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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

32 wks pg. Midwife says the baby is breech. But I think its head down. Can she be wrong?

24 replies

annaspanna · 28/01/2007 20:29

I'm not sure of course but i feel that the baby is head down. Hiccups i feel really low & when i lie on my side and feel in the pelvic region i'm feeling a very hard round area i would have thought was the head. Do midwives get it wrong? I know they know a hell of a lot more than me - but i feel she's made me concerned unnecessarily?

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monkeymonkeymoomoo · 28/01/2007 20:30

Heads can feel like bums according to my MW

belgo · 28/01/2007 20:31

Yes midwives can get it wrong. Even if it is breech, it still has time to flip. Google 'optimal fetal positioning' for more information on getting your baby into the best position.

lulumama · 28/01/2007 20:32

erm..yes they can ! my friend was told her baby was head down from 28 weeks..when in fact he was bottom down! so i imagine that it is possible to make a mistake.......

you can sort of move the head between your hands , which you can;t with the bottom....

KristinaM · 28/01/2007 20:33

dont worry! if you/they still think this at about 37 weeks they will give you a scan. even if baby is breech now there us still plenty time for it to turn. IMO what you DONT want is to go into labour with an undiagnosed breech, labour for hours, then have them say " oh dear baby is breech, off to theatre for you"

lulumama · 28/01/2007 20:36

OFP

lulumama · 28/01/2007 20:37

spinning babies similar thing..with tips about moving a baby when you are labouring

Original poster

annaspanna · 28/01/2007 20:40

Thanks all.

Never thought of that Kristina. Good point. Yes my friend was told her baby had flipped to head down & it hadn't and was too late to avoid section.

Lulumama - so you can move the head but not the bum? even if its bottom up? I really am clueless i know but i honestly don't know how a midwife can tell. I know its their job & they have loads of practice & training but still????

Its just the gut feeling i have it's head down. Wishful thinking i expect!!! I soooo want a natural birth this time

OP posts:

hippmummy · 28/01/2007 20:42

Yes they can definitely get it wrong!
I was told DS2 was head down from 30 weeks including in my appointment 2 days before I gave birth. Went into labour and had a
c-section for undiagnosed breech

Mistymoo · 28/01/2007 20:42

I did have a breech baby - hosp appt confirmed this. Next midwife clinic - I was told the baby had turned, I wasn't convinced as had felt nothing. Next hosp appt confirmed that she was still breech and I went in the next day to have her turned. She turned OK and I went on to have a normal delivery.

lulumama · 28/01/2007 20:46

when the midwife examines you, she feels all round your tummy, then will place her hands low down, and one hand on either side of the head..if that is in the pelvis..or the bum..the head can be moved between the hands, the bum cannot!..i think that is right. i am not a midwife however !

Original poster

annaspanna · 28/01/2007 20:54

Lulumama you should be a midwife!!! How come you're not being paid for all this info you know??? Thanks for the links. Just read one of them.Luckily the recommended positions are good for SPD too.

I suppose i was so shocked when she said "ooh theres the head" - I thought i would have been able to tell. But like you've all said they can turn & you don't know until the end what position they're in for labour. I have a 36 wk appointment with the consultant. If it's suspected breech then will i get another scan to check?? Hope so!!!

OP posts:

sazzybee · 28/01/2007 21:04

Yes they definitely can - and so can consultants. I can feel hiccuping in my pelvis and the consultant thought she could feel the head.

