Hi,
Most of the threads here are on VBACs and I was hoping to get some really positive feedback on Breech bubs.
Ideally i'd love for this little guy to turn very soon, but that is looking highly improbable. I'm not keen on a c/s, but I am daunted about the thought of a breech vaginal delivery.
I'm seeing my ob on thursday - and I'm not really sure what he is going to say, or what comes next for us.
Anything you have for me that might educate me, enlighten me, or just make me feel a little better.
Hey, not my story but a friends. She was 37 weeks and went in for a check up and found that bub was breech. OB wanted to see her again the next day to talk about c/s options. When she went in the next day, bub had turned around overnight and was heading south
Just wanted to share that, and let you know it is possible.
Good luck with everything bub turns for you in time.
Hey just wanted to wish all the luck in the world! Not sure about breech births sorry. But hope the little one turns for you so you dont have to worry about breech or c/s
Had your ob spoken to you about ways to help the bubs turn?
DD2 was breech up till about 36 weeks, so still got time to turn My midwife said she wouldn't be concerned until I was 38 or 39 weeks and bub hadn't turned.
Can you go get some acupuncture and get some moxy done? That was my next step if I hit 36 weeks. I also did funny positions in the shower to try and get bubs to turn, so I'm guessing that worked cos I never got to the acupuncture. I kept my head down and bum up in the shower a lot of the time and then did some squats to help open my pelvis to make it more attractive for bubs to go in that direction!!! Then I spent a few days crawling after the kids on the floor - so it seemed to work.
Acupuncture can sometimes turn a baby. And there are plenty of websites with information about turning babies too, however sometimes due to things like the shape of your pelvis, the baby might just be happy that way. By the stage of 40w less than 4% of babies that were breech are still breech too. So you don't need to rush to make any decisions this week you can sit back and wait.
However the fact is that breech is just a variation on the norm. If you don't want to have surgery, say so. Remember that you are the boss, not your doctor. Your doctor is no different to a plumber that you hire to fix the toilet, if they don't tell you what you want, you fire them and hire a new one. If you want to give birth vaginally then your doctor must enable you to do so or risk being fired.
Best of luck to you. May you get the birth you want xxx
Have they offered you the option of an ECV (where they try and spin the baby from the outside?) I had this done - not the nicest thing (didn't hurt as such more really uncomfortable) but it worked for us and meant that I could deliver naturally. It was my first baby though, i think with your second there's more chance of it spinning on its own?
You can look up ways to spin babies yourself throughputting yourself in different positions - not sure that it helps but at least you feel like you are doing something to help.
Make sure that the doctor checks you and bubs well, as in my case there can be a reason why they don't want to be head down...
She was actually wedged right down deep in to my pelvis, and the doc wanted me to book a c/section.
I researched breach births, founds loads of info that all stated that if your doc/middie was experienced with a frank breach, (not footling) its safer than a c/section. So I said No, no c/section.
Well she turned at the last moment, and even the doc couldn't believe she came out of being SO wedged!! She did have some hip problems from being stuck like that for a while, but with using thick cloth nappies, she was fine and never had to use a brace.
Her birth ended up a drug free normal vaginal birth lasting less than 2 hours.....
So dont panic yet, and do all the research you can babe.
I did a lot of crawling on the floor, sitting forwards, not back, and laying with my back and head on the floor, and bum up on the lounge, all of which could of helped with turning her....
Just a thought but maybe google breech birth on you tube and see if it's something that may give you the confidence to birth a breech... As Arimeh was saying, positioning your body to encourage the baby to turn is a good idea... Any position like kneeling with your head on the floor will help the baby tip out of your pelvis and gives it more room as it swings away from your spine to allow the baby more room to turn (checkout the website spinning babies)... getting in the pool and doing a breaststroke with the arms but not the legs... My midwife also suggested a book called optimal positioning for me to read.. (I'm expecting a posterior baby)... Maybe ask your OB to allow you up until you go into labour for bubs to turn before deciding on a C/S becasue I believe you can still get the benefits of the birth hormones if labour begins... Good luck..
My DD2 was a breech baby ... I didn't deliver her naturally but feel that it was a positive story. So here it is:
Both my DD1 and DS were posterior bubs which meant loooong labours and difficult births. Both natural but had an epidural to manage the pain - after 41 hours with DD1 and 44 hours with DS (who was induced) I was a bit worn out.
At 32 weeks with DD2, I was told that she was breech with her head firmly wedged up in my ribs (it explained a lot about the sensations I was having). She was also a footling breech.
