breech baby/ natural birth

[shaz1976]

Hi ladies, i'm currently 31 weeks and baby been breech for a whlie now.
I see my midwife on Tuesday and she said that if the same by 36 weeks then they will send me for scan and discuss options.
She said they could try and turn baby ( watched it on you tube and it looks horrible) I then asked would I have to have a c sec ? which I really don't want!
she said that you can give birth naturally when baby is breech,has anyone had this experience or had their baby turned.
I know it's likely that baby will turn and get in position for birth and there is plenty of time bit also worrying it doesn't! This is my second baby and i'm so much more nervous than the 1st time.

I had a breech baby and an ecv which didn't work as she was wedged tight, they told me at the time that ecv is more likely to work if not your first baby. I don't know if I'd have another - I did it as I was terrified of the prospect of surgery, but felt guilty at what I was putting my poor baby through. I really wanted to try for a vaginal breech birth, but the hospital's attitude put me off in the end - they strongly advised against it, and said if I went ahead it would involve going straight to hospital for monitoring, epidural, stirrups and forceps. An elcs seemed the lesser evil, and it wasn't so bad in the end - dd was delivered safe and well, and I healed ok. There are risks to breech birth, especially if the midwives/doctors don't have much experience of breech babies. I'd ask lots of questions at the hospital and do some reading before making your mind up. Good luck Nd I hope the baby turns!

Don't know much about it but have a look at hypnotherapy too, supposedly had good results for getting baby to turn?

I gave birth to my breech baby vaginally 10 weeks ago.
My battery is going so will come back later to post properly.

Right I have charge so can answer now.
I don't know about having baby turned because we didn't know dd2 was breech so was never an option for us.
I really wouldn't recommend giving birth vaginally if your baby stays breech. I'm really tough with a really high pain threshold and deal with labour well but pushing out a breech baby HURTS!
It is lots more painful and scary than a normal birth. There was talk of episiotomy, forceps, my legs got put in stirrups and the room was full of people.
Luckily both dd and I were fine, she was born within 40 minutes of me getting to hospital and we avoided any intervention but her labour was by far the worst of the three.

I had an ECV with dd which didn't work, then an El CS. Turns out that I have a heart-shaped uterus with a septum down the middle so dd couldn't turn, so she would not have been born vaginally.

BUT that is unusual. I'd advise you to look at Spinning Babies website and try to turn baby manually - lots of time down on hands and knees, cleaning kitchen floor, resting elbows on bean bag while watching TV, swimming breast stroke, etc.

Have an ECV if she hasn't turned -you have nothing to lose and they monitor them v carefully.

But many midwives have never attended at a breech birth as they are all done by CS these days - unless they don't know baby's presentation when baby comes in - so the knowledge of how to birth breech babies is being lost. In that case a CS is far preferable.

But the vast majority of babies turn before their due date, so good luck!

My dd1 was breech 2.5 years ago. We tried the EVC but she wasn't moving so I had an ELCS. My consultant was keen to try vaginally, but I spoke to another consultant at a scan and she outlined how rare it is and therefore how the majority of staff aren't confident with it. And that worried me.
My ELCS was calm and I healed well. Much quicker than from my VBAC 13 weeks ago. If dd2 had been breech I would have gone for a ELCS without any hesitation.

At 31 weeks you have a good chance of turning your baby. The spinning babies website is really worth looking at. You could also consider moxibustion which is an acupuncture technique. There is evidence to show this can be successful but 32 - 34 weeks is the optimum time. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thank you all for your helpful comments and suggestions. I know there is a good chance baby will turn in next few weeks,I really wouldn't want a c sec and deffinatly won't be trying the EVC after looking into it. I want a water birth and to give birth naturally but as we all know most times our birth plan goes out of the window!!
I will be trying the exercises if by 36 weeks there is no change and just prey it works xx

I had DS2 by csection five months ago. I had had a straightforward vaginal birth with DS1. I had a failed ECV. I lurve gas and air, so for me it was weird and uncomfortable but didn't hurt. He turned initially, but flipped straight back round!

I was horribly upset to be having a csection and, if I'm honest, didn't enjoy it. But, although I felt more in control giving birth to DS1, it was painful, messy and had its own set of cons.

Is there any reason you don't want a c section? Having recently gone through a vaginal delivery that went horribly wrong despite no risk factors, I'd never do it again and would love a section if I was ever to have another.

DefinitelyMaybe - it's really not helpful to describe ALL vaginal breech births as 'lots more painful and scary than normal births'...

You can talk about your own experience of it, but that's where your expertise ends.

A good friend of mine gave birth to her fourth baby vaginally, who was breech - she said if anything it was easier than some of her previous births.

The (sadly true) diminishing experience of breech births amongst doctors and midwives is a vicious circle. Fewer women choose to have them vaginally, so fewer medical professionals have experience of them, which makes women even less likely to feel confident trialling a breech birth.

My last pregnancy was breech for a lot of the third trimester. I saw an osteopath (whom I can recommend) and a few days later my baby had turned. In labour however, my midwife thought she'd flipped back to breech! We'll never know if she had or not, but when she was born not long after, she was head first. I was at home, in a pool, and no way was I going to be pressured to go to hospital and be put in stirrups. That would not have helped me to birth a breech baby; it would have panicked me completely.

