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

Has anyone delivered a breach baby naturally?

15 replies

whensmydayoff · 03/12/2009 17:01

Im demented here. Im just terrified I have another CS (been told it would be dangerous to have anymore children if I have 2nd CS).

I would give birth to a 12lb baby sideways to avoid it.

Can you tell me if you managed to give birth naturally to a breach baby?

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madwomanintheattic · 03/12/2009 17:07

my friend did - and fast. she's had two (not breech) since, and they basically fell out in less than 20 mins flash to bang... so not sure if she's a reliable comparison! breech birth was in germany.

dinkystinky · 03/12/2009 17:10

Woman on my antenatal thread did in Feb 2009 - you could do a search for our old threads - and it went really smoothly. Her name is chilledmama - you could try posting to see if she replies (though she hasnt been on much of late).

Tangle · 03/12/2009 23:21

I did.

DD was 9lb 12 and my first. After a long latent phase (5 days?), labour proper took about 7.5 hours. We were at home and I didn't need any chemical pain relief.

DH and I did a lot of thinking, reading and talking (to various medical professionals as well as each other) before deciding. Our conclusion was that breech birth is not intrinsically any more dangerous than a CS on the previso that you have a HCP confident and competent in breech birth. We used IMs to guarantee we would have HCPs with those skills.

Google Mary Cronk (this is a good article to start with), who is one of the UK experts on vaginal breech birth. If you can get hold of a copy I found "Breech Birth" by Benna Waites to be very balanced and informative, as was "Breech Birth: What are my options" by Jane Evans.

It's not an easy decision by any stretch, and there is no right answer - you just have to do what feels most right to you given your circumstances at the time. `

dwpanxt · 03/12/2009 23:29

I had breech twins -7lbs each and only forceps with the second as he was getting distressed.
I did have an epidural though -asked for it at booking in .
A few stitches - no worse than first delivery - single + head first.

Never occurred to me that a CS would be in order

Tomatefarcie · 04/12/2009 09:29

You need to check what the procedures are at your hospital. Mine doesn't even consider vaginal breech birth. You're booked in for a cs and that's it.

A friend had a homebirth with an independent mw who was confident in handling breech births, and did it that way, without any problems (had a waterbirth!).

Tangle · 04/12/2009 11:01

Sorry, but the procedures at the hospital may make it more difficult to have the birth of your choice (unless you choose to follow their procedures ), but ultimately they cannot force you to have an ECV, or a CS, or to have a highly medicalised vaginal breech delivery (unless you are mentally incompetent). That said, its never easy going against the establishment (especially when heavily pregnant and the data is being misrepresented) and ultimately that's another reason we used IMs - we wanted to know that we were supported in our choice and not forcing MWs too far out of their comfort zone.

It is possible to arrange a vaginal breech birth through the NHS and to have a good experience - but it may require a LOT of discussion and self confidence. I did hear of one lady that managed to get her PCT to pay for an IM as the PCT did not have MWs with breech experience - so many things can be done if you are determined enough.

If you are being told that you "have" to have any medical procedure and you do not agree with their assessment, its worth talking to AIMS as they have a lot of experience in supporting pregnant women to get a choice.

whensmydayoff · 04/12/2009 14:03

Thanks everyone and thenaks tangle. Feel a lot better hearing that.
I have a MW appointment next Thur and if it's still breech I will start searching for a way to deliver naturally.
Maybe I will sleep tonight!!

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MumNWLondon · 04/12/2009 14:30

Someone in my yoga class last time did in a London NHS hospital (the Royal Free, London and the midwife in charge of the birth unit, Amanda Mansfield was experienced with this - but:

a) she had to fight for it and sign a disclaimer if anything went wrong
b) its was her 2nd child he was smaller than the 1st and the 1st had been born vaginally.

