anyone had a breech baby turned...im scared

[clairebear88]

hi all

im 36 wks pregnant with #1 and got told today the baby is breech. i was given the option of an ECV (manual turning of baby) or to just go ahead and book an elective c section. I was given all the pros and cons and decided to try the turn but not sure i have made the right decision. has anyone got any stories, good and bad, as i am booked in for next week so I have time to change my mind

thanks

Yes me! Last year at 37+6. It worked just fine and I had a straightforward delivery a month or so later. Hang on I'll find my posts from then...

I dont have a personal story but a good friend of mine tried in February with her little boy, she said that she didnt like it and that it didnt move the baby for her - they managed to turn him and then the little monkey just flipped right back to breech, she was however very quick to tell me that everyones experience is different and that had it of worked then she would probably feel quite different about it. She says that it wasnt painful, they just covered her belly with oil and moved it but she did say that she felt very nauseous

Hope thats not sounding like a horror story but we were talking about it yesterday and I felt that she gave a really balanced view so it was worth sharing

Were you not given the option of a vaginal breech birth?

here we go nickname then was ethelina

My first was breech, doc tried to turn her but she was quite big at that stage (10.7 at birth). I was encouraged to try to deliver as they can turn during contractions. At 6 cm babe distressed emer c. Not ideal but the key is that I was looked after, baby was fine and I recovered really well. Whatever happens the very best of luck and enjoy your baby xx

My dd was breech at 37 weeks, then continually flipped herself back and forth for every check up, finally settling cephalic for my due dates, only to be breech again when I was two weeks overdue and due for induction.

I had ECV the day they found out she was breech. First I/we were monitored for half an hour to make sure we had a good trace and there were no potential problems, then I was given an injection of drugs to relax my bump, they made me feel a little shaky, slightly nauseaus and not quite on the planet, but nothing too awful. Waited a short while for them to work, then the consultant did a mobile scan to check dd's position and that of the umbilical cord etc before grabbing the top and bottom of my bump and spinning her around in one movement. She turned first time, no problem. Then they did another quick scan to check all was ok with her and monitored us for an hour to make sure she was settled and not in any distress. I then spent the whole of that night sat bolt upright to stop her turning herself back before I was induced the next morning.

When he turned her, I would say it was uncomfortable, definitely ouchy, but not agony by any means. Personally I felt more sick and it was more painful when she turned herself towards the end of the pregnancy.

Iirc, the consultant said they would only try twice and if she didn't turn within a couple of minutes they wouldn't try again.

I think it depends on the type of breech presentation as to whether you can try for a vaginal delivery. With some its possible, with others more risky. In my pct they didn't have even one midwife who had attended a v-breech birth, so their policy was not to allow it, as their wasn't enough professional experience. Its something people have pretty strong views on to be honest.

Me too - DS was permanently breech up until I had him turned at about 37 weeks (I think). It wasn't a pleasant experience but certainly worth it to try avoid the c section. It worked really well for me and he stayed right way up then until the birth (which ended in a c section anyway, but that another story )

I would recommend you go for it if you want to avoid the section option. My friend had a breech baby they didn't discover until his feet appeared and they have her a section anyway rather than risk the vaginal breech birth. They did give her the option I think but it would have been really risky in her situation. The key is to get as much info as possible before you decide so that you are making an informed decision. Good luck!

I had an ECV at 37 weeks. It didn't work but it really wasn't at all traumatic - though I did worry a lot about it beforehand. The doctor pushed firmly on the bump but it wasn't at all painful, just a bit weird. He only tried for about 30 seconds before deciding the baby was too firmly wedged and giving up. I made him promise that he would stop the second I said stop which made me feel better too. Went in for a C-section at 39 weeks only to discover that baby had turned by itself without me noticing (how??) sometime between the ECV and 39 weeks.

thanks for all the info. i am a bit more relaxed about having it done now it just stressed me out when i got told. ill give it a go and see what happens

x

I had an ECV earlier this week and it was fine. They'd established that the baby wasn't deeply engaged and gave it a whirl without the drug - flipped over in about 30 seconds flat (even though the scan suggested it already weighs in at alb 12). It wasn't the most comfortable experience ever as there was quite a lot of friction between the MW's thumbs and my skin as she maintained the pressure behind baby's bottom - but just as I was about to think about asking her to stop it was all over :).

On the other hand, this is DC3 for me (so I have no abdominal muscles any more) and the baby had its legs tucked down rather than straight up.

If you go for it, remember you can ask them to stop at any time - you don't have to start just because you've gone, and you don't have to let them carry on once they've started. You can also ask the practitioner who turns up on the day what their personal statistics are (IIRC the national average is something like a 40-50% success rate, and a 1/200 CS rate - we went out of area to John Radcliffe in Oxford where they have an extremely experienced breech team, slightly higher success rate and CS rate down to 1/400).

As an aside, DD1 was also breech. In her instance we opted to decline and ECV and a section, and planned a home breech birth with IMs. Since then there has started to be a sea change in the way breech births are approached (Canada changed their advice a year or 2 back, and UCL now discuss vaginal breech as a standard option in the literature). If you decide against an ECV and/or it doesn't work it doesn't automatically mean you HAVE to have a section.