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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Breech to Cephalic: How did you get your baby to turn before delivery time?

37 replies

TwilightSurfer · 02/06/2008 19:31

Breech to Cephalic: How did you get your baby to turn before delivery time?

I am currently only 29+2. Baby is breech and facing foward.

Would like to hear stories from those who have experienced successfully turning baby to the proper position for vaginal delivery. How did you do it? When did it happen? Any and all details, please. THANK YOU!

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TwilightSurfer · 06/06/2008 01:15

Well ladies you've give me lots to digest. Thank you.

TinkersbellesMum, your profile says you do wrap slings. It just happens that I'm researching what would work best for me when this LO arrives. What type do you make? Do you have an internet photo of one??

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jamila169 · 06/06/2008 01:38

Tangle, your take on the risks is correct ,the difference in risk is down to the risk of cord prolapse, obviously a footling doesn't fit the cervix well , a complete breech fits better and a frank breech fits as well as a head - the cervix closing around the neck thing is often used as a shroud waving exercise - it's just that, breech babies are always born feet first whatever the presentation, the rump descends, one leg then the other un folds, the trunk comes through and then, providing no one has been pulling and tugging the arms and shoulders are born, followed by the head. Tink, the poor outcomes are usually caused by poor handling of the delivery, doctors tend to be too hands on ,and touch stimulates breathing, so asphyxia can happen, and touch also stimulates the Moro reflex, the one which causes newborns to throw their arms up, which then means that manouvres have to be done to free the arms , traction is applied , labours are augmented, forceps are commonly used for the head, which can cause bleeds in the brain or compression of the skull, that kind of 'breech extraction' does have higher morbidity and mortality than head down births
but the type of hands off approach used by experienced midwives does not - the rule is hands off the breech, and never ever attempt to expedite delivery with drugs - if it's going to come through , it will and if there's no progress, straight to C/S

justjules · 06/06/2008 07:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Holly29 · 06/06/2008 09:38

My DS was breech from 20 weeks and never turned, the little blighter! I tried EVERYTHING in the world, all the exercises, I went for acupuncture (moxibustion), bounced on a ball, you name it. They wouldn't try ECV as they were worried about distressing the baby. I know this isn't cheery news but it just goes to show that sometimes with the best will in the world it won't work...
I had a CS and it was totally fine.

This reminds me, I have lots of moxa sticks which I am happy to send free of charge to a good home!

Tangle · 06/06/2008 10:42

JustJules - best as I can:

  • I don't think you need to be particularly worried about the next 5 weeks, although (depending on what your birth options do turn out to be you may need to be more aware of going into labour). Try and relax while you have the chance!
  • Not sure (gut feel would be less chance, as no bum/head applying direct pressure to the cervix)
  • cord prolapse is the cord coming out of the uterus before the baby - it can't happen until your cervix has dilated (and your waters have broken I'd have thought)
  • she's probably more likely to turn as a footling breech - frank/extended is the least likely as the legs act as splints. If the legs are bent they can be used to kick off, like doing a tumble turn in the pool.
  • Not one of your questions, but I was told that you should categoricaly NOT induce breech babies - either they come out spontaneously or they come out by CS.

You've done really well so far, so try not to get despondent. I honestly don't know whether, for you and your baby, a CS is the best and safest course of action, but its sounding like it may be if they don't want you to go past 38 weeks. Don't give up, but try and put yourself in a position so that you know that you're making a positive choice rather than following instructions.

My IM did quite a lot of breech births last year and has very good contacts - I'm pretty sure she'd be happy to talk through options with you (from a MW rather than consultants perspective) if you think that would help - would you like me to ask her?

justjules · 06/06/2008 11:27

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tinierclanger · 06/06/2008 13:12

Wow I amazed you all know the baby's position already! I last saw my midwife at 32 weeks and asked her where he was then, and she said she wasn't sure and didn't like to probe too hard at this stage.

How come people are being told so much earlier? I thought I didn't even have to start thinking about his position until just around now (33)?

TinkerbellesMum · 06/06/2008 14:35

my pics I sell them for £25 with p&p. I do jersey and fleece, I'm still using the ones I first made when Tink was 4 months, never had problem with them being stretchy. Jersey is heavier than normal t-shirt jersey, but still quite light (I wore mine around Menorca last year and Tink was the coolest in my family!) Fleece is a little heavier than mircofleece, it's actually quite cool in most weathers. I have a zip file with "swatches" in, if you want a look.

