Breech bub at 20wk scan....

Hey girls

Ok I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried about being told today that bub is in breech position.Now I KNOW that chances are bub will turn....but I'm wanting a VBAC and am now concerned that the hospital may freak out by the fact bub is now breech as they have already wrongfully(I reckon) classified me as high risk because of the VBAC.

What I want to know is what are the actual chances of bub turning and how many people has this happened to?Have some of you had a breech bub?

Pregnancy does mean things to your mind by making you worry way to much!LOL!

ohh babe! please dont worry. I hope your beautiful bub decides to turn soon :hug:

Did you find out the sex?

HI Kirsty, I'm not stalking you in here I promise!
Don't stress, bubba has soooooooooooo long to turn that they wouldn't even be worried. At 28 weeks, Lucie was breech and the ob wasn't concerned at all. By 33 she was head down, but he said she might turn again still. It'd be crazy for them to worry about it yet I reckon. And he/she will turn and all will be good, don't worry matey.

Kirsty - there is time for bubs to move, fingers crossed that s/he does.

Don't worry!
My bub was also breech at my 19 week scan last week.
I had an OB appointment yesterday and during the routine u/s he always does he pointed out he is head down now.
When I asked him about breech/vertex he said the baby will continue to flip either way for weeks and weeks yet and it means absolutely nothing at this point :)

Plenty of time!!! Check out the spinningbabies website, research optimal fetal positioning and most of the things you can do they recommend starting at around 35 weeks anyway. I was a breech baby, was born 9 days postdates and turned head down on the day before I was due. I think babies know what they are doing but they just aren't given the time to do it these days. Sometimes babies can be breech as a result of uterus shape etc, but most of the time, doctors want a caesar at 38 weeks so what chance does baby have to turn?! Also, there is a risk of uterine rupture with a caesar as well, so if they want a caesar, that's high risk too! Heck, let's all call ourselves high risk so doctors can marvel at what is possible when we are! :)

There is actually a review on the Royal College of Obs/Gyns website saying that breech birth is actually favourable in certain situations. Problem is that no-one has done breech birth for so long, they have lost their skills at breech birth. But here's me rattling on about breech babies - I am sure bubs will turn before then. :D

Thanks girls.Needed some reassurance even though I know there is plenty of time.

Thanks Kelly.I was hoping you'd reply so I could do my research!!It really ticks me off that the docs have me labelled already as 'high risk' and your right we may as well ALL label ourselves high risk as there is risk with everything to do with birth. I just know at the end they are going to pressure me to go the c/s.Luckily Corey is right behind me in my decision so I'm gonna stick it to those docs :nana:

You may also have the pressure for continuous monitoring too as a VBAC'er, so thats something you will have to think about too. The last VBAC I attended we managed to only have monitoring once an hour which was great considering they wanted continuous but the Ob was also on our side and chosen specifically for his supportiveness of VBAC's. Don't want to be stuck to the bed, defeats the purpose ;)

You go girl!!!! (or I should say, you mighty woman ;))

Sometimes they just tell you too much info, you really don't need to know that, and at 20 weeks, it's not really relevant. I had breech bub at 33 weeks adn even then they said it's irrelevant until 36 weeks when they'd "discuss" options with me. She turned though, no worries.
Back in our mums day, they wouldn't have known, so dont stress!!!
good luck xox

Still plenty of time. Sammy was breech til 35 weeks then he flipped.

Jo

Hey Kirsty,
One of my girlfriends was in a similar position and had acupuncture and a massage and she said within 1/2 an hour the baby turned!
Like the other girls have said, you've got ages, but if you were really worried about it there are options for you!
all the best :hug:

Hi,

I really wouldnt worry about it being breech at your 20 wk scan. Although i can understand your anxiousness as you really want a VBAC.

I am 23 wks and my baby is laying across my belly still. I said this to my OB and she said it has plenty of time to turn yet and not to worry.

In reference to you thinking that the hospital has classed you as high risk unecessarily because of you wanting a VBAC, i think they would be negligent if they didnt. You will need constant monitoring throughout your entire labour to make sure that you dont suffer uterine rupture, im sure you know the risks associated with a VBAC but i thought i would just try to explain why they have labelled you "high risk".

Did you know you can also get uterine rupture from an induction? And did you know women birth at home fine with VBACs? What you get told is not always the bigger picture. Having repeat caesareans also increases your risk of things like hysterectomy and other things... and you don't always need continuous monitoring in VBACS - I have seen otherwise. It's all about choosing the right carer and place of birth.

