At 36 weeks, my baby is still in a full breech position. Generally, doctors won’t voluntarily deliver a breech baby vaginally. To avoid a c-section, we’re going to try an external version next week to turn him manually from the outside.
Anyone here ever have one? Can you tell me what it was like and if it worked?
A friend of mine had one done with her first son, 10 years ago. Hers worked, but she said it was horribly painful. Have they discussed the risks with you? In the mean time, I suggest checking out this website http://www.spinningbabies.com/.
And can anyone tell me WTF is up with docs who won’t deliver a breech vaginally? Is it really that much harder/more dangerous than vertex?
Malpractice insurance, is my guess.
I have heard good things about that Spinningbabies website. Good luck, Rubystreak. There’s still time for the little critter to get pointed the right direction!
It can be both harder and more dangerous- issues with cord strangulation, head getting stuck, etc.
As far as turning the baby goes, my goddaughter was presenting frank breach and would not turn- they tried twice. Lisa said it hurt like hell.
I have not had a version, but did several weeks of the Webster technique and all the other stuff on spinningbabies to no avail. My daughter kept flip-flopping around–she’d be breech and then 45 minutes later she’d be vertex (confirmed by ultrasound). She flipped from breech to vertex after my water broke and her cord prolapsed, causing me to have a c-section under general and her to almost die.
If he won’t turn, just go ahead and schedule the section. I was deathly terrified of having one, but I much rather would have planned it, knowing now what I did not know then.
My son was breech and was spun around from the outside. The doctor tried it without drugs, but I threw a fit once it started to hurt (and boy, did it hurt!). Once I received an epidural, the spin was a breeze. It didn’t occur to me that this was a risky procedure, but then it was almost 15 years ago and I wasn’t truly old enough to ask all of the right questions.
I’ve seen a few done. It tends to work better if the mom is a multip, since they’re usually a little roomier uterus-wise.
What I was told was that your chance of a third or fourth degree tear is much greater with a breech birth. Also, there’s a bigger chance of the baby’s head getting stuck in your cervix, and the cord being wrapped around his neck. They will automatically do a c-section if he’s breech at delivery time.
I feel like the risks are worth it for a version, for several reasons. First, I have an autoimmune disorder that causes a disproportionate inflammatory response for incisions, so my recovery from a c-section will be longer and worse than average. I want to avoid it if possible. Next, they do a lot of fetal monitoring, so if he gets tangled in the chord or somehow harmed in the version, they will do an immediate c-section. He’s already over 7lbs., so if he’s born next week that will screw up all my carefully laid plans, but he will likely be OK. My fluid is good, as is his heart rate, so I’m a good candidate for it. If they get him to turn, he will likely be unable to turn back because there’s not enough room in there for much movement anymore.
So it’s really painful, eh? I was considering going to work for the second half of the day, but I better not. I’m very nervous about this, though. He has been in this position for months. I know right where his forehead is, and it’s pressed firmly about 2" above my navel. He has never deviated from this, so either it’s really comfortable or there’s some unknown organic reason why he wants to be this way.
I have tried some stuff from spinningbabies and will likely try more this week. Wish me luck.
Here’s hoping everything goes smoothly!
Bram was transverse. I was trying for a VBAC, so they were going to schedule one of these for me. As it happened, he turned on his own at about 31 weeks, and my water broke without me going into labor, so I ended up with a section anyway.
According to the research I did when this was an option for me, you have about a 60% chance of this working, and it can be painful. Sometimes it causes uterine contractions. Overall, most of the women I talked to who had had it done were very happy that they had done so, despite the discomfort. I would go for it.
Congratulations, BTW!