Hi all,
I read a lot of negative experiences about ECV on mumsnet.
I realize that the procedure is risky and can be quite negative for some people, but I just want to tell you about mine, which was successful, although lots of things worked against me.
The procedure has a success rate of 50 - 60 % and there are certain factors which makes it even less likely to work.
One of them is being a first time mum.
I am a first time mom, so I was aware coming into the hospital that this counted against me. I also have an anterior placenta. Also, one of the consultants said that she thinks that I don't have enough liquor volume to make it successful, although that the liquor volume could just appear small due to position of baby.
She asked me if I wanted to go ahead with it anyway, I said yes.
My baby decided to turn around week 36 from head down to transverse and then to breech. I wanted to give myself and the baby a chance to have a natural birth, so I consented to the ECV.
There were four people in the room with me, 2 doctors who did the rotating of baby, a midwife and another woman ( I'm not sure if she was a nurse or another doctor) who gave me an injection to relax my uterus.
The injection was in my upper arm and was quite painful.
One of the doctors told me that this procedure is safe ( otherwise they wouldn't offer it), but that he has to be honest and that it will be quite painful. So they gave me gas and air to breathe in for pain relief.
It was indeed very painful, without the gas and air I certainly wouldn't have coped. I can't exactly describe what the pain was like, but it was severe. The gas and air made me feel very dizzy and I'm glad the midwife was by my side to support me/hold my hand.
Both doctors worked on my belly, one took care of the baby's bum, the other one took care of the head.
I think the procedure was fairly quick, maybe 2 minutes, but I can't tell exactly as I lost sense of time.
Anyway, it was successful and they managed to turn baby head down. Afterwards they monitored baby's heart rate for 45-60 minutes, everything was fine.
They were very happy and told me that they don't very often see ECVs successful in first pregnancies.
Yesterday I went to the hospital for a quick scan as I was under the impression baby turned breech again, but no, baby is still head down.
I can't be absolutely sure that baby won't turn breech again as I seem to have a moody baby, so I can only say that it was a complete success after having giving birth.
I can completely understand why some people will turn down the ECV and will opt for a C-section instead. The procedure is very painful, at least it was for me, and there is no guarantee it will work.
Just thought I should tell you about my "positive" experience in case you have to face the decision whether to go for an ECV or a C-section and you have a balanced view of different experiences.
All the best no matter what you decide xx