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Original poster

Midwife checks didn't pick up breech

33 replies

Tresfren · 03/05/2023 04:16

I'm 36 +4 and went for regular midwife check this morning. She felt tummy as usual and said baby's head was down near cervix which is what they've said for past few times.

Three hours later due to (mild) gestational diabetes I was having a growth scan. Baby is breech, bottom was near cervix.

I find it hard to believe baby could turn within a few hours and I certainly didn't feel that.

I'm a bit disconcerted - if it wasn't for having diabetes, I'd never have got scanned and would have headed towards a natural delivery in ignorance thinking I was low risk And all was OK.

Been offered an ECV but don't want to try it so it looks like a c section although I can feel her moving a lot tonight so maybe she does still turn?

Did anyone else's midwife not get position right? I asumme heads and bums may feel similar but was still a bit shocked.

OP posts:
Themisthefacts · 03/05/2023 04:25

Yes similar thing happened to me . But I only found out when I went to get induced at 41 weeks. Midwife in hospital who booked my in noticed it straight away.I went from thinking I was going to be induced to lying in operating table within an hour.

Original poster
Tresfren · 03/05/2023 04:47

@Themisthefacts thank goodness it got picked up before labour! Interesting that some midwives couldn't tell and the other could. I wondered if it was a competency issue or if its an easy mistake to make but I would expect it to be picked up well into third trimester

OP posts:
Sugargliderwombat · 03/05/2023 04:53

At 39 weeks 3 midwives were convinced I was breach. Went for a scan and was totally fine so I think it happens if they are in paricularly tricky positions. Her bum was just super skinny and boney and felt like a head and her head was really low so they couldnt feel it. I remember the stress though OP I'm sorry.

broadbeanquiche · 03/05/2023 04:54

Yes. It's tricky to feel.

Blue2020 · 03/05/2023 05:02

Several couldn’t tell with mine, only one midwife and a dr said he was head down and that was with a lot of pressure and force to feel. They struggled to tell if it was his head or bum. I was going to be induced but ended up with a C-section for a different reason at 35weeks.

PinkButtercups · 03/05/2023 05:44

My eldest DS was back to back and I felt him do a big turn at about 37+6. I was induced at 38 weeks and none of the midwives noticed! It was only when I was struggling to push him out and his HR was going everywhere that a doctor noticed on the screen outside and rushed in and checked and he confirmed back to back and turned him round and told me not to push for an hour so everything can stabilise again. I thank my lucky stars he walked past when he did because the midwife didn't notice a thing and was concerned by the HR at all.

I was induced with my twins and DD was head down so I could go for vaginal birth but DS was breech which they knew of anyway and I gave birth to him breech which we knew I would do anyway.

hotpotlover · 03/05/2023 05:45

They can turn within a few seconds.

My daughter was observed turning on a scan into transverse position (she had an unstable lie) . It took her seconds.

MrsSamR · 03/05/2023 05:48

My DD had been breech since about 28 weeks. When I went for my 35 week scan the midwife felt my tummy and said she'd turned and was now head down. She even said to me 'only 1 in 100 babies are still breech at this point.' I absolutely knew she hadn't turned and was the 1 in 100 babies. She scanned me and said with surprise 'oh no, you're right. She's still breech!' I bloody know! Booked a c-section in as I also declined the ECV. So sometimes they are wrong for sure!

MrsSamR · 03/05/2023 05:48

*36 week scan

Upanddownthemerrygoround · 03/05/2023 05:50

In labour with my first they were unsure if the baby was breach as during vaginal exams they couldn’t work out if they could feel a hairless head or bum. Took several staff to have a feel outside and in and suss it out.

BeautifulWar · 03/05/2023 05:53

Mine was discovered when I went into hospital in labour, 7cm dilated, resulting in an emergency c-section.

It was scary but the outcome was good.

I'm not sure whether she was breech all along or whether she turned. I remember a really uncomfortable feeling at 39/40 weeks, but could she have even turned then? I didn't think much of it, because it was c my first and every day feels different that far along.

Try not to dwell on the scary what ifs. At least it has been detected now.

BeautifulWar · 03/05/2023 05:54

Oh, and she was a footling breech!

broadbeanquiche · 03/05/2023 05:54

I feel like they should offer a routine scan to tell which way up baby is

Whathefisgoingon · 03/05/2023 06:58

A midwife measured my bump as being SIX weeks behind and sent me for a scan, even though I’d had my bump measured earlier than six weeks and was on track. Scan was fine.

MyFaceIsAnAONB · 03/05/2023 07:02

You find it hard to believe that a baby can turn around within a couple of hours? It takes seconds at any point so the timing is just a coincidence (or yes, they got it wrong. But it’s completely possible they got it right).

DD turned breech while I was waiting for my c section. Final scan she was the right way round. Waiting for my c section I felt a big movement and then it took them 5 mins to find her heartbeat (presumably because they were looking in the wrong place because she’d flipped). Opened me up and found a bum not a head. It happens.

avocadotofu · 03/05/2023 07:04

A similar thing happened to me but no one noticed until I was in labour and at the hospital which meant I had to have an emergency c-section.

JellyBabiesSaveLives · 03/05/2023 07:08

Yes, dd was firmly in the same position throughout the last couple of months - hard lump up by my ribs which they told me was her bum. I had a different midwife at 38 weeks who sent me for a scan to double-check, because we were planning a homebirth. Dd was feet down, so they kept me in hospital and did a cs.

00100001 · 03/05/2023 07:13

broadbeanquiche · 03/05/2023 05:54

I feel like they should offer a routine scan to tell which way up baby is

Why bother when they can move?

So you're baby is head down at 3pm.... at 3:03 the could well be breach...

Isthisexpected · 03/05/2023 07:15

I don't think I'd have much faith after that given she was so confident.

Have you looked at spinning babies? Clary sage can also help a baby turn.

writingworry · 03/05/2023 07:17

I told the surgeon my baby was breech for the third time that day and nobody believed me
I had a scan the day before baby was head up

36 weeks she was breech for the section they couldn't believe it!!

3rd section 3rd baby
One breech
One head up
One sideways

Ariela · 03/05/2023 08:14

@Tresfren Google Dr Jean Sutton, Optimal Fetal Positioning.
When DD was born I was lucky enough to attend one of her talks, very very interesting, and certainly recommended reading for anyone with a breech possibility.

Mangotime · 03/05/2023 08:26

Yes you can get it wrong. I know I have once. However, given she would have known you were going for a scan that day she probably wasn’t too fussed either way.

MrsCarson · 03/05/2023 08:41

It's not unusual. I've had two breech babies, neither one was detected until I was in labour.

PickledScrump · 03/05/2023 08:49

Babies can turn very quickly. My first was breech, within a few hours had moved head down, I expected I would feel a big movement if she turned but I didn’t notice anything at all.

FangedFrisbee · 03/05/2023 08:59

I've seen a baby turn breech on a scan and the mum didn't feel it. It's not the midwives fault your baby is breech.. it's not your fault you didn't feel it move.