Want to see something amazing? Birthing a footling breech

[Tobily]

I just came across this on stumbleupon.
The London Birth Practice - Independent Midwives specialising in home birth - Home breech birth photo series
(Warning: contains images of the "business end" lol)

This site has the most amazing pictures of a footling breech birth, taking place at home with the help of a midwife.

I love images like this, they're a wonderful reminder of the power of the female body and in the midst of all the horror stories, they show us that mother nature can and does get it right most of the time.

[The[cookie]Doctor]

Wow Tobily thanks for sharing.

They're amazing pictures.

[Kazmar]

What a woman!!!

The amount of blood..............is that normal? I never saw how much I blead.

Glad to see a healthy baby even if he was the wrong way around

[Trillian]

That's unreal! My Dh was a footling breech and MIL did it all on her back too - always wondered how he came out OK considering.

[aussienic]

Pretty amazing pictures!!

I was thinking.. oh are they going to catch the baby.. but it was all how it was meant to go I suppose lol

Thanks for sharing

[Heaven]

Wow. Thanks for sharing.

[Trish]

Awesome pictures. Well done to the mama.

Nic, with breach briths it's important not to touch the baby (something Dr's have a prob with ) as it startles the baby etc. This way baby is born and comes out a lot easier.

Thanks for sharing

[The[cookie]Doctor]

I always wonder about blood too - DS was a very "clean" baby, he didn't have much blood or Vernix on him at all!

Whilst I would never wish myself into the predicament, if breech is ever to happen to me, I'll be getting a credit card and a last minute homebirth . Although I'd be crapping my pants I'm sure it would be an amazing feat to say your body had done it the way it is meant to!

[Beach Mama]

Wow! I found out this bubby is more than likely breech yesterday and that is just what I needed to see hun, thanks for sharing.

[aussienic]

Nic, with breach briths it's important not to touch the baby (something Dr's have a prob with ) as it startles the baby etc. This way baby is born and comes out a lot easier.

Ah! Thanks for that Trish Doesn't it hurt the babies neck though?

[chocolatecatty]

Wow that was amazing.

Interesting that bubs took a while coming out then mum flexed her pelvis and out she/he came - does that mean breech births are better totally upright or was she on all fours to slow it down (safer??). Interesting about the cord re-filling too.

Good on her!

Tan - 46 days to go is a long time to allow bubs to turn! Don't stress lovey (easy for me to say, I know)!

[feeb]

Ohh thats awesome!!!!!! ace pics!!!

[Janie]

Cat, I *think* they prefer breech bubs to not come too quickly.........

[AndiE]

Wow - those pictures are just incredible.

Would be interesting to know if the footling presentation was a surprise to the midwives ... I'll assume it was. Goes to show what a birthing woman and midwives can achieve when there's no hospital or Ob involved! An Ob would've booked her in for a C-section at 38wks ... well, at least that's what happened to my sister last year as her bub was a footling breech.

Thanks for the link Tobily!

Andie

[Tobily]

Wow - those pictures are just incredible.

Would be interesting to know if the footling presentation was a surprise to the midwives ... I'll assume it was. Goes to show what a birthing woman and midwives can achieve when there's no hospital or Ob involved! An Ob would've booked her in for a C-section at 38wks ... well, at least that's what happened to my sister last year as her bub was a footling breech.

Just looking at that again more closely (I was at work when I found it...lol) the baby had the cord around it's neck twice as well.

Yep Andie, in an OB managed pregnancy this would have been a scheduled c/s at 38 weeks for sure. Let alone the nuchal cord! I'm not sure whether the midwives knew it was a footling breech or not but it wouldn't surprise me if they did, and they certainly would have palpated that it was breech in some form. Interestingly, midwifery training (and I note that the midwife in the pictures is old school) teaches that breech presentations are a variation of normal.

Interesting that bubs took a while coming out then mum flexed her pelvis and out she/he came - does that mean breech births are better totally upright or was she on all fours to slow it down (safer??). Interesting about the cord re-filling too.

Breech births need to be active births - the mother needs to be free to move into positions that will birth her baby safely and she will do that instinctively if supported to do so. This is one reason why breech vaginal birth has become more risky in hospitals - the perception of increased risk because the baby is breech means that the temptation to monitor and control the labour is huge - and monitoring and control means less mobility for the mother. So it increases the risk, it doesn't minimise or control it even though at face value it would appear to.

I was thinking.. oh are they going to catch the baby.. but it was all how it was meant to go I suppose lol

In traditional midwifery training the rule for breech births is "hands off the breech!". Until the umbilicus is birthed, touching the baby stimulates it to start breathing - and you don't want the baby to start breathing before its head is born. So you have to leave it alone. You can see in the photos how the midwife doesn't touch the baby at all until the belly is out. Again, completely at odds with the medical philosophy of managing and intervening, and again another contributing factor to the risk of birthing a breech in a situation where your birth attendants aren't trained in breech vaginal birth.

Breech birth is safe when you're attended by someone who understands it as a physiological process. Obstetricians are generally not trained in breech birth, which is why most women with a breech baby will be counselled to elect a caesarean. Not because it's necessarily safer for you or your baby - but because it's safer for the person attending your birth.

[Nelle]

How beautiful and amazing! Wow...

[tsgirl]

Fantastic pictures!!

Curiously while surfing links off an IM's website recently I found a video of an amazing breech homebirth in SA. I hope it's OK to pop the address up here as judging from the comments it's something that you ladies would appreciate.

Video of home breech

[BellyBelly]

That midwife LIsa Barrett used to be is possibly still is, a member of BB.