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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Breech - early babies - acupuncture etc etc! Confused and messy!

7 replies

babblington · 04/11/2008 16:39

Hello - please help anyone with advice or been through similar or midwife!
I am 32 weeks pregnant with dc3 and the baby is breech (according to midwife, my GP is unsure and not willing to contradict in-house midwife).
I had dd1 at 39 weeks naturally and dd2 at 38 weeks naturally (in 1 hour 45mins)
My GP says they will scan me at 38 weeks to see if baby is still breech and then it'll be an automatic section.

  1. I might have already had the baby at 38 weeks (as per dd2) so surely a scan then would be too late? And if this one is even quicker than dd2, then won't it turn into an emergency situation?
  2. I can't believe I would HAVE to have a section when the baby is just upside down - why does that necessitate a section?
  3. if baby is breech should I start doing accupuncture or something now to turn it?
  4. how on earth do I know if it's turned or not and if it has, then will accupuncture turn it the wrong way up again?!

Any words of wisdom, anyone? I'm getting my knickers into a complete twist about all this and would really appreciate some advice. And apologies for spelling!
TIA

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Tangle · 04/11/2008 17:48

To answer your point 2, your GP is talking codswallop - a breech baby doesn't have to be delivered by CS at all, as long as you have access to MWs competent in breech birth. NICE guidelines do recommend a CS for breech but mainly because there is a shortage of MWs with breech skills - but that doesn't mean those skills don't still exist.

DD was my first, breech, and born at home with IMs. I had the best labour of anyone I know, even though she was 9lb 12 - breech birth isn't necessarily any more painful than cephalic.

Try and get hold of a copy of "Breech Birth" by Benna Waites and/or "Breech Birth: What are my options" by Jane Evans. I found them both to be far more informative and balanced than pretty well anything I got from MW, GP or the consultant's team. The Benna Waites book also has a chapter on complementary methods of encouraging your baby to turn. IIRC none of these (accupuncture, moxibustion, Webster Technique, OFP stuff) have been known to encourage a head-down baby to turn breech.

Googling Mary Cronk is also a very worthwhile exercise.

Mary's basic starting point is that you don't muck around with a breech birth: the pregnancy should be normal and term and labour should start completely spontaneously and progress totally naturaly. If any of those criteria are not met then this isn't a good candidate for a vaginal birth and a CS is probably indicated - she would never induce or augment a breech.

If you do want to look into vaginal breech birth, start by getting crystal clear on the distinction between a vaginal breech birth (hands-off) and a vaginal breech delivery (hands on and fairly medicalised). From my experience of talking to consultants, you need to know what you want as they will use the terms interchangeably. You might also want to dig out the "Term Breech Trial" by Hannah et al, which was published in The Lancet in 2000 (if you sign up you can access the paper in full for free) - this caused a massive change in the way breech babies were delivered across the world and, even though the paper has since been widely discredited, it is still often quoted as the reason why a CS is recommended for a breech baby.

Whether or not you want to start trying to get your baby to turn now and how active you want to be is a very personal decision. Chances are your baby will turn by itself - something like 20% of babies are breech at 30 weeks, and < 5% are still that way at term (of which a dispraportionate amount are 1st babies). That said, the sooner you start trying the more space the baby will have.

Most of all, try not to stress. The baby will almost certainly turn, and even if it doesn't you don't HAVE to have a CS.

babblington · 04/11/2008 19:19

Thank you, Tangle - I will look up all of this stuff immediately. I thought it was nonsense about having to have a section, but seems like unless I kick up a blind fuss that is the case, which is madness. The stats are good for the baby to turn though, thank you for that.

OP posts:
babblington · 04/11/2008 19:59

bump for the evening crowd as well- anyone have any anecdotes about 3rd breech babies and everything turning out just fine?

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Smee · 04/11/2008 20:07

I know not a lot about breech, other than mine was breech at 32 weeks and turned at 36 - quite common apparently. Why don't you tell them you want a scan at 37 weeks, due to history of previous births arriving earlier. Can't see why they'd refuse if you're worried and it's more than a reasonable request.

babblington · 04/11/2008 21:04

were you worried before 36 weeks? Was it your first baby? 37 weeks is fine, but all the acupuncturists I've spoken to say I should start now - I don't have 200£ to spend on acupuncture if the baby is going to shift anyway....

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Tangle · 04/11/2008 22:13

It might be worth you talking to the MW about moxibustion - some NHS trusts have little bundles of moxa sticks tucked in cupboards and you might be lucky. Otherwise, do a search on here as I think I saw someone give a url where you could buy some for not too much (maybe £20 or less?). Certainly cheaper than £200... You could also try a homeopath or hypnotherapy, although I've no idea what the cost implications would be for those.

My brain has also turned up that if you have one breech baby you're statistically more likely to have more (IIRC it's quite a significant increase in probablity) - so as it's not your 1st baby and neither of your previous 2 have been breech you've got a VERY good chance it will turn.

Can you get an extra MW appointment to talk through what SHE sees the birth options as? She may have a different view to your GP and give you some feel for options that may be more readily available within your PCT than your GP is aware.

Smee · 05/11/2008 10:42

Yes it was my first, so it was all a bit confusing. Tbh i was a bit half soaked about it all. They told me to do various exercises, which I duly did. Not at all sure if they made any difference or not. one midwife even told me to 'shine a torch up there' - she reckoned babies turn to see the light...

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