That makes sense Jamilla, I was just writing what I had found. I think it is a shame we have become so medicalised towards pregnancy (from someone who can't carry babies on her own or to term with drugs) and routine pregnancies have become so difficult.

"i take aspirin and heparin injections daily which i will need be be weaned off in advance of birth,"

Aspirin shouldn't be a problem, Heparin (Clexane?) is fine after 12 hours. The only reason it would be a problem in birth is if you need an epidural (why I had to have a GA for my CS) so they may want to stop it and induce, which they mentioned would be the plan for me (I was in labour and they said "what's the plan for when you give birth?" "I don't know, they're telling me next Friday" )

should i be any more worried about the next 5 weeks?

Babies move all the time, she still has plenty of space to move around in and may settle head down before you go into labour, she may even turn in labour.

is there an increased chance of early labour with a footling/mishaped uterus?

Don't know, don't use my story as a proof to anything as it's more likely to be because I had a premature labour before.

is she less likely to turn now being footing as apposed to other breech positions?

See previous answer.

should i just give up and accept she will born by elective section as after 3 m/cs just getting her this far has been a struggle?

No, not at all. She could turn or settle into a frank position so with the right support you could be able to deliver her.

i feel cheated by the whole process of pregnancy/loss/birth and i am worried this will affect me over the longer term

I feel the same. For me having a GA/CS at 31 weeks made it worse. I didn't believe I was pregnant because I had m/c at 8 weeks then had my first daughter at 20 weeks. Not sure it was I didn't think I was pregnant, just I didn't think pregnancy meant I was going to have a baby. Missing out on her birth, especially after having a really good labour and delivery last time, after how I felt in pregnancy messed my head up. I still feel like a baby sitter to her, but I'm working through that with the hospital. My nurse asked me if I felt that way, I told him I was her babysitter and he said it's a normal feeling after what I had been through.

Speak to your obstetrician about your feelings and see if they can get you to see the mother and baby psychologist or their nurse to help you to deal with your feelings as you could be a risk for PND.

Do you have Hughes by any chance?

tinierclanger I was high risk and by the sounds of it so is jules, so I had at least one scan a week from 20 weeks and three from 24 weeks. So we were aware of everything she was doing, even what her favourite food was! (she still is a curry baby!)

justjules · 06/06/2008 18:45

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TinkerbellesMum · 06/06/2008 19:47

at times, it feels a bit like an out of body experience,

Oooh yeah!

I spent a month in hospital, had a hand held doppler done with the standard four hour checks and still didn't believe I was pregnant. I was always shocked when they heard something.

The other thing with Hughes (you sound like you know a lot about it anyway) is there is something called seronegative, which means you could test negative but still have major events. It is one illness where the results aren't really that relevant.

I was terrified of needles, yet I begged for them! I'm only low positive and they said it wasn't high enough for anything to happen... HELLO I'VE JUST HAD A BABY AT 20 WEEKS!!! So I know what you mean about happily being on them.

I hope you don't think I am being negative or trying to scare you, I was trying to be honest, I don't think there's much point saying "you'll be fine" "you'll have a healthy baby what more do you want?" because I know it's not that simple. I also hope that you can see from my posts that you do need to look after yourself too.

I didn't bond with her after she was born, she didn't even look like my baby (goodness knows what that means!) My first daughter was born naturally (read the waterbirth book and that describes Lily-Hope's on land birth) and I bonded with her immediately I held her. I had all those rush of love feelings you hear about and it was amazing. The fact she would die any time and the staff had left the room to let her die privately not to go and get equipment, didn't really occur to me. It was just me and my baby in the world. We do have a bond now and I think I'm a good mum, but I'm not sure how much of it is as mother and daughter (although she has no doubt who her mummy is). I did find that establishing and maintaining the breastfeeding relationship helped, after all, only her mother can do that for her. The sling helped too and all the cuddly time we get, she's very cuddly!

Do look after yourself, talking about your feelings now could make a big difference to you. Because of the change of team and having dual care between two teams I didn't get help before she was born and it was her first birthday that I started going to the M&B clinic, a lot of damage had been done by then. Sooner is definitely better than later and no one will think badly of you if you tell them how you feel.

TwilightSurfer · 06/06/2008 20:02

Tink thanks. I'm going to keep you in mind while I try to figure out which sling/carrier/wrap is best for me.

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TinkerbellesMum · 06/06/2008 20:19

If you want to talk away from here I'm quite happy too. I'll put my msn address on my profile until 9. I have an email address just for here but I'm still having problems with Virgin and don't have emails at the moment.

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