Breech baby

[mrsr]

Hi, I guess this question is mainly aimed at Kelly and Yogababy...when I went for my last checkup on Monday, the midwife mentioned that as Ramlet is still breech (at 30+ weeks - early days I know) that we may have to consider a manual rotation further on. She wrote something that looks like "ECV if breech persists" on my antenatal record.

I was just having a look at the Spinning Babies website and have come to the conclusion that I'm sure there's plenty of time for the big fella/sheila to turn and that he/she is breech due to my being in a sitting position for most of the day as I'm in an office job.

I've cut back my hours to school hours for November and then will be on maternity leave from the start of December. I'm doing some OFP exercises intermittently and should probably be a little more conscientious about them. I guess I will have more time to concentrate on OFP when I'm off work.

Thoughts...ideas? My sister had a manual rotation and she said it was not pleasant at all. It's something I would like to avoid if possible.

[Trish]

Hi Mrsr, now I know you said this was for either Kelly or Natalie. But I might be able to help too.

It is still very early days and personally I can't believe that they are already discussing the options of an ecv with you. My baby has been consistantly breech but at my appt last week she has finally turned. That was 34 weeks.

I had an ecv with my 3rd baby, he stayed breech and ended up being a c section. This baby however I had made up my mind if she didn't turn I would be attempting a vaginal breech birth.

TBH I really don't think the way you sit has anything to do with a baby being in a breech position. Sometimes they just favour that way. Also the position of your placenta can affect bubs postioning.

You can also try some acupuncture and moxibustion at around 34 weeks, this has a great success at turning breech babies.

As hard as it is please try not to stress. Fingers crossed your little bubba turns for you very soon.

[krisp]

Yes, I agree with Trish, in addition to all the pelvic rocking and head down bum up possies, I'd try moxi and acupuncture. Try to get an acupuncturist that specialises in pregnancy. It really is quite amazing what a little eastern medicine can do for stubborn breech bubbas!

[feeb]

Moxibustion and accupunture also work a treat with turning babies!!

But relax and dont stress i know that is hard to do but baby still has time to turn and you are doing the right thing my looking at spinning babies and also knowing taht you have to sit properly

[BellyBelly]

I'd like to add chiro to this list, as well as calmbirthing. Both have good success rates for turning breeches. My client due at the moment has just had a successful ECV and said it was nothing, its what she wanted to do (her choice) and now bub is head down. Some people find it to be the worst things they have done too, very uncomfortable. But many things you can do and they can also turn later too. Just dont let anyone force you into something you dont want to do, and dont let them make all the decisions for you. Keep the control with yourself.

[Tobily]

Mrsr are you going through the Mater midwifery clinic?

One of my clients was told a similar thing there a few weeks ago - her bub was breech at 31 weeks and they told her she would be having ECV at 36 weeks if she was still breech.

Mum did lots of work and the baby turned herself at 33 weeks. At her next appointment she was told that the Mater are running an ECV trial at the moment and they had basically identified her as a prime candidate for their little trial. Hence they were very pushy about the ECV and weren't really discussing any other options with her at all

Just thought I would mention it.

Oh and btw of course your bub still has plenty of time to move yet, my own son was breech too until 33 weeks and he moved on his own no dramas. Try not to worry yet.

[boo]

MrsR,
I was told the same as you at my 30 week Ob appointment. Bubs is frank breech (feet up around he's face), if bubs isn't turned by 36 weeks they would book me in for an ECV at 37 weeks - if unsuccessful then it would mean a c/section at 39 weeks- something i really really don't want to happen! I have spoken to a few people i know that have had ECV's - one girl had it done twice and told me it was really painful, two other girls have told me it was nothing and didn't hurt at all, two out of the three ECV's worked.
Since my last scan (32 weeks) i have tried the moxa sticks, i'm not 100% but i'm pretty sure that it hasn't worked and bubs is still breech, i'll find out tonight at my Ob appointment, if this is the case then i'm going to go and see a homeopath and see if there is anything they can do, i've also been spending some time every day with my bum higher than my head (thats a good look lol) - as Kelly mentioned i've also read that chiro can help. Goodluck hope bubs turns for you!!

[mrsr]

Thanks for all of your responses. I'm not too concerned at this stage about Ramlet's position, we all know how unpredictable babies can be but I'll definitely be investigating the accupuncture and moxibustion options too.

