Unstable lie- baby was head down week 38 and 39 is Breech!!!

[MumToBe2002]

hey all,

i am very upset and disappointed.. baby was changing position for the last couple of weeks until week 38 seemed to settle into head down and I was very pleased as I am hoping for a VBAC. yesterday when i turned 39 weeks made a big change to a frank breech position. Now i am told to just go for elective section as going into labor with a breech baby is an emergency. no one is giving me answers as to why is this baby changing positions a lot, he is 3.50 Kg so not a small baby, my fluid is 8.2 slightly raised but they don’t think thats linked. the only thing with this pregnancy I have PGP and i am hardly able to walk or when i change position in bed i hear clicks basically my joints clicking. doctors do not think thats the case.
my question :

1. Can this baby still go into head down, is it worth holding onto elective until almost 40 weeks ?
2. is there anything i could possibly do ? I am very upset cos was hoping to have 4/5 kids this is my 2nd first was c section after full dilation ( went naturally to labour) unfortunately baby heartbeat was dropping they’ve refused to use forceps and chose c section . after a second section i will always need to have a surgery and might not have the number of kids I am hoping for.

i keep blaming myself for this and think if I done more exercise and sorted my PGP i would have had a successful VBAC..

thanks all x

There's nothing you could have done, these babies are strong willed! You could try moxibustion (though an acupuncturist), it has some - though minimal evidence. Some people swear by spinning babies website, but there's no evidence. But really there's probably not much you can do, except an ECV - did they mention this? Definitely ask about it (I decided not to do it as it can end in emergency c section but your priorities are different so could be good for you). You can ask to be scanned before the c section and then refuse it if baby has moved?

The baby could still move head down, but I'm guessing the hospital are worried in that case baby could move again to breech before labour.

If it's any comfort, my friend had 4 babies all by C-section.

thanks for your reply. they said at 39 weeks we would not recommend ECV.. they are very adamant to go for the section . feel defeated.. many thanks x

thank you for your response.. i’ve been trying lots of walking and spinning babies and i think that what helped. I will continue and see if it will make a difference as I am running out of time. they’ll scan me before the section, I will stay hopeful X

I had a frank breech baby too at 37 weeks. I chose to have the ECV as the only other option was a CS and it worked for me.
I tried the spinning babies tips right up until the day of ECV but it obviously didn't work. It took two consultants to turn baby as she was sat low down in my pelvis so I think it was unlikely she would have managed to turn herself.
I went into labour naturally a week later at 38+1, not sure if that's related or not but all went very smoothly! Best wishes for whatever route you decide to take :)

Maybe if baby is still breech at scan before section they would do ECV then (think there's a high risk it'll require emergency c section later, but if you're already there for one...)

Ask if they can do an ecv and if it works a controlled arm (artifical rupture of menbranes) whilst baby is held the right direction

Can always get an epidural let it fully work, then ecv (ecv normally fails as the pressure sensation is hard to tolerate for mum, so epidural makes it higher success rate) thrn if didn't work can topup the epidural for the section

DD2 turned head down at 39+2. I was scanned at 39+1 and she was still breech. Then I went into labour before my section at 39+3 so went to triage and on arrival they told me she was head down and so i could ditch the section and have a vaginal delivery. So it could still happen for you! Our hospital won't do ecv after 38w but my section was booked for 39+5 so you can leave it fairly late.

Have you asked for a meeting with the consultant midwife? My hospital did have some specialist breech birth midwives and i could have chosen to attempt a breech vaginal delivery. I was not happy with the risk of a vaginal breech birth but some women are. You could talk it through with the consultant and see how you feel. Not all hospitals have the experience any more though as most women opt for ECV or ELCS.

Hi baby is unstable lie I believe one of the risks is that if your waters break then the cord could prolapse which is an emergency and requires baby out asap. My second was unstable lie and as we are 40 min from the hospital I went for an ELCS at 39weeks (unstable lie discovered/confirmed 2 days earlier)

My second was an unstable lie, discovered when I went for my 40 week appointment and he was transverse. I was sent straight to the hospital and offered the option of an ECV followed by induction if successful, or to go straight to a C section. I was going to opt for the ECV but when they examined me the next morning he had gone head down and I was already in early labour, so I ended up having an entirely uncomplicated vaginal delivery! Did they discuss the possibility of an ECV+induction with you, given you are keen for a VBAC?

