I just had my 37 week appointment and found out that baby is breech. All this time my OB had been saying, "Looks good, she's head down" (just feeling from the outside) but this is the first time an ultrasound has been used to confirm the position.
So, now we're talking two options: ECV or c-section. I asked about Spinning Babies and my OB said that I'm welcome to try any techniques at home, but that given it's this late in the game and baby will only be getting bigger by the week, it's going to be harder to get her to turn. Even the success rate for ECV isn't awesome (only around 58%) and there's always a chance she could flip back after the procedure and I'd end up having to have a c/s anyways.
Has anyone dealt with a breech baby and, if so, how did it turn out? Any success stories with an ECV or other techniques? I would prefer not to have a c/s, but I don't feel completely confident having an ECV and wonder if a c/s might just be the safer option at this point.
Second, no experience directly with a breech baby, but my cousin and some friends have all had ECVs. I'd say 75% of them were successful? My cousin also did acupuncture, and they apparently have some high success rates in turning babies. You might look into that in addition to doing all the spinning babies techniques?
GL. Hope you just have a little acrobat who will be back into position soon.
BirdGirl, my doctor thinks she must have flipped pretty recently - like between last week's appointment and this week's. There was a moment a few nights ago when I mentioned to DH that the baby's position felt weird, but I then brushed it off as just rolling and pushing.
Ugh, I'm sorry. FWIW, it's entirely possible your baby was head-down and did flip. E did that to me between 36 and 37 weeks. It's not too difficult to determine a baby's position by palpation, so there's a fair chance your doctor really was correct. I know this was the case for me, because I had several ultrasounds in my pregnancy (for various reasons, ugh), several fairly late, and all showed E head-down. I do remember feeling a larger-than-normal movement when I was 36 weeks, but didn't think much of it--turns out, that was probably him doing a somersault to flip to frank breech. Anyway, someone actually just posted a question about this yesterday. Here's the link to that thread, which in turn has a link to a thread from March, which in turn has a link to my post about my successful ECV.
My advice: find out the success rate at your specific hospital before making any decisions. The nationwide or global success rates are irrelevant if your hospital's success rate is drastically higher or lower than that. Good luck with whatever you choose. Feel free to ask me any questions.
BirdGirl, my doctor thinks she must have flipped pretty recently - like between last week's appointment and this week's. There was a moment a few nights ago when I mentioned to DH that the baby's position felt weird, but I then brushed it off as just rolling and pushing.
And this sounds familiar. I had finally felt a little relief from rib pressure/pain when E dropped slightly in third tri. (34 weeks-ish), but suddenly just past 36 weeks I was feeling lots of pressure again, which was probably due to the changed position.
I declined the ECV. I was very uncomfortable with the idea of it & did not want to try. Sometimes babies are breech for a reason, KWIM?
I did all the spinning babies things. Had a C/S because he never turned.
This was pretty much mine too. My OB did not recommend the ecv, I am small and it was my first so things weren't stretchy. I had a c/s (went into labor on my own) and am very happy with that decision. I had a great recovery and great nursing relationship for the last year.
Post by carolinagirl831 on Jun 13, 2013 15:39:53 GMT -5
My dd was Breech and we didn't realize she was until 41 weeks! Four doctors confirmed she was head down until then... so who knows if she actually flipped or was breech the entire time. Feeling is not 100% accurate. At the point I found out, OB really discouraged turning.. said the chances of a baby being able to turn at the point were extremely low and it could be dangerous.. He was willing to try it, and even offered to do it with an epidural saying it would be extremely painful. I would be induced right then so that she would not flip back. After further discussing it and the risks and the chance that she would turn at that point, we decided the C section was safer. The OB said, if I was 36 weeks when we found out she was Breech, trying a version would be completely different. I had a Csection the next morning. It was not what I was expecting, but already being 41 weeks with 0 progress , I was otherwise likely to be induced.I was grateful they figured it out before experiencing labor, only to end up needing a csection. Turning is not without risk to mother and baby. Don't go into assuming it's a simple procedure. In some cases, c section is the safer option. Good luck!
Post by UnderProtest on Jun 13, 2013 16:04:57 GMT -5
My girl was breech, but she was that way for quite awhile and stayed that way. They won't try turning when there are twins so I had a c-section. It really wasn't bad. It is major surgery, but I had wonderful doctors and nurses who explained what was going on and walked me through my nervousness. Recovery wasn't bad and I had healthy babies to distract me. I had no complications and healed nicely.
I'm currently trying to make this same decision. My baby's been breech for a while though. There's still a chance she could turn on her own, and that's what I'm hoping for. Currently, I'm leaning towards not doing the ECV. While it could be perfectly fine, a lot of things I have read seem to scare me and the success rate didn't seem all that great. I'm going to discuss it more in depth with my doctor at my appointment next week, but so far, if she stays breech, I'm leaning towards c/s.
I have no experience with your particular situation but wanted to let you know that I had built a C-Section up in my mind to be horrific but it really wasn't bad at all. Both the procedure and recovery were way easier than I anticipated. Best of luck with whatever you decide.
Post by karinothing on Jun 13, 2013 16:41:05 GMT -5
Ah, I am sorry. You can try the EVC if you wish. Or see if any Dr in your practice has experience with breech delivery (Assuming baby is in optimal position for this). If you decide to have a c-section you can always request an ultrasound right before the c-section to see if the baby has turn back to head down.
My sister's baby was head down until labor when the baby turned breech. She ended up delivering breech, but it is OR they are all hippies up there
Post by chickens987 on Jun 13, 2013 18:09:19 GMT -5
Another scheduled c-section here. I tried everything short of the ECV and nothing worked. Despite originally wanting a natural birth, I made peace with it and the c-section was kind of a breeze!