Flea...yes, I am going through the Mater Midwifery Group Clinic - the one that meets at the QEII hospital. Nothing was mentioned about an ECV trial....errrk. Maybe you can PM me with some feedback please?

[~kaos~]

I've heard great things about acunpucture, but also chiro. I think that idea is that a pelvic adjustment encourages bub to go head down. If the pelvis is not aligned/slightly twisted (I probably don't have the right words) might encourage persistent breech as it is not comfy for bub to go head down.

[mrsr]

I'm really wary of chiropractors...what about osteopathy?

[mrsr]

My sister has had an attempted ECV - this is her response to me telling her I may have to have one done. She's an ICU clinical nurse educator...hence the medical references.

"I had an ECV tried on me.....it was awful and didnt work but that was
probably because it was a first baby and i was all tight muscularly.
X had an ECV tried for her second, which worked.
Please note, the women in our family are prone to breeches, something
to do with uterine shape or something (so a midwife tells me). Aunty
X had 2, our youngest sister 1, me 1 and mum 1 until youngest sister turned at the
last minute.

Anyway, with what I know now if you do end up with facing delivery with
a breech, think long and hard about whether you go vag or c-s. These
days they hardly ever attempt breech deliveries with first babies but
may consider it with subsequent pregnancies. However, the midwives and
doctors are becoming de-skilled in the area of delivering breeches so
you need to make sure you actually have someone who knows what they are
doing. The reason they tend towards c-s now is based on some research
called the term breech trial which found that more babies died if they
were delivered vaginally. There are flaws to the argument however I am
sure the mid-wives/doctors will give you the best options for YOU!

Please note, there are also risks involved with an ECV so make sure you
are carefully and thoroughly informed on all these matters. I was given
intravenous ventolin to relax the uterus and then a senior obstetrician
tried to turn the baby. It was painful and she abandoned it because my
blood vessels were getting squashed and I came close to passing out.
Brendan had to take me to the Lone Star for a big steak afterwards to
ease the trauma. I felt awful for a number of hours because of the
ventolin."

Time for me to do a ton of research and also question the midwives thoroughly at my next visit at the end of this month.

[mrsr]

Oh...I thought of this driving home this afternoon, can you feel when the baby is turning? I'm sure it occurs over a period of time....but if it happened quickly I'm sure you'd notice it right?

[Trish]

Most of the time I think bub turns when you are sleeping, or at the very least laying down. Everything is more relaxed and there is more room for bub to spin.

[mrsr]

We had our antenatal classes this weekend and I asked the midwife taking the class if there was a trial and she said yes. Being a tertiary hospital, they run trials on everything! We'll just wait and see how things progress with OFP exercises.

[Tobily]

I'm glad you got to ask them about it - hopefully it won't matter in a few weeks!

I definitely felt when my bub turned - I'd felt really uncomfortable for a few hours and then I walked down our stairs (we have a huge set of internal stairs) and got to the bottom and I felt this HUGE movement - looked down and saw my belly stick right out then go in again, and the uncomfortable feeling was gone...I had an appointment the next day and he was head down. I'd been hanging over fitballs and crawling on the floor for weeks - but he just did it when I was standing up. I think walking down the stairs probably helped.
But you might not notice it, as Trish said it might happen when you're asleep too As long as it happens huh!

[suse]

My little guy turned at 30 something weeks (I've lost track but he had turned by 35); it felt like he was doing backflips and I also had the belly sticky-outy thing like Flea. Kinda felt like butterflies in the tummy but with a small elephant instead.

Each 'turn' happened pretty quickly, but he did seem to turn back and forth over a day or so. He was probably getting his last little taste of bouncing around like a maniac before it started getting really squishy in there!

I hope that Ramlet turns for you soon Mrsr!

[~Saram~]

Hi my DD was transverseuntil 28wks then breech until 34wks,she then stayed posterior until birth.

We used the spinning babies and another website that I think I followed from there and it was excellent. But I think the most effective thing we tried was reg chiro from a provider who specialised in fetal positioning.

[mrsr]

Yesterday Ramlet was a very, very busy little person...I didn't know whether it was due to not having eaten much or whether he/she was trying to do a somersault. I certainly don't feel as "heavy" today...maybe he/she has moved?