Breech again - has anyone tried an ECV after a previous section?

[Helisloth]

I could really just do with hearing from someone who has been in this situation. Unsure whether I have made the right decision.

This is my second pregnancy, daughter was born two years ago by elective section. She was an extended breech and we tried an ECV first.

Now 36+4 with second baby and I have just been told that this one is a flexed breech. I am so disappointed, as I wanted to VBAC. Some of my reasons are more rational than others (in particular I'm only taking 10 weeks maternity leave and I've got a toddler at home) but part of it is just feeling that I'm missing out on a natural birth. I know that a VBAC wouldn't be an easy ride, that it could end in an emergency section anyway and that the important thing is getting baby out safely. This is just how I feel.

So I asked the Registrar whether I could try an ECV, as she was assuming that I would go straight to an elective section. She initially suggested it might not even be an option and talked about the risks of uterine rupture. However, when I said that there is an increased risk of UR with a VBAC and queried whether the ECV risk is significantly higher she was non committal (fair enough if there are no studies) and went to ask a consultant. She returned 5 minutes later saying that the consultant said it would be fine and she had booked me in for Wednesday!

Now I know that I can change my mind or ask for more time to think about it, but realistically if I want to try this I need to do it ASAP to give us the best chances of success. My boyfriend says that it is up to me.

I've decided to go ahead, as I think that the risks associated with a c-section are still greater (I suspect that most women in my situation just go straight to the section and this is the main reason why the ECV wasn't presented as an option) but don't know this to be the case. I really feel like I'm flying blind here, and I'm worried that I'm letting my feelings about wanting to VBAC cloud my judgment. At the end of the day, getting baby out safely is more important than how it happens.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Any advice would be really appreciated!

No info but am watching for info as I had a CS with DD1 who was flexed breech. I'm currently 34 weeks pg and I think DD2 is transverse and has been for many weeks. Hoping she'll turn, but if not I would be interested to know if ECV is an option. I thought it wasn't recommended because of the risks of rupture, but you've got a good point that rupture is also a risk with VBAC and I would like to VBAC so am already accepting some risk.

Thanks for the replies, sounds like it doesn't come up too often! Will try spinningbabies as well.

I think I'm going to have to insist on speaking with the consultant first tomorrow, and then make a final decision. I suppose the true question is whether an ECV in my circumstances is significantly more risky to the baby than a section, but I suspect that I'm not going to get a definitive answer.

Zimbah, at my antenatal class they circulated an article which talked about the risks of rupture for a VBAC. It suggested that we are so focused upon that particularly risk (presumably because it is a specific well known risk associated with a particular maternal choice) that we lose sight of all of the other things that are much more likely to go wrong in childbirth. Not a particularly cheering article in many ways, but it confirmed that the decision to VBAC was the right one for me personally.

I'd better get on with work, I've got a lot on my desk bearing in mind that ECVs sometimes trigger labour!