38 +4 poss breech baby - what now??

[thegrumpallo]

hi all,
am pg with no.3. first two babies (4.1kg and 3.9kg) delivered vaginally all went swimmingly.

this baby is very active - still is. so much that MW struggled to find heartbeat at last two appts (37+3 wks and 38+3 wks).I'm now being sent for a scan - tomorrow, because after saying for weeks that baby is head down MW now not at all sure of position. Heart beat was eventually felt near right top of fundus yesterday.

Really not sure what to expect/ do. NOt much info forthcoming from MW. She mentioned that I might be offered a manual turning of the baby - anyone thoughts on this?

Also said I could deliver naturally - again experience on this anyone?

Have realised I just don't want a CS but really don't relish thought of trying to deliver a breech baby. But are there circs under which CS really is the only option? Would rather have an ELCS than to end up with EMCS.

Any thoughts welcome please - esp from medics/mWs!

I know of someone who had the movement and it worked fine for them went onto have a normal birth.

Another friend first baby they didn't realise baby was breach and after 24hrs of labour they realised and she had an emergency section because baby was down the birth canal (started) baby had to wear braces on her legs for the first few months as her hips had been displaced/moved.....so I woudldn't personally try to deliver a breach baby naturally!

Good luck x

if it were me i would want to attempt a vaginal delivery.

scan will tell you more though about the exact position, because i think that some types of breech are very hard to birth vaginally, and you;re right in thinking that an elective is better than an emergency section

google mary cronk, hands off the breech

It really depends what kind of breech you're having, and how skilled your practitioners are. Footling breech is not considered safe for vaginal delivery; full breech is okay, I think (0.4 % risk of cord prolapse compared to 18% for footling), provided you've got someone who knows what they're doing delivering the baby. You're a 'proven pelvis' in that you've already had two babies so you might be a good candidate for vaginal breech delivery - but it really depends on your hospital. All the consultants bar one at my hospital were experienced in breech delivery, and willing to support a vaginal breech birth.

Some breech babies are in this position at full term because they have 'clicky hips' - this may be why Butterscotch's friend's baby was in a brace.

The success rates of ECV - when they try to turn the baby - seems to depend on the practitioner. The consultant I saw said that he managed to turn over 70% of the breech babies he tried to turn (although a small percentage of these would flip back!) and he did manage to turn my friend's very large breech baby successfully. However, he wouldn't attempt to turn my footling breech.

meant to add too, if it were me, and my hospital were not supportive of a vaginal breech delivery then i would definitely consider hiring an independent midwife

Should add that ECV isn't without its risks - it can bring on labour, or distress the baby to the point that they have to do a caesarean. I gather that this is pretty rare, but they monitor the baby pretty closely, just in case.

hi thanks very much for posting... we had the scan yesterday and looks like baby is head down - phew.

she is very active still; hope she stays that way! also already est weight around 7lbs 11 ...

ahh that's good news!
i had a scan around the same time with my third and they estimated him at 7lb 11 too!