We tried to turn her naturally but she didn't budge. I had a couple of Dr appointments (different Dr as I was in a clinic for gestational diabetes) where the Dr had told me she had turned but she hadn't. I think it is really hard for inexperienced medical staff to feel a breech baby position and none of them have much experience with where I live. I offered myself up to any med student or student midwife to have a feel of my tummy if there were present during my clinic appointments because I think they need to learn.
I couldn't have an ECV at 36 weeks because of my baby's size (she was measuring in the 97th percentile but can't remember the exact stats). Also due to her being a footling breech they thought it too dangerous to try. If she had been frank breech or complete breech they were a bit more open to the idea. They also started talking to me about trying to birth her naturally until they noticed she was footling breech and said that it was not a risk they were willing to take (up to 20% risk of cord prolapse apparently). So it was decided that I would have a c-sect.
At 38 weeks, they booked me in for a c-section for the following Monday morning (I would be 38 weeks and 4 days). I asked a lot of questions including what would happen if I were to go into labour early. They told me that she is a breech baby so it is very unlikely that I would go into labour by myself and if I did, it would not progress.
That night I started to have tightenings with a fair bit of back pain. They got some rhythm to them, but went away within a couple of hours. This happened for the next 2 nights after that as well. My c-sect was booked for 7am on Monday morning and I didn't want to have to wake the kids and move them over to mum and dad's that morning so on Sunday afternoon we moved in with Mum and Dad.
We stayed up excitedly talking to Mum and Dad about the baby and life in general until about midnight. DH and I then headed off to bed. We talked for another hour before finally falling asleep. At 2am (5 hours before my scheduled surgery), I woke up with one of those back achy pains. I wondered if this might be 'it' and willed it not to be because it was only hours to go until my c-sect. I just didn't want to deal with it happening as an emergency when I had got so close.
I went and sat in the lounge room and waited to see if I got another pain. I decided to wait 10 mins and then I was going back to bed. I sat there for 9 mins and 30 secs and sure enough another pain. I decided to see what happens and gave it another 10 mins. Again after 9 mins and 30 secs, another pain. I woke up DH to have a talk to him to see what he thought I should do. I wasn't sure if I should ring the hospital. Normally I wouldn't because it was still early labour but because of my breech baby, pending c-sect and GD I wasn't sure. I thought about taking panadol but I was fasting for surgery so didn't think it would be a good idea.
DH suggested having a shower to see if that made the pains go away. So I did just that. I hopped in the shower. I was in there for 10 mins and had 3 or more contractions. I don't really know, they kind of started coming on top of each other. I called the hospital and they said to make my way in and not to rush. My contractions were uncontrollable and coming hard and fast and lasting up to 2 mins each. I didn't know what was happening. I thought that they were so erratic that there is no possible way it could be established labour but was confident they would not send me home just hours out from surgery. DH and I packed up and got in the car.
We arrived at the hospital 40 mins after labour started and were shown to a birth suite. The midwife was quite relaxed and calmly went about preparing things (as I would expect). She noticed that my contractions were quite close together, long and painful and asked if she could do an internal to see where I was up to. I agree. The midwife did the internal, got a really panicked look on her face and literally RAN out of the room. She came back with 2 doctors and 3 other midwives less than a minute later. The midwife informed me that I had dilated 9cm and they needed to get me into surgery.
To cut a long story short, they all prepared me very quickly for surgery and my beautiful baby girl was born via emergency c-sect about an hour later.
I guess the positive thing for me is that I had a breech baby, I went into spontaneous labour and I dilated to 9cm in 45mins. After such long labours with my first 2 babies, this is just amazing to me. Also the pain was so much more bearable. I was stressed about my pain at the time but only because I thought I was in early labour and wondering how I would cope if I had to endure hours of it and it was only going to get worse. Knowing that it wasn't going to get much worse than what it was, I would have coped fine with that level of pain.
I wish on so many levels that I had been allowed to go on and see whether I could birth her naturally, but I felt the risk was too high and so did the doctor (it was not only her position but her size that was concerning). For me the timing is also amazing - if we hadn't been at Mum and Dad's that night, I think I would have given birth on the side of the highway trying to get the kids there before we went to hospital. And I still thought I was in very early labour so if i wasn't going in for a c-sect I probably would have still been at home or somewhere between home and my parent's house. For me it all worked out well but in some ways wish that I had birthed her naturally. I will always wonder a little bit but am happy with my decision.
