If your baby was persistently breech and you had a CS, when was it booked?

[eachbreechpearplum]

Hi everyone,

DC1 has been persistently breech now since about 29 weeks. I’ll be 35 weeks tomorrow and at my midwife appointment on Friday, he still had his feet down in my pelvis and his head up, which is where he seems to be happy - his movements and heart rate are all good and consistent (touch wood).

He’s measuring a bit big so my midwife has ordered a growth scan which I’ll hopefully have around 35-36 weeks (it was only ordered on Friday so not had the appt through yet). However, she still seems really confident he’ll turn. I’m not so sure - he seems to be comfortable as he is, and it’s getting pretty close to term now. My midwife wouldn’t discuss ECV (which I’d be most likely to decline) or CS (which is my preferred option at this stage). She said I’d have the growth scan and then a separate presentation scan at around 37 weeks which she’d order closer to the time.

If you had a similar situation, when did you have a CS booked? It feels like things are getting a little close now and I’d like to have a plan in place for if he’s still breech in 3 or so weeks time. As he’s measuring on the larger side, I’m concerned he’s not got as much room to turn around as he might otherwise, so it seems sensible to start putting plans in place soon.

What do you think? Fully prepared to admit that I’m a nervous/anxious first-timer 😄

Typo in the title 🤦🏼‍♀️ it should say CS! I’ll ask if it can be changed

It's a bit early I'd say, I'm in a similar position but there's still a long time to go yet so I'm not worried about it just yet.

I had complications which meant I knew from 20 weeks that I was having a C. I was told it’d be booked in at 35 weeks for around the 38 week mark (couldn’t carry to term as couldn’t risk him getting into position for a vaginal birth) as the diary is normally run 2-3 weeks in advance. I met my consultant at 32 weeks and when she told me they’d give me a date next time I saw her I asked if she could just give me a date now as it would help my brain! She got her diary out then and there and I had my date from 32 weeks. Just ask, tell them you are struggling with all the unknowns and need a date to work towards.

Sorry hit send too soon!

If your midwife doesn't seem too concerned she must see it all the time. I know my first didn't turn until about 38 weeks, up until then he did what he wanted (still does now 😆).

Good luck! x

Thanks everyone, that’s super helpful! 😊

My breech baby was failing to thrive so she came at 36 weeks. My second elective was at 39w2d, she was also breech.

I haven’t had mine yet but I was told I was breech at 35 weeks, booked in at 36 for a c section at 39+3 so hopefully that all works out!

If all is well with the baby themselves then they usually do c section at the 39 weeks mark as apparently that's the safest week for a c section.

Good luck op and do not worry if you do need a c section especially a planned one and a baby that isn't poorly as it's actually a chilled out experiance

Sorry to hear this @Sdpbody, I hope she’s Ok now? Is it ok if I ask how did you know she was failing to thrive?

Mine was born at 39w1d, I think it was booked in two weeks before. I refused the ECV.

Thanks @Chenanceau - I’d also want to refuse the ECV. Were they ok with you doing that? Was there any kind of push-back about it?

My first daughter was also determinedly breech from about 28 weeks. At the 36 week scan they confirmed she was still breech and I declined the ECV so they booked me in at 39 weeks exactly. She had other ideas and my water broke at 38+5 and I had the section that day.

No, I was worried about that too, and there was absolutely no pushback or attempt to persuade me. One thing I wasn't prepared for was that they did another scan when I arrived for the section (with a mobile scanning machine) to check she was still breech before going ahead with the op. I did think I probably would have noticed if she'd have turned around at this point! So it's not definite that it's going ahead until after that. But mine was pretty firmly stuck for weeks (I had weekly scans from 30 weeks to check on growth).

Hi @eachbreechpearplum! My DD was born by ELCS due to breech at 39+4, and now I think they’ve changed it at my hospital to 39 weeks.

I had my ECV at 36 weeks. My c-sec was booked by the consultant who did it directly after it failed.

I’m 28+2 with my second and will be booking an ELCS in relatively soon (just in case, not sure whether VBAC or ELCS atm) because I’m in London and I’ve been told it’s not easy to get slots last minute.

I am due 28th Dec, though, and because my hospital doesn’t normally schedule electives on a weekend, and my 39th week is Christmas week with the two bank hols, I have no idea where I’ll end up, but figure I need to get in there early!

In my experience they leave it as late as possible to try and persuade you the baby will move etc. I told my consultant she wouldn't and finally got it booked in at 37 weeks ish - the consultant said I looked "smug" 😂 (in a friendly way) that I had proved right and him wrong

Thank you, that’s my feeling too. It’s been weeks and he’s shown no sign of budging, and at this stage, I’ve kind of mentally prepared myself for a CS and thought a lot about recovery etc, so I’d like to get it sorted as far as we can (although I appreciate as @Chenanceau said that they’ll check on the day even after booking).

