Stories of babies who turn late in pregnancy

[Tizzy]

As the title says, please spam me with your stories of babies who were breech but turned later in pregnancy

I'm trying to remain hopeful but this baby hasn't flipped around in the past 3 weeks and seems VERY comfortable! A breech birth is not the end of the world to me but I would really rather avoid all the drama that it entails: My midwives can't legally catch a breech baby at home, so I'd have to refuse to transport and I don't really want to put them in that position. Apparently there are two OB's at a hospital 35min away that would do a vaginal breech birth, but only with signed consent forms for episiotomy and forceps which I REALLY don't want. And of course there's the whole pressure to have another C/S. I had my UBAC, I really don't want to go through the whole C/S thing again.

So! I need positive vibes and stories pretty please!

[kitkat5505]

I have friends whose babies have flipped back and forth right up until days before they were born, and finally settled head down. 2 of my babies didn't settle head down for good until 36 weeks.

[Storm Bride]

Mine are the other way around, but...

DS1: Went into spontaneous labour at 38w, 5d...and he flipped into a frank breech, after having been vertex for weeks, during labour.

DD1: Went in for my 38 week checkup, and she was vertex, as she'd been for several weeks. Went in for my 39 week checkup, and she was footling.

DS2 and ds2 were vertex right through the last several weeks, but dd2 was in all kinds of positions right up until my c-section.

[ExuberantDaffodil]

My baby turned head down at 37 weeks. Have you heard about taking pulsatila?

[Sasha's Mama]

My mom said that I was breech and turned head down during labor.

[etsdtm99]

my DS turned at 35 weeks.. not super late, but later than most

[goldingoddess]

I was breech when my mother went into labor at 41 weeks and 3 days, I turned in early labor and she said it hurt like a bitch but was a hell of a lot better then having surgery (I was born just a few hours later)!

[Calleiah]

I was born at 42 weeks, having only turned head down the week before (41). Totally possible for it to happen on it's own!

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by etsdtm99

my DS turned at 35 weeks.. not super late, but later than most

Me too. Then she was posterior, and I managed to get her to turn the right way by spending a lot of time on my hands and knees.

I know a lot of babies are just breech "because," and I'm not trying to lay blame on any other breech mamas. That being said, I really think that my recliner was one of my big problems. I scoffed at the recliner thread I read during my pregnancy, and didn't really pay attention until she was still breech after 30 weeks.

[sanguine_speed]

My last baby was born breech vaginally in Ontario with an unwilling and unskilled care provider. This baby was breech until 37 weeks and then flipped head-down.
Which hospital are you going to? I understand your predicament with the homebirth and midwives issue as my midwife is probably among the most skilled breech catchers in the country and she'd have to transfer me...and I couldn't put her in the position of catching at home. It seemed so ridiculous. In fact, my last birth she came to the hospital and was forced to all but watch someone else catch my baby--someone who didn't want to do it, didn't know how to do it, and who was setting up the OR until I really truly insisted that I meant NO. Meanwhile she had the desire, knowledge and skills, but no privileges...

This is a recent happy story from Ottawa:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/...647/story.html

If you are anywhere near here, you have some good options that don't involve forceps or episiotomies. PM me if you want to talk...

[NorthernPixie]

OP, I'm not sure I get why your midwives can't 'legally' catch a breech at home...as far as I know the Ontario College of Midwives doesn't prohibit it. I asked my midwife the same thing recently, if this baby was breech did that mean no homebirth. She said that she personally may not prefer it (depending on the whole situation at the time) but it was my choice and she would support me. She also said, however, that she hoped I would respect her opinion and we could make the best decision together. But it's not illegal.

No way would I give a blanket consent to forceps or episiotomy. But you do have options. And there is always the chance of the baby turning. I'm assuming you've tried all the stuff you can do? Inversions, slant board stuff, moxibustion, chiro Webster technique, a version? Thinking spinning thoughts for you.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by NorthernPixie

OP, I'm not sure I get why your midwives can't 'legally' catch a breech at home...as far as I know the Ontario College of Midwives doesn't prohibit it. I asked my midwife the same thing recently, if this baby was breech did that mean no homebirth. She said that she personally may not prefer it (depending on the whole situation at the time) but it was my choice and she would support me. She also said, however, that she hoped I would respect her opinion and we could make the best decision together. But it's not illegal.

No way would I give a blanket consent to forceps or episiotomy. But you do have options. And there is always the chance of the baby turning. I'm assuming you've tried all the stuff you can do? Inversions, slant board stuff, moxibustion, chiro Webster technique, a version? Thinking spinning thoughts for you.

It is actually not in their scope of practice and there are professional licensing concerns. It is not "illegal" but it is against the College's protocols to knowingly attend a breech birth at home.

[Tizzy]

Ditto to what Sanguine speed said about the midwives catching.
Thanks for the extra information! Afraid I'm several hours too far away from Ottawa but that info is encouraging!

Thanks for the positive stories and vibes!

Last thing to try is an ECV which is tentatively scheduled for next week, also have an u/s this week which may give us some insight as to why baby is breech. I may also give the pulsatilla another go around 38 weeks but the first dose caused some pretty intense and regular ctx so I did not follow through with the other two doses.

[sanguine_speed]

Oh, that's too bad mama .

I did recently learn that moxibustion seems to be one of the best-studied breech turning techniques:
http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=258

Also, I know it's really hard to feel that the baby will turn this late, but remember that 4% of babies are breech at 37 weeks, and by 41 weeks, only 1% are breech. This means that if you go to 40-41 weeks, your baby will probably have turned by then.

But I do understand the feelings mama. I do.

[mizmerricat]

My little guy turned vertex during labor. We had a very long, putzy prodromal labor. It was only intense for about the last 7 hours, but it was about 60 hours altogether. I had a break up with my breech-unwilling hb midwife at 39+ weeks for a wonderful, experienced OB who was willing to deliver breech.

[cappuccinosmom]

My youngest was still all over the place at 39-40 weeks. At 39 weeks an ultrasound showed him transverse (cue the panic ) but in the 10 minutes it took for the OB to get down the hall to see it for herself, he'd turned vertex.

After that I could feel him trying to go breech. I'd feel his little head start traveling up the side of my uterus. He would to it at night time, when I was sleeping. So I spent the nights of those last couple of weeks sleeping upright in a recliner, with my hands pressed against the sides of my belly. It was a pain, but he was vertex when I went into labor and stayed that way.

[emmalizz]

This babe was proclaimed vertex at 37 weeks, breech at 38. Went in for a version yesterday but they didn't do it since pre-version ultrasound says he's back to vertex (39 weeks). He's an acrobat