Position- did MW get it wrong for you??

[ginandgingers92]

Just a curiosity based thread I suppose!

I'm having lots of scans at the moment for my LO, and know for a fact she is breech, but every midwife appointment I am told 'she is 100% head down'. (I'm 33 weeks) and I have to correct them. I had this with DS too; told he was head down, only to find at a growth scan he was in fact transverse?!

Just wondering if anyone else has been told their baby is in the optimum position by MW and ended up having a breech vaginal birth or CS as a result?

Not me but friend had this. Midwife told her all the way through that baby was head down. Went in to be induced, had an internal exam and the felt toes. Scanned and baby was breech. Interestingly she'd had an appointment a few weeks before when there was a student midwife who said she thought baby was breech but midwife shot her down.

Same friend has another friend who is with the same midwife and exact same thing happened

How strange- It was a student midwife who queried whether my son was in fact transverse and not head down!
I mean, I'd be rubbish at determining position I'm sure, but my MW has been doing it for years, I'm surprised she was so certain, even when I told her I knew for a fact she was wrong 🙈

Had the opposite: I thought DC2 was breech, midwife thought he was head down. She then thought he might be breech and referred me for a scan at 36 weeks. Turned out he was so far head down, they couldn’t actually measure his head! So either he moved or she was right all along. I suspect the latter as she also predicted his weight more accurately than the growth scan...

I have no idea how the heck they tell tbh. It’s all a big lump to me!

You do know that babies move and change position right? So the probability is that the baby moved not that the MW or you were wrong.

Our trust does 36 week positioning scans for all ladies now as it's so hard to tell externally just by feeling

Midwives struggled to work out where DD was - I've got a fair bit of scarring from previous abdominal surgery which does make it harder to tell. But they were honest about their difficulty, and sent me for a scan at 36 weeks. Also, DD kept moving (as transverse babies are wont to do), so some of them might have been right at the time!

I was told that my baby was head down for the last few appointments, by different midwives actually, but upon examination at the hospital (fully dilated) they discovered toes/bottom first. I did deliver my baby vaginally as it was too late for an emergency c-section but she spent just short of 2 weeks in NICU/SCBU due to a very difficult start.

Undiagnosed breeches are a 1 in a 100 occurrence. When I chatted to the consultant midwife, they put it down to difficulty judging position/one of those things, although it's the worst feeling in the world and wonder why it happened to you.

My trust refuse 36 week scans because they say it is not healthy for the baby to have regular scans and that there is not enough money/time to scan every woman at 36 weeks.

@PlanDeRaccordement yes I'm aware haha. But I'm having twice weekly scans.

MW today told me head down. 2 hours later consultant confirmed breech at hosp scan, as she had been 5 days prior 👍🏼

Yes. Every MW appointment head was down, there was never any mention of her being breech.... until I was 10 CM dilated and needing to push.

She was our first so had no idea that the "very hard bum" we kept feeling under my ribs for Months was in fact her head!

Yes. Baby was transverse for most of pregnancy then around 35 weeks midwife told me 'head down and ready to go' After my waters broke at 38 weeks, the midwife who examined me in hospital said 'that feels like a bum'. So ended up with c section.

Yes, baby may well have moved in the period where I thought he was breech and midwife disagreed. But in the 48 hours between her requesting a presentation scan and me having it, I think I would have noticed if he’d flipped and gone that far head down - he was nearly 7lbs at the time!

It's so interesting isn't it? @dolphins1203 how did you find the breech vaginal birth? A lot of consultants I have had experience with seem to try to avoid it at all costs, but I have spoken to midwives who are entirely confident that with the right birthing preparation they are possible and not something to fear!
If I was in a position this time the attempt to deliver vaginally (so many other issues going on that my 'low risk pregnancy' status has disappeared) I think I'd be tempted... Alas, it doesn't seem to be on the cards, and with oligohydramnios, I don't she she's even got the space to move now anyway! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Dd was always in awkward positions including transverse before 27 weeks but then at around 35 weeks I was told she was head down and engaged. Fantastic I thought as there were some concerns about growth but I was being monitored almost daily at the assessment unit and having weekly scans. At 37 weeks I was told she was actually breech and had a c section at 38 weeks. However, DD had marks on her head from coming down into my pelvis so it looked like she had engaged and then popped back up again. Apparently its very difficult to tell the head from the bum of some babies.

This happened to me (although it wasn't a big deal as I was having an ELCS anyway) and someone else I know. Anecdotally, it seems to be related to the size of their heads!

My midwife was adamant that my baby was head down for weeks.
Waters went at 36 weeks and in hospital even the dr said baby was head down. A few hours later after going into labour and having an internal the dr felt bum and ended up having an EMCS.
When baby was born, they said she had been breech for a long time and she would never have turned because the umbilical cord was too short for it to be possible!

Happened to me - MW was sure baby was head down at 37 weeks when in fact DD was transverse. We had had a private reassurance scan the week before but the MW was “very confident” even though I had an oddly shaped bump and she “couldn’t find the heart beat where it should be, but probably fine”. As a FTM with antenatal anxiety and depression I went straight to the hospital’s emergency walk-in on hearing that about the heartbeat. Awful. They did find it and confirmed transverse position, explaining that MW was just looking for the heartbeat in the wrong place given presentation. All was well but I am still so frustrated by this whole MW experience.

One of my friends was told baby was head down and perfectly positioned by a midwife at 38 weeks. The student shadowing her had a feel and said "I think this baby is breech". Turns out the student was correct.

Both my babies had a weird lie and midwife often struggled to be sure what their position was. With my second I had a random consultant scan at 33ish weeks. When palpated the consultant said head down, but scan showed a breech baby! Midwife wasn't sure from then on what way around she was, so only the routine scan at 36 weeks showed that baby had turned. It was an anxious three weeks for me!

I was told head down at my final appointment but I could feel kicking lower down and his head was bursting my ribs. MW said she was listening to me and ordered a scan. His bottom had engaged!

Yep me. Whole way through they said baby was head down. 10 mins before my planned c-section they said head down. The surgeon did the incision and he was breech.

Actually with my first baby they were concerned she might be breach. Sent me for a last minute scan the same morning and she was in fact head down.
Funny what someone said about the head size, my DS who was undiagnosed breach has a huge head!