Ugh, that sucks. I'm sorry. My friend's baby was breech late in the pregnancy and she did something at home that worked for them. I think she was scheduled for a version the following day but it was no longer needed. I wish I could remember more about what they did.
ETA: I guess I just wanted to provide hope that some are successful at getting them back the way they should be.
Thanks everyone. As of right now, DH and I are leaning toward not doing a version and scheduling a c/s for Monday the 24th when I'll be 39 weeks (per my OB's recommendation). I spent all afternoon and evening reading about versions and honestly, they make me really nervous. The success rate just doesn't seem like it's worth the many risks that come with the procedure.
Also, thanks to all of you who shared your positive c/s stories - @libgrl, jenjen, @natariru, chickens987 - it's incredibly reassuring to hear these.
Sounds like a good decision for you. If you end up going with the C-Section, here are some things that I learned from mine.
1) Ask for the catheter to be placed after the spinal.
2) Walk as soon as you can afterwards.
3) If you want to do skin to skin, let the nurses know. It can still happen. They may have your husband do skin to skin in the OR but you can do it as soon as your surgery is over.
4) Go out and buy huge granny panties...huge!
5) You will want to be propped up while you recover. I preferred my own pillows in the hospital for this.
Good luck to you! Just think, your baby could be here in 11 days!
See if there is a chiropractor in your area certified in the Webster method. I met a gal the other day who's baby flipped back after two adjustments. Might be worth a try!
I think it's a personal decision that only you can make.
My personal choice would be to attempt the ECV. If the turning is recent, there is enough room to turn back. If you choose not to try the ECV, I'd see a Webster certified chiropractor (find one at icpa4kids.org/Find-a-Chiropractor/) and do accupuncture with moxibustion in addition to the spinning babies exercises. I'd also not schedule a c-section, and would wait until I was in labor for the c-section if baby still had not turned. I don't understand the need to schedule it at 39 weeks.
I got a transverse baby to turn vertex at 34 weeks with the Webster technique. She ended up flipping again to frank breech, I'm almost certain at 40w5d. My water broke on 40w6d and we didn't know she had flipped until I was 7cm dilated. I delivered vaginally and it was really a very easy, straightforward birth with absolutely no complications. I got to go home less than 36 hours later and didn't have to worry about trying to keep my rowdy toddler from jumping on me. Even if my recovery from a c-section had been a breeze, it would have been worse than recovery from a vaginal birth.
I really encourage you to look into the statistics of breech births and c-sections. Both have very low complication rates if you are a good candidate for the vaginal breech birth. The risk of vaginal is slightly higher for the baby, but the risk to the mother is higher in a c-section. People often dismiss the risks of cesareans, thinking it must be the safest option since that's what docs do in high risk cases... but it's not always the lowest risk.
Thanks everyone. As of right now, DH and I are leaning toward not doing a version and scheduling a c/s for Monday the 24th when I'll be 39 weeks (per my OB's recommendation). I spent all afternoon and evening reading about versions and honestly, they make me really nervous. The success rate just doesn't seem like it's worth the many risks that come with the procedure.
Also, thanks to all of you who shared your positive c/s stories - @libgrl, jenjen, @natariru, chickens987 - it's incredibly reassuring to hear these.
Do what makes you comfortable. I wanted to let you know though that one dr in my practice was encouraging the c-section at 39 weeks but the others were fine with 40. I ended up at 40 w 1 d - I wanted to get to my due date for the unlikely event that I would actually go into labor and she might turn. I also wanted to avoid her being born on DH's birthday
Sounds like a good decision for you. If you end up going with the C-Section, here are some things that I learned from mine.
2) Walk as soon as you can afterwards.
3) If you want to do skin to skin, let the nurses know. It can still happen. They may have your husband do skin to skin in the OR but you can do it as soon as your surgery is over.
These two things were important to me during my C-section. One of my favorite nurses told me that getting up as soon as I could was better for recovery and she was right. I also felt much better just being able to move around (very slowly at first). DH did skin-to-skin in the OR (after DS was getting cleaned up) while I was being closed and then as soon as they were done DS was in my arms and we did skin-to-skin afterwards.
I think it's a personal decision that only you can make.
My personal choice would be to attempt the ECV. If the turning is recent, there is enough room to turn back. If you choose not to try the ECV, I'd see a Webster certified chiropractor (find one at icpa4kids.org/Find-a-Chiropractor/) and do accupuncture with moxibustion in addition to the spinning babies exercises. I'd also not schedule a c-section, and would wait until I was in labor for the c-section if baby still had not turned. I don't understand the need to schedule it at 39 weeks.
I got a transverse baby to turn vertex at 34 weeks with the Webster technique. She ended up flipping again to frank breech, I'm almost certain at 40w5d. My water broke on 40w6d and we didn't know she had flipped until I was 7cm dilated. I delivered vaginally and it was really a very easy, straightforward birth with absolutely no complications. I got to go home less than 36 hours later and didn't have to worry about trying to keep my rowdy toddler from jumping on me. Even if my recovery from a c-section had been a breeze, it would have been worse than recovery from a vaginal birth.
I really encourage you to look into the statistics of breech births and c-sections. Both have very low complication rates if you are a good candidate for the vaginal breech birth. The risk of vaginal is slightly higher for the baby, but the risk to the mother is higher in a c-section. People often dismiss the risks of cesareans, thinking it must be the safest option since that's what docs do in high risk cases... but it's not always the lowest risk.
Yeah, I really weighed the risks and benefits of attempting an ECV vs just going with a c-section (my hospital wouldn't attempt vaginal breech deliveries), and am happy with my decision. The complication rate for the ECV was incredibly low, with a decent success rate, so I really thought it was worth a try. I honestly don't know why people are so quick to not consider it, but readily accept a c-section.