I’ve just had a call about our growth scan which is tomorrow, so if they confirm he’s still breech then (as both the midwife and I think he is), I’ll ask to get the ball rolling then)

My second baby was breech at 32 and 36 weeks, they booked me for a section at the 36 week appointment after I declined ECV. I went to the pre op appointment at 38+5 (c section was booked for 2 days later), at which they did a bedside scan and she had turned! I noticed nothing! So we talked through options and I ultimately cancelled the c section and had her vaginally. I was initially not happy that the plan changed so late in the day but looking back I'm glad it went the way it did.

Regarding when they would do a c section- they told me they do breech c sections at 39 weeks to try and avoid labour starting first.

Would suggest ensuring you definitely get that presentation scan as this is what was missing for me, the midwives said I should have had one and it likely would have prevented the last minute stress. Best of luck!!

39 weeks 2 days

Breech at 28w growth scan and again at 36w scan. Had a meeting with the obstetrician after the 36w scan where all the options were discussed. I agreed to ECV but when I went home and did more research, I didnt feel happy going ahead so I called and asked to discuss with the consultant midwife instead.

We had a brilliant birth options meeting, which was about an hour and she went through all the risks and benefits of every option with me. She said to go for a walk and think about it and she would ring me back at the end of the day for my decision. When she did, I said I want to decline ECV and book a csection and she just did it there and then on the phone for me. No pushback at all. Mine was booked for 39+5, which was quite late but that was due to Easter weekend.

At 39+1, I went to triage for reduced movements, discovered i had preeclampsia but everyone thought she was still breech so the plan was just to get me to the section date. At 39+2, I had a really sore bump, which i thought was just aches and pains. Overnight i went into spontaneous labour - i was scanned when I went to triage and she was head down! I think the pains the day before had been her turning. So i had a vaginal delivery in the end. But they did ask me if I still wanted to go ahead with the c section on an emergency basis, so even if baby turns, you can still have a section if you want to.

When she was born, the midwife told me she had an unusually long cord. I think she had got into a position where she just couldn't get herself turned - her movements in the last month each night felt like she was pushing out. I now think that was her trying to turn and not being able. So in the end, I'm glad I didn't go for ECV as she clearly wasn't ready. I was told it's rare for babies to turn as late as 39w, but clearly it can happen. So don't lose hope!

@eachbreechpearplum I felt no movement from 32 weeks and it was because I had no fluid so she couldn't move. Placenta started to fail because of it. She couldn't turn as there was no fluid. Bless her!! She's fine now but has asthma now due to coming so early and me needed steroids to support her lung growth.

@CrispAppleStrudels @cinnamonbiscuit @Chenanceau @eachbreechpearplum

Can I ask why you'd refuse a an ECV? Is it dangerous?

@deliwoman1 when you had your ECV did they know why it failed? Is it just too difficult to move them.

Staring down the barrel of a CS that I don't want at the moment and worried about if baby stays breech!

@peppermintteacup I declined ECV after talking it through with the consultant- a couple of factors including anterior placenta meant he was doubtful it would work, and I think the idea of them manipulating my bump knowing my placenta was on the front was freaking me out! Although I know obviously some people with anterior placentas do have successful ECVs so this was at least partly down to my anxiety, but also partly the consultant not being hugely keen either.

For me, it was a few reasons. I had already had a vaginal delivery with my first baby, so I didn't feel like i was "missing out" on a vaginal delivery by opting for c section. With a toddler at home, I was worried about the risk of the ECV turning into EMCS there and then at 37w, so felt scheduling a section for later gave me more time to arrange childcare / support for recovery etc. I read around online and felt that real women's experiences didn't paint quite the same picture as the official information and finally, when I had my meeting with the consultant midwife, she was quite dismissive of ECV. She said something like "the doctors love to try their tricks". But mostly I just had this gut feeling it wasnt for me.

Having said that, I know NCT friends who have had the ECV and it allowed them to have the vaginal birth they wanted. And the community midwife certainly thought I should be giving it a try.

There are quite a few mn threads about ECV if you wanted to have a read.

Have you had a look at this page? https://www.rcog.org.uk/for-the-public/browse-our-patient-information/breech-baby-at-the-end-of-pregnancy/

You could also try the spinning babies website and / or moxibustion depending on how far along you are to get baby turned naturally.

I tried an ECV at 38+1 then when that failed I was given the choice of a c-section at 38+5 or 39+1. I went for the earlier date as I had lost my mucus plug already and really felt like I was going to go into labour sooner rather than later.

I’d decline an ECV for similar reasons to what others have said - I have an anterior placenta too and I didn’t know that could also affect the success of an ECV but it makes sense! I’ve read a lot about posters’ experiences of the process/procedure on here and, for the rate of success, it doesn’t sound like something I’d want to put myself or my baby through.

As far as I understand it, the (pretty small?) risk there is for an ELCS would fall on me, whereas there’s a small risk that an ECV could distress the baby, and I’m not comfortable taking that risk - I’d much rather it was on me than him, if that makes sense. That said, it also sounds really uncomfortable or even painful, and has about a 50% success rate, I think? Please correct me if that’s wrong though!