I will contact them tomorrow and see if they can arrange an appointment with a consultant midwife.
if you don’t mind me asking what was the cause of the unstable lie in your case ?

that’s so promising. i am not sure why I am just being pressured into c section and just being told about everything that could possibly go wrong!

i’ll ask about this tomorrow. i was not given much options i feel . just being put off any attempt and being warned about risks of going into labor with a breech baby! i was told baby’s head might be trapped and could lead to baby’s death or severe brain damage! I am just terrified now!

Not sure if that was to me, but the answer is - no idea! They scanned me when I was admitted at 40 weeks and nothing adverse showed up, and neither the doctor nor the midwives mentioned a possible cause. I have to assume my stomach muscles were so.wrecked by my first that it's just a trampoline park in there now 😅

Not sure if one of those questions was to me, but they had no idea in my case. It was my second baby and she was on the small side. I was having growth scans from 28w for other reasons and she was transverse, breech, head down, back to breech - all over the shop. When she was born, the midwife said she had an unusually long cord so my own theory was that maybe she was caught up in a way that was preventing her from turning. But no idea if that has any scientific basis!

Yes, all the facts about a vaginal breech birth are quite scary, which is why I was put off. But some women do go for it which is why I thought it worth putting out there.

Is there an option of waiting for labour to start and then scanning you then to check position? Is still breech then they could do cesarian if not keep going with natural birth.
Ask if there is any midwife there that has experience in breech?

I don't think an ECV is recommended if you've had a prior C-section. My trust wouldn't even consider it.

@SpecduckularlyQuackers lol glad it all worked for you! thanks for sharing your story!
@CrispAppleStrudels yeah the midwife today mentioned about the length of cord in some cases, breech birth seems worrying!! thanks for sharing your story!
@TheHazelCritic thats exactly what i’ve asked for and I was looked at I am being ridiculous and want to put baby and me at huge risk, they said labour might be fast and you might end up delivering breech baby and putting baby at risk!
@FriendlyNeighbourhoodAccountant they do here but they think 39 weeks is way too advanced!

Was your first labour fast? You could just go in at the hint of a contraction, a scan doesn't take ages.
If they have someone with experience then many women have delivered breech without issue. Depends on who is the midwife and the kind of breech
Don't see why they should put unofff a last minute scan.

that’s what I said as soon i feel a contraction i’ll contact hospital. I am not sure why they were being very pessimistic! i’ll try and speak to someone tomorrow x thanks for your great advice x

Yes, that's basically what happened to me! Section was booked for 39+5. About 5am on 39+3 I woke up with contractions. Called triage and explained baby was breech. They told me to come straight away. Whilst I was waiting for cab around 5.45am, my waters broke. I got to triage around 6am. Had been scanned by 6.30am and was then offered choice of continuing with section or having a vaginal birth. As she had turned, I opted for a vaginal birth. Transitioned to active labour around 9am, baby born at 10am.

@CrispAppleStrudels I wish my hospital were this supportive! i said why don’t u book my section around 39+5 or 6 .. if i go into labour before i’ll go quickly to hospital and they’ll check if baby is head down otherwise straight to theatre .. they said what if there are no availability for a section at that time ? you will just end up giving birth to a breech baby and deal with all the complications that come with it.
i think i should try and speak to someone tomorrow i feel like i should be giving a bit of a chance!

What would happen if a non breech birth needed a emergency cs? Would they say sorry there is no availability?

Every labour ward has specialists in breech deliveries, I've seen about 7 in 6y of obs and only cover there a couple of days a week

Eh? Elective sections have their own separate theatre lists to emergency sections

Occasionally we do elective expedited csections via the emergency theatre but we don't start until we have checked there isn't an urgent need for the theatre from a labourer