vaginal delivery of breech baby- am i crazy?

[taytotayto]

db number two due in 5 weeks, currently breech and i really dont want a c section. im going to push for a normal delivery, however baby is going to be a big one, estimated 10lb!!!!
should i not bother asking for a normal delivery if baby doesnt turn and just accept a c section.
has anyone delivered a big breech baby normally?

How big was your first baby?

Why would you want to take such a risk?

This shouldn't be about you not wanting a C-section, it should be about delivering an unfavourably positioned baby as safely as possible!

My sister did in November - they automatically recommended a c section but she stuck to her guns and insisted she wanted to try a natural birth. They found her a midwife who was experienced with vaginal breech deliveries and who was put on standby for her.

In the end it all happened so quickly she had a practically unattended home birth on her living room floor - the paramedics arrived just as the baby's bum crowned!

My sis posts on here so I'll point her to this thread so she can tell you the whole (amazing) story, I know she did lots of research and talking to people before deciding to go for it.

first baby was 9lb 7oz born no problems. she is only 19 months and i have no family to help me so thats why i would like to try to have baby naturally as id struggle to cope with new baby and toddler.(husban in the army, away at the moment) HOWEVER if my consultant tells me to go for the c section of course i will. i only wanted to know if it was possible. im a nurse so would never disregard what the expert says but its 2 weeks until i see my consultan and i only wanted to be prepared with the facts when i saw him.
zgaze would love to hear your sisters accounts of what happened to her. sounds amazing!!!!

My midwives (independent) told me they liked doing breeches and didn't perceived there to be any greater risk really. They do say it's best to have an active birth if you're going down this route. Or any route really.

Tbh I don't think it's helpful that candidaburana said what she did.

It's your body, your baby - you need to speak to many experienced health professionals and get lots of support

Have they suggested trying to turn the baby?

My best friend delivered her baby breech, at home, midwife missed the whole thing. They were told to make sure that the midwife they had knew to not touch the baby until it was fully out...effectively just catch it (her!) If you touch their bottom half, their heads move to a forward angle and then the delivery is very difficult. Good luck xx p.s. they ended up shelling out for an independent midwife too.

DD2 was breach and back-to-back. We didn't actually know until I was well into labour and almost fully dilated. The midwife was puzzled as to why it hadn't been noticed earlier but didn't seem alarmed. She suggested an epidural as she said it was likely to be more painful than a normal birth but I have a fear of having a needle in my back and declined. And in all honesty it was fine. Well, there were complications but they had nothing to do with baby's position. I think the best thing you can do is listen to what the midwives tell you. But then, I place a lot of (possibly irrational) trust in health professionals!

Best of luck.

Yes I agree, do your research. I think that unless the baby is predicted to be at least 1 pound lighter then your first baby, then they will recommend a CS.

Have you looked up Spinning Babies website for advice on how to get the baby to turn?

Search on YouTube and watch the various breech births on there.

I had an undiagnosed breech & ended up with a rush c-s, wish i'd known as i would've tried for a breech birth.

In fact i had talked hypothetically with my MW earlier in that pg (as a friend was breech & wanted advice) - she said she'd attended various breech births, more by accident as when she arrived the feet/bum were out already.
Her advice was that she would support my choice for breech birth but...would advise being in hosp rather than at home as she had found that breech babies often need a little help after birth.

Zgaze - love your Christmas pjs.

onlywantsone i must admit i too was taken by surprise by the comment, made me feel like i was a bad mother and only thinking of myself which i assure everyone i would always put the safety of the baby first.
midwife said they will give me the chance to labout naturally but to be honest if i could see my consultant i would know more. was supposed to see him two weeks ago but it was cancelled. i have another scan in two weeks and i hope baby has turned but would i feel the baby move cos i dont think ive noticed any huge movement to say its turned.
thanks to you all for your advice ill have a look at the recommended web sites and with any luck the baby will turn in time.
forgot to say im carrying alot of water which my friend says it a cause for a breech position dont know if thats true???