But because I've got polyhydramnios, I had to have a scan and lo and behond LO is feet down. [hmmm]

But I've got so much amniotic fluid in there, it's difficult to tell what's what to be honest

lulumama · 28/01/2007 21:08

well, when i do my real life doulaing , i hope i will! i love this subject, i love it to bits! and read and learn all the time.so it is my pleasure to share !!

lulumama · 28/01/2007 21:10

you will annaspanna !! they will confirm the position by scan !

vickiyumyum · 28/01/2007 21:24

if you have a scan for breecha dn baby is breech and you then arrange a c/s, even on the morning of the c/s you cna have another scan and if baby is right way up! you can decline the c/s and go home. people often say ots too late, but might be more to do witht eh fact you are all geared up and ready to go fro your baby to be born on that day dn then to go home with no baby and to awaut events even people who have been adament they wanted to avoid c/s ahve been known to go through with the c/s anyway.

plus as pp's have said you have a long time to go yet in terms of baby being able to move, so i wouldn't worry just yet, at 32 weeks baby moves around a lot still and you have a consultants appt at 36 weeks which should include a scan.

another indication of breech can be where the midwife is able to listen to abbys heart, lower down in the pelvic region would indicate hed down and higher up aorund the belly button could indicate breech.

mooshy · 30/01/2007 23:22

It is of no significance if your baby is breech or not at 32 weeks so just relax.Worry in another 5 weeks !

phdlife · 31/01/2007 10:37

Wow, it's a nice idea but that spinning babies link made me miz in two seconds flat: first bit of advice, "stay off the couch". And where am I supposed to sit, exactly? In my flat there's a choice of desk/office chair (where I work most of the day) and... a couch! The landlord won't let us ditch the couch (say in favor of a dining table/chairs), so now I'll feel guilty every night I veg out - can't do the "right" thing in pregnancy because we're too broke to move house...

Annaspanna, my sister is a midwife and she always said good things about accupuncture for turning the baby.

Flumpybumpy · 31/01/2007 10:40

I was told from 30 wks that DD was breech. When I went into labour I mentioned that baby was breech but MW said, no she isn't she just has a large bottom!!!

Turns out she wasn't breech at all and she did have a large bum!!!

FB x

Weegle · 31/01/2007 15:38

You sound just like I did. I was panicked by the midwives telling me he was breech yet I just couldn't understand it because of where I felt the hiccups. Scan at 38 weeks, guess what, not breech!

helenhismadwife · 31/01/2007 22:39

midwives do get it wrong, it can be quite hard to tell sometimes, I have found one undiagnosed breech when examining a woman in labour

Where I work if they are doing a c/s for breech they will always scan as part of the pre op routine on the day of surgery before they go do anything.

Miaou · 31/01/2007 22:49

annaspanna, dd1 was breech at 38 weeks and I was booked in for a section. I had a scan at 4pm the day before the section - still breech. When I went in for the section, I asked if they would scan me again. I hadn't felt her move but I just wanted to be sure. Fortunately they agreed - and sure enough, she had turned during the night! I was sent home and gave birth naturally 10 days later

theheadgirl · 31/01/2007 23:09

Midwives and Drs definately get it wrong!! With DD3 I'd been given all clear for a home birth, went into labour on due date, and proudly got my self to 8cm at home. Midwife arrived, checked me and said the immortal words "thats not a head....." In my oxygen starved, contracting state I thought she meant the baby had not got a head! I became somewhat hysterical! What she actually meant was she couldn't FEEL a head, she could feel a foot. So I was packed off to hospital in an ambulance and had a scan which confirmed footling breech. Am certain DD3 had been that way for a good few weeks and had not turned the day before I went into labour, when I was last checked by the GP...

nooka · 01/02/2007 00:20

Oh yes! ds was said to be well engaged with his head down by the midwife as she showed her student where his head, back and bottom were. Both registrars said so too (I was supposed to have a home birth, but had meconium staining so ended up in hospital). Then we had a scan which showed he was transverse oblique. So they were all wrong (and no head/bottom excuse either). He can out really squiffy suggesting that he was in a weird position for quite a while, so I think that the midwife who assessed me previously was wrong too.

jabberwocky · 01/02/2007 01:33

DS1 was an undiagnosed breech. I kept thinking something wasnt right but MW were insisting he was head down and engaged. After 30 hours of labor we headed in for emergency section as baby was frank breech

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