ECV (external cephalic version) - anyone with experience?

[multivac]

Hi; I hope I'm posting this in the right place. It's the first time I've come here for advice... and it's not even for me!

A friend of mine is due to have the above procedure (an attempt to turn her breech baby at 37 weeks) on Friday, and is understandably nervous about it, especially given that, up until last week, she had low fluid - and also, that she is strangely blessed with two placentas.

Has anyone here experienced ECV? And if so, do you have any useful advice/tips/reassurance I could pass on to my friend?

My friend had this (successfully) a couple of weeks ago, followed by a trouble free vaginal birth.

She had two unsuccessful attempts, then the third attempt worked. She thinks that the first two were maybe unsuccessful because she was tense and couldn't relax. The third time, she just made herself not care whether the baby turned or not, and just zoned out for a while.

HTH.

I had an ECV with dd at 40+12. She was breech at 36 weeks, but turned herself back round then turned again sometime after 40 weeks.

It was uncomfortable and a bit ouchy and I did feel a little bit bruised afterwards, but it was really quick and in my case, definitely worth it. Dd turned on the first try, so in all the actual turning took about a minute, if that.

She will have an injection to relax the abdominal muscles. Then they should have a mobile scanner there and will check the position of the placenta(s) both before and after the procedure. She will also be put on a trace for half and hour before and after, first to get a baseline of the baby's normal heartbeat and movement pattern and then to check he/she has settled down and is not stressed afterwards.

My consultant said they would try for 2 minutes and if it didn't work they wouldn't try again. Apparently if the baby doesn't turn easily then its best not to carry on trying, because it means either they can't turn for some reason or they are so comfortable in that position that they will most likely turn straight back anyway.

Dd stayed head down and I was induced the following morning. (Have to say I spent the whole night sitting bolt upright just in case she had any ideas about turning back round though. )

For me, it was a positive experience, although I will admit to being very worried about it beforehand. However, I have heard of others ladies who have found it more painful and some for who either it was unsuccessful or ended up with their babies turning round again at the earliest opportunity.

Many thanks, both of you.

Hi there, I also had an ECV at 38 weeks with DS1. I was very nervous before but although I wouldn't say it was a pleasant experience it was only mildly uncomfortable. I would say it is definitely worth trying. As the previous post said, you are carefully monitored before and after. Unfortunately, I ended up having an emergency c-section 2 weeks later but that was nothing to do with the ECV.