Footling breech

[crazybutkind]

Was told back at my 5 month scan that baby is breech, been told today baby is footling breech so an ECV and c section was discussed. Just want to hear other people's stories really....

My DS was a transverse breech and my DD was a footling breech. They were both breech all the way through my pregnancies. ECV wasn't offered as an option for either. With my DS, the consultant said he wouldn't recommend it - I can't remember exactly what he said as it almost 15 years ago, but it was something to do with the sideways position DS was lying in and the cord position and that if they managed to turn him there was a high risk of the cord wrapping around his neck. It wasn't even discussed for DD, 17 months later. I was booked in for ELCS with both DC. I can highly recommend ELCS births though if you end up with one :) Mine were both amazing and very quick recovery.

Neither of the DC had any hip problems.

I'm 35 weeks with baby #1 with an extended breech. I've got an ECV booked for next Saturday at 37 weeks and a c section booked for two weeks later as they are expecting it not to work.
The consultant I saw said they DONT do them like they used to with a foot up on the bed etc and if it was her she would go for an ECV. She said I can stop at any time and that it will be obvious early on when they try whether or not it's working so it's not like they keep on going. I felt quite reassured and I was initially very anti ECV.
Also, you can try spinning babies etc but there's little evidence any of that makes any difference so don't force yourself into uncomfortable positions if you don't want to!

@crazybutkind we had the routine hip scan, and everything was fine. I was really worried, because he had one foot down, and one in front of his face from week 20 onwards, but no issues at all.

My baby was footling breech right up to 36 weeks and he turned whilst I was shopping for bedding in dunelm. The pressure was immense it knocked me to my knees. Hope your babe turns over. I bounced on my ball day and night but not sure if that had anything to do with it. Good luck x

Thankyou. The doctor said if I keep active it may help which is not a problem when your chasing after a toddler all day.

I am going to keep trying the different positions and I will get the ball out

@crazybutkind
I had a successful ECV at 37ish weeks.

It was so quick and in my opinion was worth a go for me. They did say more likely to work if you’ve already had children. I’ve had 2.

Personally it was much less of a big deal than I was expecting it to be!! I think I had read too many negative stories of them, or I was just lucky and had a good Dr do the procedure.

I'm amazed that they mentioned it at a 20 week scan! Surely at that gestation they have loads of room and plenty of time to move, so no need to stress women out by saying that the baby is breech.

My daughter was breech at my 34 week midwife appointment but had flipped by 36 weeks- I felt it! They sent me for a scan just to check and she was definitely head down. No issues with hips, legs or anything. In fact the midwife when she was 1 day, and doctor when she was 6 weeks, both commented that she had particularly robust hips.

It only got mentioned because I was under a consultant for other reasons but I have a heart shaped uterus and she mentioned they sometimes struggle to move over to the other side which has been pretty much the case, she hasn't really moved from the same position for months now

Hey op. My daughter was breech but not picked up until 38 weeks (potentially had been somersaulting between head down and breech) I had an ECV at 39+1 didn't work and was booked in for a c section the next day (13/5 so very recent)

I wasn't looking forward to the c section but I found it amazing, it was relaxed I was looked after so well. They discovered DD had arm behind her back and cord round her neck which is why she wouldn't move and wouldn't have potentially been dangerous to deliver naturally.

Am I glad I tried the ecv - yes I felt I had to try
Would I do it again - no purely because the cord round her neck wasn't picked up
Would I have another c section - absolutely

Please don't be scared of a c section. You just have to take it easy afterwards and on top of painkillers.

Any questions just ask

I gave birth vaginally to a footling breech. It was undiagnosed. Luckily, I wasn't aware of how dangerous it was until after my baby arrived. They did use small forceps to get her head out quickly. The room was full of doctors and midwives in case they never got to see it before having to deal with it.

I had a vaginal birth for my twins, the first one was head down and after she was born the 2nd became a footling breech.

I was very lucky, the Registrar was very small with tiny hands and the consultant asked her to deliver the 2nd twin.

It was amazing no forceps needed and she moved and guided the baby into the correct position.

This was many years ago and I think most twins are now delivered by CS.

I delivered footling breach vaginally but my baby came 3 weeks early and weighed 5lbs 3 which I think made it easier?

48 years ago when I was pregnant with DS2 he was found to be lying breech at the 32 week stage.I could not have had a ECV because I had had a previous section.He turned head down a couple of weeks later, I could see and feel him doing it!.He still had to be born by EMCS though due to similar labour complications with my first one.
In the 1920s my grandmother gave birth at home to a breech baby, my mother's brother.She said never again and had no more children.

My LB was undiagnosed Frank breech until 30 hours after my waters went 😑 was born EMCS and I didn't see it but apparently my OH was like 😲 because he was basically folded in half when I came out. He was seen at the hip clinic at 2 weeks and scanned and the angles that his hips were meant to be at were ever so fractionally off (by 0.5) but they said they treated that as a cut off point so anything outside of the parameters they would treat. We were told to put him in double nappies and went back at six weeks and all was fine and we were discharged. They did however manage to pick up a torticolis and referred him to physio at a few weeks old, something that is onky usually picked up at 5+ months old. They think due to his position in the womb his head was wedged one way permanently which caused the torticolis. That was fixed with physio by the time he was a few months old too.

A little girl who was the same age as my LB as one of his groups however, not breech, was diagnosed at a few months old with hip issues and had to have a brace for 12 weeks.

Had my ECV this afternoon and they managed to turn baby. It was painful and now I'm convinced baby has returned to breech position

I'm glad baby turned! I went for my ECV appointment and baby had already turned before I had it done and I just didn't know. I'm going to ask for a bedside scan when I go in to deliver because she's been breech for so long and I didn't feel her turn.