Natural breech delivery

[Lolafanana]

This is my 3rd baby.  baby #1 was breech (turned late and got "stuck"), baby #2 was a beautiful HBAC and now i am 27 weeks and baby #3 is breech.  While I am doing chiro, inversions, etc, i am getting nervous.  I was speaking with my doula yesterday and she mentioned that she has attended many vaginal breech deliveries both at home and in the hospital.  luckily, we have a few doctors in my area that will deliver breech babies naturally.  i will ask my midwife in 2 weeks when i see her but i though I'd ask if any of you have delivered a breech naturally or know of someone who has? 

Thank :)

diana

[8inTulgeyWood]

Does anyone know at what point they should remain head down?  My little one still feels like she changes several times a day, and is sometimes transverse as well.  Seems like in the past mine have mostly settled around 7.5 months, so I have over a month to go.  I am 27 weeks tomorrow.  Hopefully your little one will turn with plenty of time to spare so you don't have to worry.  I think I would be willing to attempt a natural breech, depending on the type of breech.  I was just reading about breech deliveries in Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.  It is an awesome book to read no matter where you plan on delivering.  She quotes some sources there that might lead you to more info on natural breech deliveries.  Good luck and keep us posted.

[cameragirl]

Usually they'll try a version at around 37-37.5 weeks, so I'm assuming they like to see baby settled into position by then. I'm getting a little worried because my little guy has decided to turn from head down (he was even head down at 8 weeks and had stayed that way until this week) to a transverse lie. My uterus is tipped completely to the right, so I don't know if there is a bit of a twist in the uterus, or some of other issue that caused him to flip. I'm crossing my fingers, seeing a chiropractor, and need to get on the spinning babies.

[Dandy Lion]

My baby is doing flips all day, but today when I saw my midwife she was breech. She wasn't concerned at all at this point

[cameragirl]

Baby has been head down more than sideways today after seeing the chiro yesterday, so that's a good sign. He's got plenty of time to flip, but it is easier to work on positioning now than later. I'm trying hands and knees, but modified so I'm leaning over my mattress some. It is low and on the floor, so it keeps me level. When my arm heals from running into the wall, I'll try inversion a few times a day.

[bluebutterfly]

I'm pretty sure baby my baby is still usually breech given she is kicking me hard way down low.  That or transverse because I feel a punch and a kick at opposite ends of belly at other times.  I'm not too worried yet because I think she's still got plenty of room in there to flip around.  I'll probably start getting a bit worried if she's not head down by 32 weeks.

I'd try a vaginal birth if it was a Frank breech, but I'd need to go to the hospital.  My midwife doesn't do breech births at home and personally I'd not feel comfortable with it.

[JMJ]

With DD, she was head down from 25-37 weeks and then turned breech.  My midwife did a version on her at 37 weeks, and she back over right away, did another at 38 weeks and another at 39 weeks.  Each time, DD turned around.  We finally gave up on all the exercises and attempts to turn her around and made plans for a breech home birth.  One of the midwives I was working with is the most experienced midwife in the state, and has lots of experience with breech births and positive outcomes with them.  At almost 40 weeks, DD flipped over and was head down at my 40 week appointment but was still posterior.  I went into labor at almost 41 weeks, and she was posterior for most of my labor but turned eventually and was born fine, facing the right direction with no complications.  It was kinda nerve-wracking worrying about her being breech, but in the end, it turned out fine.  I had a lot of amniotic fluid, and she had plenty of room to move... and that attitude of doing things on her own, in her own timing hasn't gone away.

