Frank/extended breech

[Ivfgottahope]

My DD has been in the extended breech position since my 20 week scan, I’m now almost 33 weeks and I saw a consultant this week about ongoing lack of movement (caused by anterior placenta and her awkward postition apparently) and he said it’s highly unlikely she’s going to turn. Has anyone had a baby in this position from fairly early on to term and gave birth without any issues? Worried about her hips and little legs, it can’t be good for them being locked like that for so long

@Ivfgottahope no worries! I'm not sure to be honest, they didn't mention my placenta (from what I can remember) so I assume it was fine, but I honestly can't remember 🤦‍♀️ apparently my pelvic area is quite small which is why she got stuck. If I manage to get pregnant again (not been successful so far, three early losses including losing twins at 10 weeks in February) then it's likely the next baby would also be Frank breech.

In bygone days, breech birth was considered a variation of 'normal'.

The bum isn't that much different in size from the head, at full-term.

If the baby is frank breech, then the risks are fairly low (although you have to assess them for yourself rather than some random on the internet).

What helped me at the time was reading information from a midwife and breech expert, Mary Cronk. She has now passed, but I'm sure her writings are still around.

What Mary said was that you either have a totally natural birth - seriously no intervention - or a C-section. Do not go for induction, acceleration, piper forceps, flat on back. The idea is that if the natural labour stops progressing, you go straight to C-section, as the baby might be on the way to getting stuck. The last you want to do is give oxytocin (which you might for a stalled labour) as you might ram the baby's head against the pubic bone.

Mary's mantra was 'hands off the breech'. I made my midwife sit in the far corner of the room.

@CraftyGin yeah I get that, I’m just trying to see what other people in similar positions have experienced, it helps me rationalise much better. I’ve not actually found much on the internet other than really f’ing terrifying stuff / various birth defects or really generic advice that’s centred mainly around delivery - which doesn’t bother me as I was electing to have c section before I knew she was frank breech anyway.

I’ll check out Mary Cronk, thank you for the rec 😊

Hi @ivfgottahope - thanks for this thread, it's well timed for me as I'm in a very similar situation, breech since 20 week scan, latest was one at 31 weeks. Also anterior placenta (and ivf) and I've found it really hard to feel consistent movements apart from at 4am.

The doctors I've been seeing don't seem so bothered so far, which I find reassuring.

DD1 was a frank breech baby. In hindsight her head was lodged up under my ribs from at least the late-20s week mark (I'd assumed it was her bum until a growth scan showed otherwise. It was missed by various midwives having a poke). My surgeon said it was because there was so little space in there, she got stuck: small bump and low fluid.
I hadn't realised the dangers of ECVs, so we tried that unsuccessfully (it was incredibly painful). She was born by ELCS. After she was born, her feet were stuck up by her head for a week or so before she finally unfurled. This meant she was born able to roll onto her side (stressful!), although that stopped once she straightened out. She was found to have clicky hips, but it was regularly monitored and she was discharged at 2.5yrs. We used cloth nappies (for other reasons), which is reported to help the hip joints form into the correct position.
She's 7yo now, and no lasting related issues that we're aware of 🙂

My first born was in a breech position with one leg at her face and one leg kneeling below her bum the entire pregnancy. My placenta was high near my ribs and the cord was tightly wrapped around her neck 3 times so she could barely move. I was constantly monitored for reduced movement throughout the pregnancy.

I was scheduled a cesarean as an ecv? Was not possible. The whole experience was lovely and calm and I opted for an elective cesarean with my second born because I had such a wonderful experience the first time.

My first born had to go for a scan on her hips to check for hip dysplasia. Luckily all was well and there have been no further issues since.

My second was breech from early on, turned head down at 38 weeks - I requested an induction because by that point I was in for daily monitoring everyday due to reduced movements. They refused and she turned back breech so had to have a c section (though something happened during that in which I'd propose be dead if it had happened during a vaginal delivery so I believe it was fate in a way). Her hips were absolutely fine! My third who was not breech did have to go in a Pavlik harness.

My first was breech (didn't know the term then but a 'frank' breech) from before 30 weeks onwards. I was referred to the consultant who gave me exercises to do every two hours (on all fours with head down) which made not a jot of difference. Slightly grudgingly I was given a 'trial of labour' but ended up with a CSection in the end. This was due to the fact that I didn't dilate beyond 3 cm and my waters were leaking/there was meconium (after about 18 hours of labour). I was disappointed at the time, not least as I had to have a general anaesthetic as it was a Saturday night and they couldn't release an anaesthetist for long enough for me to have an epidural. I was offered the opportunity to be put on a drip and have labour accelerated which I declined. Fortunately, my baby was fine but she did tend to lay in a froggy position (with legs bent) for the first few weeks. She had tests/x-ray at a couple of months of age to check hip alignment but she was fine. It was all over 30 years ago so procedures will have changed since then.

Incidentally I went on to have two more babies both born vaginally with no interventions at all (and no drugs - just use of my TENS machine), so having a CSection had no impact on future labours.

@OM82 how have you been? Have you had any improvement on the movement front? I’m still feeling very little. Another ctg and I’m told all is still fine. So infuriating!

@ivfgottahope I'm similar to you, still don't feel very much and at a recent growth scan I was told the baby had dropped from 50 to 10 percentile and to be extra careful of monitoring which has made me a bit paranoid again. I'm over an hour from the hospital so it's not like I can pop in quickly to get checked... Sometimes I think this pregnancy is more exhausting and stressful than ivf was.