Breech at 31 weeks - good and bad experiences please?

[Nousername2015]

Morning all,
Found out at a 28 week growth scan that baby is breech, I had my 31 week midwife appointment this morning and it looks like he has not budged.
I'm not overly concerned at the moment, she said she wasn't going to be concerned until I'm 36 weeks and if it looks to have not changed then I will be sent for a scan. I do have a few questions I forgot to ask though (and I am not googling!) if you wouldn't mind helping me out?
1 - Do most babies breech at 31 weeks actually turn round?
2 - Will it hurt/be uncomfortable if/when he does turn?
3 - What can I do to try and shift him?
All experiences would be appreciated!

My SIL-to be was breech until 37ish weeks. They were doing a scan to check before booking appointment to discuss c-section. Turns out baby had turned- SIL hadn't noticed but could think of one time when it might've been. So not painful just felt like normal movement.
She didn't do anything to encourage baby to move. But I know there's a few things you can try- don't know specifics but someone will come along and say soon I'm sure

I became obsessed with trying to turn my baby and I would really advise against getting too concerned about it. He didn't turn, I went for a natural breach birth and he was delivered by emergency section, but I wish I'd just relaxed about the whole thing. Hind sight's a wonderful thing.

There are a number of things you can do, just don't obsess over them:

• moxibustion - you'll need a reflexologist for this
• look at the Spinning Babies website
• have him manually turned at the hospital - not painful just uncomfortable
• frozen peas on his head (apparently they like to move away from cold things)

If baby's going to turn then I'm now a firm believer that they will in their own time and if they don't there's a very good reason for it. I have heard so many stories of babies turning in late pregnancy or even in labour. And I haven't heard anyone say it hurts when they turn! :)

Good luck x

Is it your first baby? There is a very good chance he'll turn; however, some do get comfy as they are!
AKP has given a good comprehensive list of ways to try turning him - Spinning Babies is very good, the gist is to try and use gravity to drop him down & around - so lots of kneeling forward, etc.
If he's still breech at 36 weeks you'll possibly be offered an ECV (external cephalic version) where they try and turn him manually from the outside. There is some small risks with this but it's done by a consultant and you'll be scanned during and monitored afterwards to make sure baby is still happy.
If ECV doesn't work (which I wouldn't get your hopes up for, afaik it's not great especially for first babies) you'll be offered an ELCS. You may feel that they try and push you into this. But you don't have to take it. You can absolutely aim for a vaginal breech birth - this used to be seen as a variation of normal, and it's only since childbirth has become more medicalised that HCPs have lost the skills to cope with it. It's totally your choice.
If you do decide to aim for a vaginal birth, the best thing you can do is read around the subject, educate yourself on optimal birthing positions (this is MASSIVELY important for breech, positioning can make all the difference), etc, and know your birth rights.
But hopefully he'll turn in his own sweet time and you won't need to do any of it! My friend planned a homebirth, her baby was head down and then flipped to breech at about 35 weeks! She was panicking a bit but he was head down again at 37 weeks and born at 38+3. No worries. It does happen!

Baby was head down on Monday at midwife appointment. After a good bout of movement this afternoon, baby is now transverse! So I wouldn't worry!