Experiences of unstable lie and birth options...

[mummabubs]

Hi all,

Not sure if this post is better here or in childbirth but it technically spans both so here goes. I'm 36+4 with my first child. I was told at my 12 week scan that I have a mild bicornuate uterus so I was transferred to consultant-led... then at 20 week scan the uterus had stretched to a normal shape so I was back to midwife-led. Jump to now and I've been to pregnancy yoga, planned a very calm and minimal intervention labour on the MLU in a birthing pool (I know experienced mums will be saying my first error was making a birth plan given that these often go out the window- and mine has spectacularly!)

I was advised to have a presentation scan at 36 weeks when the consultant discharged me at 20 weeks just to check for breech. Baby has been head down when midwife checked at 32 weeks and also at a 29 week growth scan they were head down. Grand. So I went to the scan today by myself fully expecting to be in and out in less than 5 minutes- turns out baby was transverse and then flipped to frank breech in front of the doctor and sonographer's eyes in under 20 seconds. Cue conversations about being admitted today, EVCs (which I've always said I don't want) and probable c-sec. I managed to convince them to let me go home as I'm still a way off due date and it was just so overwhelming to have all this info at once. (Plus I'd left the dog at home and only parked my car for 2 hours!) They've booked me for an ECV on Friday despite me saying I don't want to have one- they say I can refuse on the day but they may choose to admit me for the remainder of pregnancy at that stage due to risk of cord prolapse.

I'd never been particularly pro-ECV and to me it doesn't make sense if the problem is that my baby can move themselves too easily then what's to stop them moving out of position 10 minutes after the ECV? (Consultant did agree this is entirely possible). I had really wanted to avoid a c-sec but I'm starting to think that might be the better move rather than ECV and induction?

At the end of that massive unload (thank you for reading and I think I'm still in a bit of shock) I was wondering for those who were told they had an unstable lie- what was your experience? Were you admitted early and if so what was this like staying in hospital/ how long for? How did you deliver baby in the end and is there anything you wish you'd known or would do differently? Sorry, many questions but think ultimately I'm just trying to work out what my decision is from an informed position... or as informed as you can be! Thanks all xx

@BrutusMcDogface bless you, it's so stressful isn't it when they're little tinkers and won't stay still! My little boy is 8 months old now and reading this thread back brought it all back to me.

So, in the end I went into hospital on the Friday (to refuse the ECV) and in typical fashion baby was back in optimal position so after all that I was transferred back to midwifery-led care(!) However I went 2 weeks past my due date so was then told I had to be consultant-led. After a lot of pressure I very reluctantly accepted an induction, but was then told I had to stay as a patient as that's the hospital policy so wasn't allowed to go home to labour in my usual calm environment. Instead I was on an induction ward with 20 other women who were screaming all night as they were further along than me so I got a grand total of 30 minutes sleep before labour really kicked in for me. I was transferred to the consultant delivery unit and told I had to lie on my back and be continually monitored despite me being low-risk. After hours of pushing I ended up needing a dash to theatre for forceps as he'd turned and was pinned with his arm up and the cord round his neck. The surgeon (who was lovely) told me I could never have pushed him out myself given the position and frankly I was so exhausted by that point I agreed. I've always wondered if I'd been allowed to stay active and not been forced to lie on my back on the bed whether baby would have stayed in a good position as they were head down through most of my labour. Eight months on and I still feel some sadness and regret about how my birth went but ultimately I've learnt lessons for next time (about sticking to my guns on certain things!) and the old cliche is true that after a while you really do just appreciate that they're here and ok. I've also met with the hospital recently and they're going to support me whenever we decide to have child #2 to stay midwife led even if I do go overdue again (given that every woman in my family has gone 2+ weeks overdue I'm assuming I'll do it again!)

Afraid I don't have much advice other than to try and stay active, I also did a lot of yoga positions- there's a website called spinning babies or something like that which supposedly gives you moves to convince baby to stay down! Really hope your baby decides to get into a good position and stay there! X

I know this thread is a little old but thought I'd add my experience so far and perhaps someone can help me with my decision.

At 20 weeks we found out our baby has a Choledochal Cyst, which sounds scary but they'll do surgery to fix it when he's born and he'll be fine after a couple weeks. We've had scans every month or so to check on the cyst. At 37+4 the midwife noted he was head down, but at our scan the next day, he was transverse. I was immediately admitted due to the risk of cord prolapse. I have a normal uterus and it's my first baby, so they have no idea why he is unstable, although he is on the small side.

I've been here 5 days now and they've checked his position and heart rate 2/3 times a day, he's been mostly transverse, sometimes oblique, and once breech. He moved 180° from transverse head on left, to transverse head on right in the space of a few hours one day. They've booked me a c-section for 39+2 (only an extra two because it's a weekend), but there's been some suggestion of doing an ECV first instead, I think I'm going to turn it down. I just have a feeling that it's not safe, so I'm hoping they'll accept that I need to trust my maternal instinct.

If he's head down on the day, they will offer to induce me (which, if he's not engaged, will apparently suck his head down into the right position, so there's not much risk of him turning again). But I'm not sure I want to be induced, since there's a higher chance of an emergency section, and it's apparently considerably more painful than regular labour. So I might choose to just have the scheduled section. But I can't decide what's worse, an extremely painful labour (plus the risk of an emergency section anyway) or no labour, but the pain of recoving from a c-section. Thoughts?

Will update after baby is born for any other mums in the same situation.

Bless you @Jessie451, it's hard to make decisions at this stage isn't it. I'd honestly be led by whichever you feel is better for you. I know that's not a helpful answer, sorry! From my experience I'd still turn down an ECV next time but weirdly I'd be more open to a planned C sec (I adamantly wanted to avoid it at the time!) Indiction was painful, but then I think on the whole that's par for the course and I chose not to have pain relief beyond gas and air- If the pain is what puts you off maybe discuss relief options with your midwife/ hospital staff? X