I had an unplanned breech delivery with my little boy in 2021 (my first and only pregnancy). We knew he was breech but I wasn't expecting to go into labour (I was only 34 weeks along). There was talk of more scans and an ECV if he didn't turn, but we didn't get that far!
The choice to go for a vaginal delivery was made by the consultant on call rather than me. I was 9cm dilated by the time we got to hospital (long story, but I didn't realise I was in labour and I'd been told twice by the maternity triage over the phone that it was likely "practice contractions" and just to take some paracetamol!). The first doctor I saw said that I'd need a C-section, but after speaking to the consultant they said that they felt a vaginal delivery would be best given how far progressed things were.
The delivery itself was okay, no forceps or ventouse needed, although they did give me an episiotomy. The consultant was there for the delivery (I assume because no one else was comfortable with a breech delivery) and she was absolutely amazing.
One thing I did find was that I couldn't really feel distinguished contractions, and I found it difficult to know exactly which direction to push in (as stupid as that sounds!) or when to push. Apparently this is because you don't get the same pressure from the head with a breech presentation. I told the consultant that I couldn't feel when or where to push, and she told me exactly when to push and when to rest. She also used her fingers to show me the point o should be aiming my pushes at, which was really helpful.
He was born at 34+1 and weighed 5lb 6oz. I don't know if the fact that he was premature and relatively small made the delivery easier (although he did have a 99th centile head). I don't know the technical term, but he was a bum-first breech.
He had quite a big bruise over his hip and bum when he was born (apparently because of the labour/birth - I don't know the mechanics of this), and this took a few weeks to go away. He did have to spend 2 weeks in NICU/SCBU, but that was because he was premature and not because he was breech. He had to have a hip ultrasound when he was a few weeks old, but this was normal. He's now 15 months old and, as far as we're aware, he has no lasting injuries from the birth.
My recovery after the birth was fine, the stitches from the episiotomy were a bit sore but nothing out of the ordinary. I do still get some occasional discomfort (not pain exactly, just mild discomfort) from the scar. I don't have any continence issues or serious problems following the birth.
I'm lucky that we had a very good outcome, but if I had the time to plan for a breech birth then I would probably opt for an elective C-section - simply because of the extra risk that something could go wrong. I think things could have been very different if the consultant hadn't been as brilliant as she was.