Have you had any vaginal births? (you mention previous CS.)

fiveisanawfullybignumber · 04/12/2009 14:36

My little madam DD2 turned 3 days before delivery, but I was scanned on the ward just to make sure she had deffo turned. My midwife was confident to deliver her breech, just wanted to be sure. Speak to the delivery ward and ask them what they think. If baby is legs presenting it's apparently easier than bum presenting, (baby folded in half isn't the easiest to deliver and it's bad for their hips.)

teddymummy · 04/12/2009 14:37

My 2nd DT was born breech. I had already had a older child so the consultant thought I could do it. TBH i was surprised they let me but he was very pro vaginal births particularly as he said I needed to be fit and healthy qucikly after delivery to look after DD and the DTs. I think a lot of it depends on how supportive your midwife and consulatnt are. If its what you really want then try but be realistic, maybe you might need to accept alternatives if it does not progress well. I accpeted that I would have to have an epidural- but was happy with that anyway!
Good luck.

teddymummy · 04/12/2009 14:38

Oh and BTW I have a friend who had 3 CS and was fine. So don't let that put you off if you wanted a 3rd child later.

whensmydayoff · 04/12/2009 17:03

MumNWLondon - No I have just had one CS previously.

fiveisanawfullybignumber - I hadn't thought of that. Right now it feels like the head is up. It was confirmed by midwife it's back to back over a week ago. Now the head has moved from pelvis to middle??? The hiccups I now feel in the middle to left side and I feel like it is also turned from back to back but not completely round IYSWIM.
I think it is folded in half (bum down) as it's like a hard short lump low down almost taking up less space.

Aggghhh, I just want this baby to come out naturally.

Off to hang upside down from lights!

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Tangle · 05/12/2009 11:09

What I was told by our IMs was that (assuming you have a normally devloped, term baby with a spontaneous and naturally progressive labour), the biggest risk in a breech birth is of cord prolapse. As such, frank breech (bum first, legs up) is the preferred presentation as the bum plugs the pelvis nearly as well as a head and so the risk of the cord escaping first is reduced. Full breech (sitting like a budha) is next favourite and footling breech (leg/foot first) is the highest risk option as there are plenty of gaps for the cord to drop down through if it is so inclined.

Re. hips - there is known to be a link between a breech presentation and hip dysplasia. However, when we were trying to decide what to do we were told, again by our IMs, that the current view was that a breech position was more likely to be symptom than cause - ie the baby had hip dysplasia and so chose to stay bottom down rather than the baby stayed bottom down and so developed hip dysplasia. I was given to understand that, as far as they knew at the time, a vaginal breech birth of a frank breech baby was very unlikely to either create or agravate a problem with the baby's hips. If your baby is breech at term it is usual to be offered a hip scan for them at a month or two, regardless of how they came into the world.

Many women seem to be told by their obstetricians that there is a risk in a breech birth that the body will come out and then the head will get stuck. Again, what we were told by our IMs was that in their experience and to the best of their knowledge, there has never been a case where this has happened (worldwide) to a normally developed, term baby with a spontaneous and un-augmented labour. The baby's hips are usually very similar in size to the baby's head, so if the bum goes through the head should follow. They do, sadly, know of cases where it has been an issue, but with babies that have been preterm or where labour has been assisted in one way or another (either chemicaly or physicaly). If you do decide to go for a vaginal breech I would strongly recommend that everyone involved is in agreement on what type of birth or delivery you are talking about as there is a HUGE variation in the way things are handled.

Just to reiterate, I'm not medically qualified in any way, but I did have a breech baby (early 2007) and did way too much reading at the time. We chose the IMs we did because they had a lot of breech experience and, as such, we put a fairly high confidence rating on the information we got from them - but we knew them and that was our choice.

Fingers crossed your baby turns by themselves and this is all irrelevant.

Tangle · 05/12/2009 11:13

btw - you might find some of the info on spinningbabies useful

whensmydayoff · 06/12/2009 19:45

Thanks Tangle. Im actually going to print this page as you've given me so much info.
. x

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