Hello, I'm zgaze's sister who had the breech baby on the living room floor floor :)

With the greatest respect CandidaB, (and I am not sure whether you have had a negative experience of breech birth) your comment was very unhelpful to someone facing a scary prospect on their own, and I'm glad that posters have come along since that post with more supportive and constructive comments for taytotayto. Firstly, having a breech is not necessarily more risky. Secondly, it is about the mother not wanting to have a c-section, and thirdly, breech is not necessarily an unfavourable position! I did a LOT of research on this few months ago!

Medical professionals are starting to realise that breech is just a 'variation' of normal. In a way, having a baby is in itself taking a risk. I was told by the consultant at the hospital that having a breech birth doubles the chance of having a problem with the labour/birth- from 1.5% to 3%. That is a doubling of risk, but the consultant himself said to me this is a matter of perspective- you can also look at it as a small increase in risk of 1.5%. Imagine if all women said 'why would you want to take a risk having a baby, there is a 1.5% risk of something going wrong?! Where would the human race be then... :)

C- section carries it's own risks- you only have to do a bit of googling to find those out. For me personally the c-section risks outweighed the risks of a natural breech birth. I made the right decision for me- I'm self employed in a very physical job and with a child already I knew I had to try to avoid major abdominal surgery and then the subsequent recovery time if I could.

I decided myself on a natural birth in hospital and I was lucky that I was promised a midwife with a lot of experience to be on call for the weeks around my due date (good old NHS), although in the end only met her once and that was when I went in to chat with her at 37 weeks. She was SO BLASE about it- it was talking to her that helped me make my final decision. To her, breech was not a problem at all, as long as it is handled in the right way (ie, hands OFF the breech- google Mary Cronk).

My own breech birth was much easier than my first (normal head first) birth. My son's bottom, and then torso paved the way for his harder rounder head, so it wasn't such a shock to my fanjo area. I kid you not I was running up and down the stairs answering the door to relatives that afternoon of the morning he was born. I didn't tear, and it didn't really hurt afterwards.

There are 3 things that I think you need to think of which are very important in this situation. You need to look at you own personal fitness levels. Are you fit and healthy? You need to be fit to go through labour and birth in the first place, let alone a potentially more problematic one. You need to make sure the midwives and consultants you have around you in your labour are knowledgeable in the area of breech, and COMPLETELY supportive of your choice. In the end I didn't have a midwife with me at all, but I knew they were supportive of me and I honestly believe that that knowledge helped me give birth easily even without them there. And thirdly trust in your body knowing what to do. Sorry to sound like a hippy but it?s true. There was one moment (when my son?s body was out and his head in) where I realised that there was no one there to advise me and I saw 2 paths ahead of me. I knew I could either tense up and panic or trust my body- I knew I had to do the latter and the final contraction was actually really gentle and eased him out with no problem.

Of course, I had a good experience and there will of course be negative stories out there. You may have realised I'm quite pro natural breech ;-) But if I?d been in hospital and there had been any whiff of a problem I?d have been in for my c-section straight away with no complaints blowing big kisses again to the NHS. C sections saved my sister and nephew?s, and best friend and godson?s lives, so I know they can literally be lifesavers. If you think you can go for a natural birth though you go for it- if you are in the hospital and anything goes wrong they can whip you in for a c section amazingly quickly? but I bet you will be fine ;) x

blimey sorry that was a long post! :)
also, I meant the floor, not the floor floor :)

My baby's breech at the moment although I still have a number of weeks to go. My friend who opted for a C section due to a breech baby told me that she was told there was a 10% chance of brain damage delivering a breech baby naturally - is this incorrect

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my dd was breech, i wasnt even offered a c-section -24 years ago-

my ob said i could get a bus thru my pelvis

it was a text book delivery, the only strange thing i found was the no crying as the head was last out

Does anyone have any tips on how to turn the baby? I'm aware that the closer to my due date the harder it will be for the baby to turn. Would like to get it shifted now.

My first was breech. I was fit, so fit my midwife thought I was an aerobics teacher. I also hate hospitals and drugs and operations.

But. My mother was a former midwife and HV. She told me about some of the head injuries she'd known in breech babies. I decided to have a breech. My pelvic outlet wasn't large and I decided the risk of brain damage was one I didn't want to take.

I was going for walks within two days of delivery and driving within three weeks.