[Lolafanana]

Some days I think baby has turned, other days I'm not so sure.  I am starting to research delivery a breech baby naturally so that in the event it does happen, i feel prepared.  It also helps to ease my anxiety by knowing a breech baby doesn't necessarily mean a c-section

[mrsteapot]

I had a growth scan yesterday and my boy is semi head down with his feet over his head (which totally explains why I've been feeling kicks in my cervix.). So he is kind of transverse and kind of head down. The Tech was laughing and saying that it is a good thing he still has lots of room and time to turn around, since at the moment he is kind of in a predicament. I'm at 28 weeks so that lets you know that from a medical stand point, you have plenty of time for them to move. And based off of my others, they do turn around a lot until they run out of room. My mom remembers one of my brothers flipping over from butt first to head first the night before she went into labor with him. I guess it was quite the sensation :)  If it makes you feel better and more confidant then go ahead and look into the breech birth information, but your little one has lots of room and time at this point. 

[Lolafanana]

i hope baby has flipped.  i have a lot of pressure down low so i am hoping that it's the head down there.  i see my mw next week and hopefully, she'll be able to confirm!

[biffer]

With my last pregnancy the twin that broke his water was breech but feet first so they didn't let me labor due to possible chord between the legs. I had a growth scan last week (28w 3d and he measured 31w 5d omg big boy!) he was sitting on my cervix to the point where they couldn't see the length witch sucks because I've been having about 4 braxton hicks a hour for the last few weeks. Both the tech and my OB aren't concerned about his orientation yet or even ruling out a VBAC due to size so i'm staying positive!

[cocoabean8]

A friend of a friend delivered a Frank Breech during a hospital birth less than a year ago.....Her mother was the head nurse in the department and she was a PA at the same hospital....I don't know if that gave them some extra pull or not!

[akemt]

I'd feel more comfortable doing a breech delivery at home with an experienced mw than at the hospital any day...the biggest risks actually come from medical intervention, most especially in the case of breeches.  For those who are still dealing with this, I'd strongly suggest moxibustion (accupuncture).  It is a natural-based method but has lots of medical studies behind it to support its efficacy.  It worked wonders in my first breech (5th baby), and I'm heading in for my first moxa appointment with this baby tomorrow at 30 1/2 weeks.  Sadly, dd is in a complete breech stargazer position, so the least likely to turn on her own as well as zero chance of external version or vaginal breech delivery if she doesn't change position.  I do have some vaginal breech links I can share.  I KNOW there are a ton more out there because I've seen them, but this is apparently all that I saved:

these look to be mostly studies
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15846688
http://www.balfourhealing.com/breech.html
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/280/18/1580.short

here are some other info/video websites
http://spinningbabies.com/ good one, lots of info
http://www.hencigoer.com/articles/ "Thinking woman's guide" website, look for breech
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/ There are various breech links full of more links, studies, etc
http://www.breechbirth.ca/Welcome.html
http://www.homebirth.net.au/2008/04/breech-birth.html
http://dailysurrenders.blogspot.com/2010/09/breech-birth-of-annaka-faith.html
http://www.ldsliberty.org/freedom-to-birth/ a podcast by one of the guys I "work with" on a website and his wife discussing their unassisted birth of a breech baby --so worth a listen...so touching!

Best of luck to everybody!
 

[Alenushka]

Hmm

I think it is important to read the study before posting the link

"There is insufficient evidence to support the use of moxibustion to correct a breech presentation. Moxibustion may be beneficial in reducing the need for ECV, and decreasing the use of ocytocin, however there is a need for well-designed randomised controlled trials to evaluate moxibustion for breech presentation which report on clinically relevant outcomes as well as the safety of the intervention"

[Lolafanana]

It's been awhile since I've been on here but thought I'd post that after 2 or 3 treatments of moxa, baby did turn and now at almost 38 weeks, babe is head down and ready! 

[WindyCityMom]

DDCC... yay!  Great news to hear that baby flipped head down.  My DD2 was head down the entire third trimester but decided to flip breech at 38-39wks.  And an ECV failed... so she was REALLY settled in there.  I ended up with a c/s and according to my midwife, who was present for it, baby was really wedged deep in my pelvis and it took some effort to get her out.  So mamas- it's never too late for baby to flip! (=