ECV- Have you had this procedure? Worth it? Painful?

[Mrsjaffabiffa]

Hello

I'm just trying to find out about an ECV procedure. I will be offered this in 3 weeks if lo doesn't turn. I know it probably will, but I would love to hear your experiences with an ECV.

Did it work for you?
At how many weeks were you?
Be Honest, I've heard it hurts like hell, is this true? I'm such a wuss.
My MW says it's a less than 20percent chance of it working.

I would like to make an informed choice about having the procedure if it comes to it.

Discovered a week before DD was born that she was breech - GP and MW up to then had said everything was fine and I just asked at checkup if I could have a scan as I felt she hadn't dropped. I was sent home to talk to my husband and asked to come back 3 hours later. Had come to terms with the fact that I was going to have a caesarean.

3 hours later back in hospital I was told about the ECV procedure and it was decided with my agreement that they would do it there and then. It took 2 attempts and it hurt like hell (I have quite a high pain threshold). It does prepare you for childbirth (if it's your first one!)

My friend who is a midwife in Ireland said this would not be offered as an option due to risks particularly at the late stage I was at. Whoever is doing it will do a scan to assess how much room there is to turn. Babys heartbeat is constantly monitored.

DD came out head first a week later!

Yes, completely worth it.

I was 37 weeks, with my 3rd pg, and it worked straight away. Apparently the success rate is higher with 2nd and subsequent pregnancies, and lower in 1st pg, presumably because your muscle tone is tighter. The risk of the baby turning back is apparently pretty small.

Find out what the protocol is in the hospital you're going to, and in particular how many ECVs they do. Ours (major London teaching hospital) reckoned they did an average of 2 ECV's a week, and the last time they'd had to do an emergency CS as a result was 4 or 5 years ago, which is pretty good odds. Make sure you're getting the most experienced person available -- there is a knack to it.

ECVs got a bad reputation many years ago when they were done 'blind', ie. without ultrasound to check the position of the placenta and the baby. Nowadays you will be extensively scanned and monitored before the procedure, and you may be put on a drip to soften the uterine muscles. This gets mildly unpleasant after an hour or so, as it makes your heart race a bit, but is otherwise harmless. Don't listen to the horror stories -- there are loads, and most of them come from people who don't know what they're talking about.

The actual turning is uncomfortable rather than agony, but is over very quickly -- they should have a protocol stating how long they will try for if the baby is reluctant to turn. The most painful bit is where the baby is crossways, unsurprisingly enough, but it was so fast that I was just getting geared up to make a noisy fuss (I am also quite wussy) when they told me it was all done.

If it gives you a chance of a normal birth rather than CS, it's worth it every time.

Mrsjb

is the 20 % chance because the baby is footling breech ? because if not, then it is much much lower, than most trusts, anywhere between 50 - 90 % effective

have you tried other things to turn the baby? i know you had lots of tips on your other thread?

moxibustion? and all that jazz??

must be disheartening to be told only a small chance of success

well 2 success stories here - a 100% success rate from respondents .

On the first attempt, I think the person doing it was less experienced - his superior stepped in on the second attempt - so well worth checking the individuals experience and success rate.

I had one at 39 weeks. It was successful but it was unbelievably painful in my experience. Far worse than labour. For me it was not worth it in the end as I went 2 weeks overdue, had to be induced, got to full dilation and then dd was brow presentation so had to have a crash section! Was very unlucky but have to say that I would NEVER have an ECV again. Oh and the person doing mine was very experienced but it didn't make it any less painful! Oh and it took them over 15 minutes to turn her as she had her bum wedged into my pelvis so had to be "dug" out and then spun around...
Everyones experience is different but I think the "uncomfortable and over quickly" statement is not true for a lot of people (have 3 friends who have had it and all described it as truly awful...

The protocol at our hospital stated that they would try to turn for no more than 2 minutes, and that if the baby showed no signs of turning after that time, they would stop trying.

That's why it's important to check the protocol (ask for a written copy so you can read it in your own time and then ask questions later) as well as the experience of the person carrying out the procedure.

ECVs have become much more 'fashionable' lately, for want of a better term, so it stands to reason that not everybody carrying them out can be equally experienced at it.

Just out of curiosity, how do they do it. Do they push and prod your tummy?

It shouldn't be painful! No one should manhandle you or your child.

Mine involved two people, a senior registrar and a midwife, one on each side. They get their hands under the baby's bum, right down in your pelvis, try to lift the bum out of your pelvis, and then try to persuade the baby into a forward somersault. It is a very strange feeling, and yes, uncomfortable. But not agony. Though the senior reg did admit that since doing ECVs she'd learnt to keep her nails v. short.

thanks for the info, frogs.

Thank you so much for your replies.

Lulu, I am trying some of the other positional techniques to get baby to turn. Bum in the air and lying back across ball (french technique). The 20percent thing here maybe because of it being footling but it wasn't something I questioned.

In France you have a obs gyne who does all of your scans and she has said that it will be her that I see for the procedure if it comes to it. It was also her that told me about the less than 20percent.

I am not worried yet but just interested to prepare my mind.
Being a UKer in France, I do have a slight language barrier to deal with and it is sometimes difficult to get precise info on things. This is why I find MN soooooooo useful, you lovely ladies always have both sides to everything and real experiences good or bad help me to understand what may happen if I can't understand it from my Gyne. I am aware though that procedures may well be very different here.

Laudaud & Frogs- This is my 3rd dc. The other two were text book pregnancys and ceph from day one so this is all new to me.