2catsandonerabbit... go for an ECV. I know some people have had bad experience but it was ok for me- just felt a bit weird)

Definitely go for chiropractic for the Webster Technique- AMAZING. Also didn't work for me but I had lower backache which I'd had for weeks which it got rid of in one session- AMAZING. If you are in London then go to Ealing www.bthealing.co.uk/ and see Dr Wragg who is brilliant.

Natural methods- you could try moxibustion -has a high success rate although didn't work for me. I went for a session in Chinatown and it was £40- they burnt a stick of incense next to my little toe so I got some sticks and did it myself for £2.99.. or reflexology (has a good success rate and is just really nice anyway ).

Finally get yourself on spinning babies www.spinningbabies.com/ - such an amazing website- when I discovered it I showed it to my mother in law who is a midwife who has since turned several babies from awkward positions. It's great.

None of this worked for me BUT I was 38 weeks when I started trying. Good luck. And if your baby doesn't turn it's not the end of the world. x

Head injuries are more common in breech babies who are 'maneuvered' out, which is why Mary Cronk and all other midwives experienced in breech say 'hands off the breech'.

Is there anyone in the know who can shed any light on this brain damage thing, rather than my friend says, or my mum says?.. I'm really interested. I know that the study that the NHS based their recommendations of c section was a bit of a useless study in that it was based on the outcome of surprise breeches as well as known ones.. I can't remember the specifics but my midwife and my consultant said that study was a bit useless :-/

Taytotayto You also 'proved' you can deliver a large baby so you don't have a small pelvic outlet.

Hi,

I my 3rd baby was breech. My first two were 9lbs 1oz and 10lbs 2oz, both water births - the first in MLU the 2nd at home.

I planned a vaginal breech, hands off delivery in hossy. I researched TONNES, and was in touch with Mary Cronk who helped with my birth plan. My plan was if birth happens 100% naturally then it is to be completely unassisted until the body is out, then someone catches baby, end of. Or at the first sign of stalling/problem/anything differing mfrom my first 2 births we stop and go for a section.

In the end my waters went naturally on my due date, but after waiting 3 days and lots and lots of walking, squatting etc there was no signs of labour starting - so I stuck to my birth plan and declined any intervention and went straight for a section.

The section was fine, was a 9lb 12er.

My subsequent home water VBAC was wonderful too, that one was 10lbs 13.

I wrote a very specific birth plan, and am happy to paste it here or mail it to you if you are interested. It is so specific as a lot of it deviates from my hospitals policies (automatic canula, epidural, styrups and forceps delivery etc etc). My constulant was lovely and signed every page of my plan so that it should not be deviated from. He was chief whip - so I was confident I was supported which made the world of difference. The mw's were all very supportive of a hands off breech birth plan, and welcomed me, one even asked to be called in from home at any time day or night if labour started so she could come and help me achieve it. (I did not know her before I went to hossy).

Good luck, breech birth is just a variation in postion.

Yes it's all coming back to me now!! that's definitely completely right mungogerry, I was told breech should be either completely free from intervention, or c section- no in between. I was told I wouldn't be offered a epidural and told there was no way I'd be offered synto to speed things up because if a breech isn't going to happen naturally then you can't try to force it like you can with headfirst babies. The black-and-white-ness of this very much appealed to me- I was happy to have a c section if it was completely necessary- it was the thought of having a c section 'just on the off chance that something might go wrong', or intervention leading to more intervention and then an emergency c section that I didn't fancy.

Mungogerry may I ask where you had your breech baby? Sounds like they were brilliant. Also great to hear that you managed to have a VBAC :)

My sleep-deprived brain has just remembered what my consultant said about the study that the NHS base their advise on.. He said it was flawed because it used statistics from premature breech babies as well as full term ones. The problem with this is that premature babies heads are larger in proportion to their bodies, so a prem breech baby can start descending down the birth canal before you are fully dilated, and then their head, which is larger than their body gets stuck, which then can cause brain/neck damage.

Hi Lazygaze,

Yes the fab hossy in question is Hinchingbrooke in Cambridgeshire. They had their poicies but were very supportive when I presented my choices and the research/stats behind them.

It is also the hossy that supported and supplied the mw's for my home water VBAC.