breech questions

[bubbamummy]

I am 32 and a half weeks pregnant and today my midwife told me the baby is breech. She wasnt concerned at all at this point. But I am.

The baby gets hiccups a LOT and they are ALWAYS low down, right near my pelvis. I always assumed that meant he/she was headdown? Hiccups started again tonight and they are VERY clearly low down. if I placed my hand where the midwife said the head was (at the top) I couldnt even feel them at all.

Does it sound like she is wrong? are fetal hiccup locations a good indicator of position?

Anyway, im on a mission to turn this baby (if it's indeed breech-which I actually doubt) and have started inversions etc.

Is there anyway inversions can have a negative affect if the baby is actually vertex all along and the midwife is wrong? Hubby said 'you may as well do them (the inversions) anyway, cant hurt right?' but I wasnt so sure...are they ok, if she is wrong??

[etsdtm99]

i don't know if this is always the case, but when my DS was breech at 32-34 weeks i def. could not tell based on hiccups, or really any other movement -the only way i could tell for SURE was u/s .... oh i know with my DD , she was never breech (past 25 weeks) and i always felt her hiccups in my ribs..

oh, and i recommend seeing a chiropractor (Webster tech. certified).. i could not do the inversions.. but whatever my chiropractor did seemed to allow the baby to turn.. i started seeing him at 34 weeks and baby turned at 35

[bubbamummy]

...thinking about paying for a quick 2D ultrasound to see as Im so convinced im right

[sanguine_speed]

I have breech right now at 33 weeks--my mw did recommend an u/s to confirm and I had that done last week. But now I can clearly palpate the head at certain times, under my right ribs.
I don't think you risk turning your baby back to breech by doing inversions if you don't have a breech presentation.
I also understand your worry. I know there is 'lots of time' but it's a different ballgame when you're the one facing forced surgery or bullying and a hospital birth when you planned a home birth.

[RedOakMomma]

Have you looked at the spinning babies website? Honestly, at 32 weeks it sounds like a lot of babies are breech for a little while. Do what you can, but also have the confidence in your baby to know that he/she will figure things out soon.

[GoBecGo]

I'm not sure if hiccups are a good indicator but DD, who was always head down, hiccuped up against my ribs. The neck flexes, which would theoretically be able to disguise hiccups, where the little butt cannot and it hiccs along with the rest of the body.

If your midwife isn't concerned then i wouldn't be either.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by RedOakMomma

Have you looked at the spinning babies website? Honestly, at 32 weeks it sounds like a lot of babies are breech for a little while. Do what you can, but also have the confidence in your baby to know that he/she will figure things out soon.

Actually, at 32 weeks, almost 90% of babies are head-down. At full term, 96%-97% of head-down. So, yes, it is still *most likely* that the baby will turn, but it's a valid worry, and you can't "know" a baby will figure it out. Some babies are breech for a reason and are not able to turn.

[MacKinnon]

My DS was also breech at 32 weeks, I was SURE he was head down, my midwife was sure he was breech. Then one day, he had this huge tumble, nothing like I felt in pregnancy with either of them. I went in for the next visit and sure enough, he was head down. I'm quite sure what I felt was him flipping, and then, I felt feet up high, pushing out and stretching!

[bubbamummy]

ive been reading Spinningbabies and doing all that it suggests. I have emailed some local Chiropractors to see if any can do the Webster Technique, I have also booked an ultrasound for Sunday to get a def. yay or nay for whether babe is breech. I SOOOOOO hope it's not, but if it is, I have my plan of action.

[RedOakMomma]

Originally Posted by sanguine_speed

Actually, at 32 weeks, almost 90% of babies are head-down. At full term, 96%-97% of head-down. So, yes, it is still *most likely* that the baby will turn, but it's a valid worry, and you can't "know" a baby will figure it out. Some babies are breech for a reason and are not able to turn.

In what I've been reading around here (and having experienced breech babies myself), it does seem like many babies start experimenting with position at around 30-33 weeks, doing those major turns and flips that freak us all out at some stage. I agree completely--not all babies will turn, and some stay breech for very good reasons--but I also think that there's a powerful connection between a mother's fears and confidence and the baby. I'm not saying it's a perfect system, but I've just known too many moms that held off from labor because of fear, or who had heartfelt "conversations" with their babies that finally caused the breech baby to turn, or for labor to start. So I do think that confidence in the baby, confidence in our bodies, confidence in birth is a good thing, and can only help the situation.

In my case, all of my babies (three so far) have been breech somewhere around 31-35 weeks. Two of them flipped, one didn't. The one that didn't couldn't, really, because his brother's head was in the way (twins). Poor guy had to hang out by his brother's feet! We were lucky to have an OB that wasn't worried about a breech birth, though, so everything progressed well.

OP, I found the spinning babies site helpful--especially the birth ball exercises, back arches, and hands-and-knees positions. I also, especially with ds3 being breech in the early 30-something weeks, got a little religious about not sitting in a reclined position. I also did a lot of self-talk to encourage myself, keep my positive attitude, and communicate to the babies what I wanted them to do. It feels goofy at first, but in a way it's a nice way to talk through your worries and fears. Good luck!

[hapersmion]

I've had a breech and a vertex baby now, and it's harder to tell the difference than I thought it would be. Hiccups aren't a good way to tell - my babies hiccup with their whole bodies, it seems like! When I was still pregnant with this baby (my vertex), I did SOMETIMES feel the hiccups low down, but other times they would be strongest in the middle of my belly. With my breech, I never could decide where they were strongest.

The only way I could tell the difference for sure between breech and vertex was that when the baby was breech, I could feel his hard, hard head up at the top of my belly. It's easy to confuse yourself when you feel the round bottom up there, but the head is harder. It gets easier to tell as the baby gets bigger, of course. Good luck!