Breech baby

[LittlePink]

Midwife told me today that the baby is in a breech position. Im 32 weeks and she said theres still time for him to move and hes still free so could turn on his own but she didn't give me any strategies to help him turn and I didn't ask anything as I was a bit thrown off and just accepted it. She said its only at 36 weeks that they are concerned.

Is your baby breech or had a breech baby that turned? Did you do anything specific to help the baby turn?

Have got one of those yoga ball things? I spent a lot of time on my knees in the last 8 weeks of pregnancy trying to get the baby to flip over (leaning on the ball).

Swimming also supposedly helps, as does yoga.

The worst thing I did was try an ECV (where they try and manually turn the baby), truly horrific - but felt like I was forced to try it. When it didn't work they booked me in for an Elective CS, which was much less traumatic!

Don't panic, you do have lots of time for it to happen naturally and if it doesn't it's not the end of the world to have an ECS.

No breech baby experience but just saw this positive breech birth story on FB www.facebook.com/positivebirthmovement?hc_location=timeline

Hi there, my youngest child was breech for a couple of months fairly late on, probably later than you are now.

I saw an osteopath, also a friend of mine, who specialises in treating babies and pregnant women. No osteopath should ever claim to be able to 'turn' babies; however, a few days after my appointment, my midwife found that she was no longer breech!

If you're anywhere near South London, I'd happily recommend him.

You could also try moxibustion (Chinese herbal medicine), diving into swimming pools (anecdotally worth a try!) a and the website 'Spinning Babies'.

Good luck! It's also completely possible to give birth to all kinds of breech babies vaginally, but because the automatic advice is elective c-section, most midwives have little/no experience of vaginally breech birth, so don't feel confident to support women in them, which itself perpetuates a vicious circle of cumulative de-skilling in this area - a great shame

Breech Birth by Benna Waites (I think) was well worth a read too.

My baby was breech at 35 weeks, I followed the suggested excersises on the spinning babies website and he turned by himself.

Hi, I found out my baby was breech at 36 weeks. The midwife I saw at the time didn't really have any suggestions for turning him other than cleaning the kitchen floor by hand. This didn't work for me.

I wasn't told I couldn't have a vaginal birth but the doctor I saw advised they didn't recommended it for a first baby. I know there are differing views on this but I went with the advice of the doctor as it felt right for me. I tried an ECV and it wasn't as bad as I expected. It wasn't comfortable but I had some really good midwives with me on the day and everything was really well explained. My baby didn't turn during the ECV so I went on to have an ELCS at 39 weeks. My ELCS was an amazing experience.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and if your little one refuses to turn try not to worry.

I spent a lot of time hanging upside on the stairs at 36 weeks + with my breech baby. It was enormously uncomfortable and he never turned. I went on to have a normal breech delivery though (even after a previous section) with a big crowd of people watching. Recovery was very quick. I only did it because I was terrified of having another section. You just have to do what feels right for you; best of luck with your decision.

Purple - I'd be very interested in a more detailed account of your breech birth, if you feel like sharing

CSLewis I am in South East London as it happens. Does this osteopath practice moxibustion aswell? If you could recommend that would be good. In the meantime I will be doing the exercises while the babys still got time and space to turn.

I had an EMCS after 43 hour labour with DD and really wanted to try VBAC this time. Don't fancy the ECV at all so I would probably just opt for ELCS if it came to it. As it is, because of the EMCS last time my consultant wont induce me or augment me so if I don't go spontaneously then I will be allowed to go 10 days over then an ELCS if not and if I do go into labour on my own then I will get 12 hours to deliver, if I don't progress like last time then it will be EMCS. So a section could be on the cards anyway but im really hoping it will be different this time and I will go spontaneously, it will be quick, easy and natural. Breech has just thrown another worry into the mix that I wasn't expecting.

CSLewis Quite a long time ago now but apart from the arguments before hand about being allowed to go ahead for a trial of labour (and there was a lot of arguing!), it was really just..labour. My first child was EMCS and then next was vaginal delivery with forceps so by this point I had experienced one normal delivery. I went into labour on my due date, went into hospital and I suppose I was well monitored. I progressed reasonably well but did need a fairly substantial episiotimy by the registrar (witnessed by at least 9 people, not my finest moment) to get his little bottom out.

I sometimes can't believe that I was allowed to trial - we looked at previous research and case studies and could only find a trial of 6 women in Israel to have gone for breech vaginal birth after previous section. I'm sure other people have done it but not well documented. I'm also sure that at the first sign of distress in the baby I would have been in theatre. As it was, me and the baby were both fine and home the next day (although sitting down somewhat gingerly).

Thank you Purple - and congratulations! You're in an ever-shrinking pool of people who've delivered a breech baby vaginally, so I'm delighted to hear how smoothly it went for you

LittlePink, I'll PM you. I really hope you have an easier time of it this time around, whatever happens...

For anyone else interested, Moxa sticks can be bought from most Chinese Herbal Medicine 'shops'/clinics on the High St. They're a bit like cigars, and you light them and then hold the smouldering end as close to the your little toes as you can bear (!). I know it sounds totally crazy, but there have actually been proper clinical trials done, and the results suggest it's definitely worth a punt

Forgot to say, I think moxibustion can also be used in cases of transverse lie and/or back-to-back positioning.

My dd2 was breech and turned with acupuncture and Moxibustion (delivered by the acupuncturist). She then turned head down and then breech again. She did this 5 times (weekly scans in singapore after 35 weeks). I cleaned floors on my hands and knees, set up a huge train set on the floor for dd1, did handstands in the pool and raised the foot of my bed. All worked but she must have been more comfortable head up. She was head down at 40 weeks and breech again at 41 weeks (my consultant was amazed) so delivered by cs.

2 of mine were breech between 32-37 weeks but turned.

DS4 on the other hand was footling breech and ECV didn't help so he was ELSC.

had 3 VBACS after him (yes 7 kids in total) so should you need a C-section it won't necessarily mean any future children will be C-sections as well!

good luck and all the best

btw I did nothing to encourage them to turn. one I felt turn as I was lying on my back.
so much for theories

They are not allowed to "allow" you to go to 10 days, etc etc, meaning that it's always your choice what you accept. If you do get further than 40+10 (and bearing in mind you're not even "overdue" until after 42 weeks, you can, if you wish, choose to just carry on being pregnant :)

There's a really good book by AIMS about your options with breech birth, and it's really helpful when you're making the right decision for you personally about how you want to birth your baby if they stay breech.

The evidence for delivering breech babies by CS is remarkably poor, but the key is to have supportive and positive care givers for vaginal breech birth. If you do choose (and it's always your choice) to accept their offer of a CS then you could consider looking into the gentle CS.

aims.org.uk/pubs.htm#breech