these days, I would personally have decided to avoid an ECV, hope that she turned on her own, but if she didn't then I would have opted for a CS.

It's such a personal decision, I would just make sure I had all the facts before I made the decision that felt right for me, DH and the baby.

I've declined ecv twice, both times my babies turned very late on.
Don't believe the rubbish about baby having no room to turn after 37 weeks my d's was over 10lb and he turned around his due date.
I had accupunture with dd and she turned that evening.
Also lots of positions you can get into to aid head down position.
I was up for a breech vaginal delivery with dd, wouldn't have done with my first though.

My first natural birth was an awful forceps and third degree tear. Second a planned section and sooo much better. Recovery was less painful than the tear. I kept up with pain meds and didn't over do anything, rested as much as possible and got exH to take a month off work (we had a toddler too though). Felt like a breeze compared to my first birth.

I declined to have it as I didn’t mind much that DD was breech. My mum had a breech birth and so did my friend, i was happy accept it as a variation of normal and carry on. She turned anyway at about the 38 week mark. And the birth was straightforward. All well

I can only speak from personal experience but I had the evc and it was absolutely fine. In fact I asked them to tell me when they had started and the doctor had already done it!
It just felt like them pushing around the baby to feel where he was, no pain and no issues afterwards.

I did end up having an emergency section anyway and after having 2 sections both emergency cases I would never opt for one.
The recovery afterwards was awful compared to my natural deliveries and I hated having to stay longer in hospital when I just wanted to be home.

DS2 was transverse and they wanted to do an ECV.
I said no as I had had previous operations on my womb and had had a PPM with my first child so didn’t want anyone manipulating my womb! I was admitted fir 5 days as they said I could go into labour at any time and baby would fall out first without umbilical connection and die.

I refused an ECV with #2 as it wasn't worth the risk for us.

I had an EMCS with #1 and an ELCS with #2 (Planned VBAC but she wasn't shifting!). Both recoveries were fine, in hospital for 3 nights and back to normal daily routines by 3 weeks.

I read an awful story, on here I think, about a woman who's baby died of a brain haemorrhage after this because they used too much pressure. I'd refuse and go straight for a section.

Very naughty of the consultant to not mention the risks of ECV. Whatever happened to informed patient consent?

There is no way I would risk an ECV when ELCS is so safe these days.

OP if you want to avoid ELCS you could try acupuncture and/or hypnotherapy (believe it or not there are studies showing substantially higher rates of babies turning after this). But I would say ELCS is perfectly fine, and a lovely calm and controlled way to give birth. It’s a bit sore afterwards, but personably I was surprised that the pain was less than I was expecting. I had no issues with breastfeeding or anything else.

My elective (actually emergency because I went on to labour early and progressed quickly) was wonderful. I got that euphoric feeling when DD was delivered, it felt calm and collected, I got skin to skin straight away, I wasn't exhausted afterwards, breastfed easily. Quick recovery, no overhang, no nerve damage. Such a better experience and faster recovery than my vaginal birth!

I found out my baby was breech at nearly 38 wks. I was presented with the risks is ECV and I decided to go for it as I was told the chances of him turning spontaneously late in were lower. ECV was fine, uncomfortable and a bit nerve wrecking but manageable. Mine didn’t turn unfortunately (even though I had a better chance with it being my second, 60% I believe).

I decided to wait and try a VBB as my hospital as a very experienced breech team. But to no avail, my baby was wedged in with his bum in my hip so never engaged in my pelvis. Had an ELCS close to 41 weeks.

Tbh I found the CS really tough and the recovery quite hard (probably because I’m comparing it to my first uncomplicated VB).

I would say try not to panic yet as you have plenty of time for your baby to turn spontaneously. If you are stressing you can try things like acupuncture, hypnobirthing (Katherine Graves has a breech set) and different positions to sit in. Who knows if they help but it at least makes you feel like you are doing something!

@ChocolateQuiltedShitPig

I had an ECV at around 38 weeks which was successful. I spent a lot of time researching the risks and personally I found that the risks tended to be lower with an ECV and subsequent vaginal birth than with a c section. This won’t be true for everyone because of varying risk factors but the chances of ECV going badly wrong are rare so do look into it.

Success rates can vary considerably from hospital to hospital as a lot of it depends on consultant experience so see if you can find the success rates for your own trust.

I can only speak from my own experience but I found when looking into mine there were similar threads of people saying they wouldn’t consider it but friends and family who work in midwifery or obs and gynae were in favour of giving it a go and that made me consider it and do the research.

I was just saying to a friend the other day that if I was in the same situation with a future pregnancy I would absolutely go for it again. I had a really straightforward vaginal birth and was out of hospital within hours.

Hope this helps but happy for you to DM me if you want to discuss further.

We had ECV at 37 weeks - baby turned in under 90 seconds and stayed head down. We were told that if she wasn’t in a good position or didn’t turn easily, they would not force her and we were monitored throughout for any signs of distress but she was absolutely fine. The procedure itself was very uncomfortable but not painful; I was on the fence whether to have it but dreaded the long recovery after a c-section, the scar and missing out on the birthing experience so I was glad we did in the end. Went on to have a relatively easy natural delivery, out and about with the baby three days later.

personally I found that the risks tended to be lower with an ECV and subsequent vaginal birth than with a c section.

Really? I’d be interested in how you calculated this, as it’s not how my calculations came out. Which stats did you use?

Given the risks of ELCS are now comparable (though different) to VB, and you are adding the risks to ECV to the risks of VB (higher than ELCS for some things, like hypoxia), it’s hard to imagine that it would come out as the lower risk option in very many cases, if at all.

I guess the only situation where ECV + VB risks might be attractive are where the woman wishes in the future to have a large family, given the risks to future pregnancies of multiple ELCS. For those planning one, two or even three children, though, I can’t see how it can be the less risky option.

Tollesunt I didn’t say ELCS, I said c section. Having the baby in a breech (or transverse) position in late pregnancy significantly increases the chances of EMCS if spontaneous labour begins. I wouldn’t have been offered an ELCS til 39 weeks at the earliest.

Even with an ELCS vs VB, as I said, the risks are different for everyone depending on a variety of factors (age, type of breech presentation, whether it’s your first baby or not etc etc) which is why I advised the OP to do plenty of research bearing in mind her own status.

Again I am only speaking from my own personal experience, which was positive and very straightforward.