I think they will attempt an ECV at 36weeks here, so I supose in theory there is still room for manouver.

DD was discovered breech at 42 weeks, tried an ECV, hurt like feck and didn't work BUT I would do it again in a heartbeat.

It didn't work beause there was no room left for DD and she was a footling breech, both of which makes it harder.

I reasoned that if I didn't try, I'd have to have a CS< and if it didn't work, I'd have to have a CS...so no harm trying. As DD was late though there were no prem problems if I did go into labour.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

Hey Mrsjaffabiffa!

I haven't had it done, but would do it if I were in your position. It's better to try and let the cards fall where they may. IMO

I went for ECV at 39+1 with the arrangement being that I would have a section same morning if it didn't work. The consultant took one feel of my bump and said that he wasn't even going to try to turn baby as it was well and truly stuck. DS had one foot up by his ear and the other under his bum and it was later revealed during my cs that I have a heart shaped uterus and ds's head was stuck in one of the lobes IYSWIM. So you need to be prepared that they might not even try it depending on your circumstances. I wasn't really prepared for this and I went into the hospital that morning convinced that the baby was going to turn and I was going home! Cue one CS and a beautiful DS 3 hours later. But it didn't take me long to get over it.

Mawbroon - Thats so funny, that's exactly how DD was lying, except instead of a heart shaped uterus her head was jammed under my ribcage. (serves me right for being with an extra tall DH)

Consultant even said to me 'I'll give it 3 goes, but I bet you it doesn't work' before he started!

Mawbroon, thanks for that. If it comes to it, I think I will go with the thoughts that it won't work. I'll be extra pleased then if it does, and scared like hell as at 36 weeks I supose there is every chance it may flip back.

Really good to know that you got over your CS quickly, thats another one of my fears.

That is funny chirpygirl. The midwife was baffled when she palpated my bump from around 34 weeks onward. She asked where the kicks were and I said that they were at the top and the bottom!! She could also (with hindsight) feel the other side of my uterus, especially when I had Braxton Hicks, and she said, "well, I have no I idea what that is over there!" Scans revealed DS's position and I reckon the wee soul had been stuck in that position for 7 weeks!

Mrsjaffabiffa - I think that is a sensible attitude. I was so sure baby was turning that I left my hospital bag in the car. There wasn't great commumication going on and I thought that I was going to get ECV in the theatre with an epidural because the consultant had mentioned having to use a lot of force to turn the baby. My midwife had said something vague about getting ECV done in the theatre in case it turned into an emergency. Anyway, here was me lying there thinking that they were trying to turn the baby (even though I had had an epidural and was completely prepped for a section) and then when there was a slurping noise, somebody told me that it was my amniotic fluid and that is when it dawned on me that I was actually right in the middle of a blooming cs!!! So I don't want the same to happen to you!! When I say I got over it quickly, I mean I got over the fact that I had a cs quickly, but the physical recovery took around 6 weeks. Best of luck to you whatever happens and try not to get too annoyed with those who insist on saying "ooooh there's still time for baby to turn yet"....

I was told from about 34 weeks that she was 3/4 engaged....but it was her bum they could feel, not her head

BTW CS didn't take too long to get over for me, I had one on wed morning, got up thursday first thing and went home saturday.
From what I could tell from the other CS mums the sooner you are up and moving about the faster you get over it, (but that could be huge sweeping generalisation so apologies if it is wrong!)

mawbroon..had you not signed a consent for the c.s ???

Yes I had lulumama but I had also fasted and taken pre meds in case I was going to have an emergency cs if the ECV went wrong. I think it was complete denial on my part that I might have a cs, but all is well that ends well and I can see the funny side of it now!

ok good !

DS was said to be breech throughout my pregnancy by both my local midwifes and by consultants at the hospital (I had shared care due to early complications). Needless to say was fully expecting to have to either fight for natural breech birth or prepare for CS. I knew I would have to go to ECV clinic at 39 weeks if DS hadn't turned so I tried allsorts - bum up in air, frozen peas on my belly and moxibustion (acupuncture). Was really anxious approaching 39 weeks and when I saw the midwife was gutted that I still had to go to the ECV clinic as she said DS still breech. Turned up at the clinic - quick scan and sent home - DS engaged in normal position! He was born 2 weeks later and I had a great birth... Try all the things others have suggested and maybe you won't need the ECV anyway

1st baby, hurt like buggery but pains stopped as soon as the ECV stopped baby still very much breech however.

Similar to other stories here, DD1 had her feet behind her ears and her head jammed under my ribs - to the extent that the ledge on the back of her head took about 6 months to sort itself out. She tried to turn herself later that evening but failed miserably and settled back down to wait it out. We watched it with horror as she hadn't really moved too much up to that point - no undulating bumps and random legs trying to escape.

[On delivery at 39 weeks, 2 weeks later, it was also discovered she had an incredibly short cord - so short in fact it was measured out of nosiness sake by the Consultant and was less than half the average length.]

With my ds (1st child) I had two ECV attempts at 36 an 38 weeks (I think). No success though and I had a elective c-section at 39 weeks. For me it was definitely uncomfortable but not agony. I would go for it again in the same situation.
I did try the bum in air thing too but it wasn't compatible with heartburn!

Mrsj, haven't read all the replies so sorry if repeating but you have a v good chance of it working if it is your 3rd pregnancy, afaik. I had it done with my 3rd at about 38 weeks, was successful and didn't hurt too much - more a discomfort - and it only took a minute or so....