I know mine is not a natural birth story and I do have some unresolved issues about my DD2's birth but I am really proud of what my body achieved on it's own. I got to 9cm!!! and really quickly too. Breech babies do cause spontaneous and effective labour. I never really believed the doctor that told me they didn't but to prove her wrong so thoroughly was also a nice feeling.
Good luck with your upcoming birth. I hope your baby turns, but if s/he doesn't I hope that you get to have the birth that you want and a birth that you have peace with. Good luck. I'll be watching for your BA over the coming weeks
Last edited by Just Me; December 15th, 2009 at 03:05 PM.
DD was breech up until just before 37 weeks. I was busily researching breech VB, and had spoken about it with my OB (public) who said that if he was on call the night/day I went into labour, that he would let me attempt it. Luckily, DD turned.
I was all booked in for accupuncture and moxibustion for the following week, but didn't have to have that either.
Good luck.
Big thank yous to everyone. Hopefully I can come back in here and post a positive story too, in a few weeks time.
Bub is in the 50% for size atm, and is currently a frank breech. I have lots of amniotic fluid (which apparently helps) and I am doing funny positions since we found out that he was breech. I will absolutely ask the ob about all my options on Thursday, including natural therapies and an ECV.
Just Me - your story IS a positive one. Thanks for taking the time to write it for me.
I'm guessing you have checked out the spinning babies website - it's awesome. try chiropractor specialising in pregnancy they helped me lots with positioning.
If you are looking for positive birth stories my friend here recently had a vbac breach birth. Her first was breech and delivered by c-sec. Second time she went for a vbac and all was going well. However when she started pushing a little foot appeared rather than a head. Thanks to her excellent midwife she was able to deliver her daughter vaginally and all was well!
My uncle's partner had a breech vaginal birth - they didn't know bub was breech until he was coming out! I don't know many details, but she did it fine - I don't think she had much too much intervention either. Her bub wasn't a little one - I think he was 8 pound 11 or something like that.
I read your post the other day and had to go away and think about whether I could write anything that might be helpful for you. But here I go, hopefully I can offer something. DS was born by emergency c-section in June. He was head down my whole pregnancy, but flipped in his last week on the inside. We didn't know until I got to the Birth Centre in full blown labour almost ready to push and my midwife did an internal and felt some little testicles instead of a head .
In the space of minutes we had to make a decision about what to do, and in that moment we chose the c-section. It was and still is devastating for me, but we can't change the course of events from that day.
I guess my message to you would be to go into labour and birth, informed and educated about what you want do in the circumstance that bubs is still breech. Babies truly have their own exit strategy, and sometimes its not head down. Which really is just a variation of normal. I was broadly aware of the implications that a breech birth can present, but not in depth enough for me to have opted confidently for a breech vaginal delivery. Yes, there are particular risks for breech vaginal births, but there are also risks for c-sections too. Its about weighing those risks up, and being confident with your decisions.
Hindsight is such a wonderful thing. Personally, looking back I truly believe that I could have safely delivered DS breech. Going by how quickly and efficiently my labour progressed in a short space of time, my instincts tell me that had my waters broken he would have been out bum first before you could say c-section! That's a hard realisation for me, but the personal lesson for me has been to go in more prepared and more thoroughly educated next time around, for any eventuality.
I can only suggest talking to some care providers who are experienced in breech vaginal births. Many independent midwives have a lot of experience with breech babies and a lot of them are delivered at home as most hospitals and OBs are simply not receptive or need a lot of persuading. I know I PM'd Alan some time ago to ask for some info on the risks of breech vaginal birth. I will also PM you a link to an IM in SA who has a very resourceful website with her perspective on breech.
Good luck with your decision. Hopefully bubs will turn for you and you can focus on getting the birth you want.
Can I just say it's nice not to hear "Whatever happens will happen"and "a healthy baby is the only thing that matters". 'Cos that's all anyone else IRL seems to say. And they are both true statements, but it's not a bad thing to try for what you want (i.e. a spinning baby) and to be armed with a bit of knowledge just in case.
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Love to hear your positive Breech Stories
bub turns for you in time.
Not sure about breech births sorry. But hope the little one turns for you so you dont have to worry about breech or c/s
My midwife said she wouldn't be concerned until I was 38 or 39 weeks and bub hadn't turned.
She did have some hip problems from being stuck like that for a while, but with using thick cloth nappies, she was fine and never had to use a brace.
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