So try moxibustion, as suggested by a pp, also osteopathy and /or acupuncture. It's all non-invasive and natural, so low risk and surely worth a try. Let me know if you're in London and want the contact details of my osteopath.

Good luck!

I have a breech oblique baby right now. Had a scan last week to see if it had turned (had not) and a scan tomorrow to see if it has turned. Dr thinks there's enough space and fluid to try an ECV if required.

I don't want to try a vaginal birth with a breech baby, partly as I don't know how it will be pain wise but also we are a good 45 minutes from the hospital and that journey in labour worries me.

I had a vaginal birth with DD (induced at 40+12) and had half planned for a lovely water birth etc. but now, honestly, I just want the baby out as safely as possible. If it's still breech and doesn't turn then an ELCS is fine by me.

There was a thread on here recently about ECV, and lots of posters had had bad experiences with babies going into distress / cord getting wrapped round the neck - if your thinking about it then please do a search for that thread, I wouldn't do it after reading it and i don't even think all hospitals will do it.

You need to get yourself to an acupuncturist for a moxibustion treatment if the baby doesn't turn soon! It works best around 34 weeks. It's the only thing apart from ECV that has an evidence base to support its use in turning breech babies.

I will try anything if baby hasn't turned by 36 weeks. I am against an evc now I've read up on it,i'm not keen so anything natural and harmless to my bubba ill try.
The reason I don't want a c sec is that my son has just turned 2 so still needs picking up etc and won't be all to do it. I'll have help from partner and family after birth but not constantly( also hate the thought of being cut open)
I had a 48 hour labour with my son was induced at 42 weeks and it wasn't one bit pleasant. I long for a water birth this time and it all to go naturally, instead of being poked about and baby being forced. o know it could be likely that happens again but I would much rather give birth vaginally than have a c sec xx

Cslewis you're right, I was probably being over the top.
Pain wise, the breech labour was my fastest, 3 hours from start of contractions until she was born. The contractions hurt about the same as my normal deliveries.
It was the pushing her out that hurt more until they released her legs.
The sheer number of people in the room, and the things they were talking about were scary, and of course the fact that I found out she was breech about 30 minutes before she was born.
On the plus side, I somehow managed to not tear so didn't need any stitches which made my recovery much faster.

I found 'Breech Birth' by Benna Waites an excellent summary of the current research/evidence position surrounding breech births in all their varieties.

Diving into a swimming pool (!) was another anecdotal suggestion, and in fact ties in with my experience in labour in my birth pool when (we think) the baby turned to breech and then back out again (not that I dived into it, obviously, but just letting my legs float up behind me allowed a different kind of movement from the baby) - maybe worth just twirling around a bit in a swimming pool, if you're up for trying anything?! !

Definitely - I can absolutely believe that the atmosphere in the room during your vaginal breech birth was stressful, with a lot of health professionals buzzing around trying hard not to panic - and I absolutely believe that this would have made it so much harder for you to relax and concentrate just on birthing your baby, and probably increased your experience of the pain, as fear and panic only serve to intensify the 'normal pain' of childbirth. That was precisely why I basically refused point blank to transfer (not that I'm suggesting everyone do that: much - tho not all - depends on being in the setting where YOU feel most relaxed and secure; for me, that was at home, and definitely NOT in hospital).

Good luck OP: try out absolutely everything that you feel comfortable with, and do let us know how you get on x

Just thought I would come and keep you company and hold your hand! Im 30+3 with a breech baby and he has been there for weeks! The last few days he has been so busy I fear he is as uncomfortable as me but totally wedged in! Wish I could see what he was doing I seem to have arms and legs everywhere and loves doing Stevie wonder impressions with his head along my ribs!!
I've tried all sorts of positions and now started yoga in hope to shift him but nothing. I have resigned myself to having a c section but OH is petrified of this! I just think I would rather have a planned one than attempt a natural birth and end up with an emergency section anyway!

I was in this position 3 years ago - DD was head down at 32 weeks (as far as I remember) but turned again & again in the remaining weeks.

Spending time on my hands and knees and using a gym ball really did get her to turn but then she turned again and I had the ECV at around 37 weeks. It was horrid but only for about 10 minutes - but I would certainly not rush to have one again., and she flipped back to breech anyway after turning initially.

So after weeks of back and forth I ended up with an ELCS after all and no regrets - it's worth trying all the options at the point you're at now . (Bar the ECV if you don't want to), no reason not to, but it was so reassuring to know DD could be got out via ELCS after all that
hassle she'd caused!

I'm now 37 weeks with DD2 and she's head down with one arm above her head. So I'm contemplating a second ELCS as I am worried about going overdue or being induced with a baby whose head is not properly engaged - more scared of cord prolapse than anything else. But then my DD1 is nearly 3 not 2 so I think I can manage 6 weeks without having to lift her so much, she is old enough to understand I hope.

Good like either way - you have plenty of time for baby to turn!

Luck not like that should have been