Has anyone had success . . .

[grouchfrog]

Has anyone had success turning a breech baby? I am 35 weeks and my little girl is in the frank breech position (bottom down and feet up near her head). I'd really like to hear from anyone who had success turning the baby on their own? Any ideas? Tomorrow I am off to the pool to do handstands!

[Trillian]

Check out this thread for some great links to help you out.

Breech & Posterior Babies + Having a Vaginal Breech Birth

[Tobily]

Get on hands and knees as much as you can
Also alot of people have had success with acupuncture - definitely worth a shot.
Good luck I hope she turns for you!

[Mumma2three]

Apparently coco was breech and I had accupuncture at about 35 weeks. She was then the right way around at next ultrasound! xo

[grouchfrog]

Spent two hours in the pool today with no luck. We had lots of fun though. Husband and I played at handstands and somersaults in the water, but she is stubborn and I can still feel her head right above my belly button.

The midwife called and asked me to come pick up a packet of information on turning a breech baby. It had a few exercises to try. We did the inversion one tonight --had to lie upside down on an ironing board that was propped at 45 degrees for 20 minutes. Toward the end we put an ice pack on my skin near her head, she really didn't like it--moved about quite a bit but in the end she is still breech.

Thanks for the good wishes everyone. We will just keep trying. If she doesn't turn by 37-38 weeks the midwife will book me for an ECV and a doctor will try to turn her. I'm pretty sure that no doctor around here (North Carolina in the States) will attempt to deliver her vaginally if she remains breech so we will do all we can to get her to move.

[2CheekyMonkeys]

just to let you know, i have heard that manually turning the baby fromt he outside can hurt a lot. this is only word of mouth though.

[lady*of*thelake]

Apparently there is a HEAP of information on the spinning babies website.

HTH

[BellyBelly]

Accupuncture is great, if you can find an obstetric accupuncturist. Also moxa sticks.

Frank breech is the safest way to birth a breech baby, there is a paper on the RCOGNZ website which states that breech can be safe with certain guidelines, still I know of plenty of safely born breech babies without the strict guidelines. You might like to read the paper.

Most of all - have faith, be positive and talk to your baby asking him / her to turn My mum went post-dates with me, I was breech until 8 days post-dates. I was born the next day and had turned head down before I was born. I think babies know what they are doing, but sadly aren't given time to do this these days... plus the people who are trained to care for us are losing their skills by denying breech birth. I do know some who will do this though, but very few.

[grouchfrog]

I got up early this morning to keep up with my exercises--supposed to do them three times a day when baby is awake and my stomach is empty. After I took a little nap and felt lots of movement, but I don't think it was in the right direction. Husband and I are discussing acupuncture and our midwife has recommended a professional who specializes in turning babies, but we know that our insurance will not cover the treatment.

Think I will give this a rest this afternoon so that baby and I don't get too stressed. Will try again tonight.

Thanks again for the encouragement everyone.

Lucinda

[cathybutterfly]

just to let you know, i have heard that manually turning the baby fromt he outside can hurt a lot. this is only word of mouth though.

I've had ECV done and yes, it really really hurt, but if you are mega keen on a vaginal birth it is worth trying. Besides, during the procedure I kept thinking to myself it was good practice for labour! LOL

BTW the ECV did not work for me, neither did acupuncture or trying poses. We were lucky in that we got to try labour, as there was an obs who was willing to give it a go, but after getting to 7/8cms dilated, things weren't progressing and I ended up with a cesear. I have to say though, overall I was very very happy with my birthing experience, even though it was very different to the water birth I'd been envisiging.

Cathy

[grouchfrog]

Yesterday the midwife confirmed that baby is still frank breech. We have had good responses from all the techniques we've tried (lots of movement), but she just doesn't want to go head down. The midwife has scheduled me for an ECV next week.

Thanks for all your suggestions and good luck wishes. We are just going to keep trying and I'm off to the pool for a swim tonight. I've prepared as best I can for a natural delivery in a home setting and its a bit hard to think my chances of even trying for a vaginal birth are slipping away each day.

Maybe she just needs more time? Has anyone else had a baby turn late (Post-37 weeks)?