36 weeks pregnant, baby extended breech still. ECV in couple of days. ECV experiences please.

[makeupgirlie]

Hi all. Baby has been extended breech for a very long time. My consultant wants me to try ECV. Which I am open to but am a little nervous, I’ll have many questions before they actually do it.
I have been told 40% success rate. Due to my nerve and constant fear all the time of something going wrong, I would really like to hear people experiences with ECV.
This is my first baby. I want to avoid a C Section unless completely necessary.
Thank you.

I cannot help on the ECV front as i declined one, but my second was breech from 26w until 39+2 when she turned all by herself! Very painful for me and i definitely felt like she had turned. I then had a spontaneous vaginal delivery at 39+3. So even if the ECV doesnt work, dont lose hope as they can still surprise you. When DD2 was born, a midwife remarked that her cord was very (usually) long so I have always wondered if she managed to get herself caught in it.

Are you midwife led or consultant led? I also felt the consultant was quite pushy about ECV so I asked for a birth options discussion with a consultant midwife. She was amazing and went through all the pros and cons of all the different options. Really helped me settle my thoughts.

Good luck! 💐

Edit to add - have you looked at the Spinning Babies website?

They can still turn at 36 weeks so try not to worry yet. I declined ECV and a family member who had one found it very painful and the baby just turned straight back anyway. If you don’t actually want an ECV don’t feel pushed into it, they have their own risks and are more likely to fail than they are to work, don’t be afraid to ask all the questions you want and decline if it doesn’t feel right for you.

Hi, thank you for this.
Her feet are right up over her head extended so have been worried so can’t get herself out that position or something.
The consultant said to me if the ECV doesn’t work they will want to C section at 39 weeks. But like your scenario baby flipped at 39! It’s so difficult to know what to do at this point.

It really is. My csection was only planned for 39+5 because it was after the long easter bank holiday and there were no planned slots earlier than this. I also had preeclampsia from around 36w and was having monitoring every second day whilst they were trying to get my BP under control. So I was fully expecting to be told the csection was being brought forward at any moment. As I say, dont be afraid to ask lots of questions / talk to the midwife / see what they have to say. You could also ask about booking the csection for something more like the middle of your 39th week if you wanted to give maximum time for turning, but its a balance against then going into labour naturally before the csection and having to have it done as an unplanned one.

I'm another whose baby (frank breech - legs straight, feet by ears) turned by himself at 36 weeks, 4 days before my scheduled ECV. I had no idea it had happened, as his movements were always big, so nothing to differentiate the one where he turned. I didn't do anything special except eat some terrible Dorito crusted cheese bites from Subway. But he was my second, so it's more likely they will turn late.

Sorry I don't have any actual ECV experience. I know they can be uncomfortable, and it's practically a coin toss if they work or not. But I was more than willing to take the chance to avoid a C-section.

Mine was breech at 37 weeks until I saw a chiropractor who worked on some restrictions in my hip. Baby turned that night. The chiropractor was recommended by a ‘spinning babies’ midwife. Worth a try in my view.

Hi
I had an EVC for first baby- at 37 weeks. They injected me with muscle relaxant on belly- was uncomfortable but physically fine. Monitored me after. Baby was induced at 31+ 5 days - I literally had no inklings of going into labour when induction started. Baby was born healthy

Deliveries after EVC are more likely to be instrumental ( I remember reading that on the NHS paperwork) and more likely to need induction ( again NHS paperwork).

I think the most important things is to listen to your instinct
try and drown out the competing arguments and go with your gut

BTW I am not advocating EvC In anyway.
It might sound contradictory- as even though I really blessed and grateful to have a healthy child- it was a very complicated delivery. Although I had wanted to avoid c sections- ultimately I was pressured into EVC.

Trust your instinct, your body might give you clues. You have grow a whole human- your body is very capable. You will have a wonderful baby soon - regardless of the EVC/ choice on delivery!

I had it and was all fine. Big baby 10lb but they thought was larger, and breech. Consultant said afterwards he didn’t think it would work - but it did. I used my hypno-birthing techniques and got really really relaxed. Have to say they were totally useless for the actual birth though. Although he wasn’t breech he was back to back so v painful and took ages as he got a bit stuck. But with help of epidural which I swore I wasn’t going to have, I got him out eventually without instruments. I was quite keen on ECV as really didn’t want a c section. So in that sense it was successful. I remember there was a chance of it triggering Labour but he was about 10 days late in the end.

DS also turned by himself at 38 weeks, a week before a scheduled C-section (never offered an EVC). Very obvious when it happened. I was extremely grateful, even though he was a posterior presentation and a nightmare delivery.

Mine also turned v late. I had a scan at about 36 weeks called a positioning scan and he'd turned. I had the ECV booked as didnt realise I could say no!.

i had an ecv at 39 weeks for a footling breech. It was fine, felt weird but not painful. It worked first time but the baby was then back to back which apparently is common. I wouldn’t not recommend, depends how keen you are on a natural birth.

I was offered an ECV but declined - for various rational reasons like it increasing the chances of instrumental deliveries, but also for the really emotional one that DD was clearly comfy in there and I didn’t want to disturb her!

I had a planned CS and it was great. I liked the predictable nature of it, and recovery was fine.

So sorry, no ECV experience. But I wanted to show an alternative.

I had an ECV for a large, frank/extended breech but she was low down and wouldn’t turn - she only turned breech around 36 weeks. It was very very uncomfortable and needed monitoring afterwards as they weren’t happy with the trace on the baby afterwards. It’s less likely to work with frank/extended breech. I probably wouldn’t choose to try the ECV again.

My DD was a complete breech, tucked up with her feet crossed. But yet another one who turned at 37 weeks like having a washing machine on spin cycle in your stomach!

My second was back to back and breech, described as sitting like a Buddha until 37 weeks. Then spontaneously went head down. Still back to back though. Rotated into optimal position during labour at 40 weeks. Both felt very odd indeed!

Why the hesitancy about the c section? I’ve had both natural vaginal birth and a c section and the c section was preferable! Recovery was very quick too.