Unfortunately we live in a litigious society and Dr's need to protect themselves hence classification of high risk and subsequent wish for continuous monitoring. I have found that most doctors are willing to negotiate the need for continuous monitoring - some more than others and really all anyone wants is a safe mother and a safe baby. Personally i hate the darn CTG machine and i hate having to put them on a labouring woman!
The name of this doctor completely escapes me at the minute but she is an obstetrician and birthed her last baby at home - she had a footling breech and a water birth! Now i can almost say with 100% confidence that had this doctor been working and a woman presented with a footling breech this doctor would take the woman for a c/s immediately despite her own experience. Unfortunately the fear of litigation is just too great where there are 'known' risks.
Hmmm sorry Kirsty! I've gotten completely off track lol Your baby was probably head down by the time you hopped in your car from the scan and probably breech again by the time you got home. They have a party in there at this gestation, somersaulting and carrying on so please don't worry :)

chelleg - just a theoretical because I am not sure if you could answer... but do you think there would be so much litigation if an Ob said to a woman something like... 'You have a breech baby / VBAC / etc... These are the risks, this is what could happen (pros & cons) and what would you like to do? I will best support you with the elements you choose...' unless they of course think it is dangerous in which situation they would make their case clear. Do you think that would work better rather than the Ob decide, given the Ob has offered unbiased, factual information? If we can inform women and point them to where / how they can inform themselves, do you think we would have less intervention and women unhappy with the way their births went? I just think women need better access to information to become better informed.

Hi Kelly :)
Hmmm, that is a difficult one and ultimately i think it depends on the ob. I mean legally speaking a woman can always refuse any intervention at which point the ob would discuss with the woman all of the risks (don't know how much they'd say about the benefits!!) and if the woman continued to refuse treatment and this would be documented and thus stand up well for a Dr in court should litigation occur. Like i said, it really does depend on the ob. In my expereince so far i have found most of the Dr's to be fairly flexible. I'm lucky enough to work at a hospital where our director of obstetrics is a firm believer in what a woman wants for her birth experience and will support her and stretch the 'rules and regulations' to do this where the majority of obs wouldn't. I tend to find the more junior the Dr the more rigid they tend to be - i think this is due to the fear of a poor outcome, litigation and too much faith in the 'medical model' of pregnancy and birth, Luckily the midwives are the bosses and can usually get their own way! I also tend to find that the private obs are the ones that are more fearful of litigation and have a stronger need to be 'in control'. I don't wanna step on any toes because i know alot of women truely love their obs but in my experience they control pregnancy and birth. They make all of the decisions and they class all women as 'high-risk'. So i kind of think that your suggestion just wouldn't even wash with a private ob because their view of pregnancy and birth is just risk, risk, risk!!! I don't think a private ob could adequately inform the woman of pros and cons because too much emphasis would be placed on the cons iykwim
I am a true believer in midwifery care for all women. Midwives believe in the woman and her ability to birth babies - even those women medically defined as 'high-risk'. Midwives are more likely to discuss pros and cons in a non-biased manner and continuity of care will also help to promote womans rights - especially where negotiation is required to reduce intervention. The battle at the moment is thay midwives are described as 'experts in normal birth' and thus all of the midwifery led care tends to focus on 'uncomplicated' women however my little pet project at the moment wants to see midwifery led care available for all women even those defined as 'high risk'. I believe this will decrease things like continuous monitoring and reduce intervention and that continuity of care and belief in the woman will enable her to have the birth she desires.
There is no denying that sometimes birth is complicated and risky and we do need medical expertise but the mistake is believing this is the norm.
Hmmm sorry i completely got off the track there but i get a little passionate about this subject :)
I should also add that since i've just been a bit of an 'ob basher', i do know that there are obs that are exceptions to the rule just as their are midwives who put too much faith into the medical model so i guess it just comes down to choosing the right type of care and standing up for your rights as a birthing woman!

Hi i had my 19 week scan on friday and bubs was breech i'm glad there was this post i know bubs will turn but dr said theres a chance bubs might turn back to breech before its born so fingers crossed

FIngers crossed for us both Melly~!!

thats for sure Kirsty

my son david, was breech at that time, he ended up spinning back and forth right up until his birth at 39 weeks. I wasn't worried as I managed to get my hand's on some really good text from the midwifes. All I can say is arm yourself with as much knowledge so if your baby does stay breech and the time comes for labour you know what is going on. After reading the books I realised breech births are quite common, I soon learn't that there is a stigma attached and people tend to freak a little (particularly family & friends). Just remember It's your body and as you get closer your will work out what suits you.

By the way I was booked in to have him turned for a second time when 9hrs prior I ended up going into labour. I needed a c/s as he was part way through a turn and was breech oblique, so his head was up and his feet were down to the right! I keep thinking he literally had put his foot down and wasn't comming out! The registrar even joked that he had trouble pulling him out!

Thanks Louise i have my check on friday i might ask for some info so i can have a good read

Fingers crossed for u Melly - "turn baby turn!!!!!" :crossfingers:

Hi Kirsty, Mine was upright too, i think it's fairly normal at 19 weeks and that they flip around a lot. We tend to think of the term "breech" in relation to the position at birth. The sonographer and two obs both just said to me that the head was upright, didn't use the term 'breech', so I didn't think anything of it.

Mine was head-down at 19w and breech at 22w scans... now Liebling has moved around again (I felt like a washing machine on spin-cycle yesterday!) I have a feeling that the head is down-ish again. The sonographer did say breech to me, but pointed out that the baby will move a lot between now and birth... yup, she was right, Liebs is going hell for leather in there!

Kirsty, which hospital is it you are going to?

When I had Joshua he was breech, bum first! Only found out about 2 weeks before due cos he'd turned the wrong way...don't think he wanted to play lol...so they can turn VERY late into pg. I didn't even feel him turn and he had been head down prior to this.