Breech baby - getting depressed

[day_sleeper]

I'm 38-ish weeks and found out last week that my baby is breech. I have read everything I can find on the subject, and the only conclusion I've really come to is that I should've educated myself on this and started preparing a LONG time ago. I've been to the chiropractor twice for Webster and will go back as many times as I can. I'm also talking to the doctor in my midwife's practice about an External Version this week. I'm afraid he's going to schedule it right away, which terrifies me because I will need to be ready for an emergency c-section. I just know that's what this is all leading up to. Judging by the foot pressing on my bladder, I'm pretty sure she's still breech, although I think she made some attempt this weekend and ended up halfway down but popped back up. I know this sounds like such a big pity party, but most people don't understand how desperately I want to have a natural birth. I know babies can flip at any time, but I need to prepare myself for a c-section because it's a better than average possibility at this point. Any advice? Also, any particular questions I should ask about the version? I know the average success rate is around 65%, but if his is much lower than that, I just wonder if I'd be better waiting it out. The hospital won't do a breech birth, so it would be a definite c-section anyway if I showed up in labor with a breech baby. By the way, most people keep recommending spinningbabies.com when people talk about a breech baby, but I haven't found it very useful as far as things I can do right now. It would have been a great resource to me 5 months ago, but now I just keep telling myself "shoulda stayed off the couch."

[Plady]

It is a drag to have a little upside downer. I've got one too but I'm only 35 weeks. Still, I'm freaked out that it will foil my homebirth plans and possibly lead to a c-sec, something I had never really considered a possibility since my first baby came out so easily.
Anyway, could you go swimming? I've heard that diving and doing handstands can be very effective. My midwife has recommended putting a cold pack where the baby's head is and a warm pack where I want the head to go, I haven't yet because I'm on a trip and I've just been lazy. Also I've heard that Pulsatilla 200c homeopathic can help too, especially in conjunction with the other techniques.
The external version sounds like something that should be a real last resort, would your dr agree to wait until 41 weeks? There's no harm in letting the baby have the most time in there right?
Anyway, I hope your little one flips on its own so that all of this becomes a moot point.

[Stayathomemommy]

i was going to recommend spinning babies website too. just hang out on all fours with your head down on the floor and your butt in the air.....ALL THE TIME!! also try the laying head down on the ironing board propped up on a couch. its not too late!! work hard and you can get that baby turned. i had a version and in my experience it was hard to handle. read a lot about it and you may need something to help you relax during it. i didnt have anything at all and i couldnt relax and it was horrible. but then it was also after i had delivered baby A and i was in labor with baby B. could have had something to do with it! my version turned the baby but her heart rate dropped and they sectioned me anyway. not to deture you from trying External version just be prepared for all possibilities.

its definately nicer if you can turn the baby on your own. just know its not too late and you can do it. many women have just do all the exercises all day long.

[MamaTaraX]

You can still do breech tilts, even now (which are mentioned in detail on SpinningBabies) IF I were going for a version, probably the first thing I would ask is if whoever does it will allow the pregnancy continue if it is a success or induce just because they got a head-down baby. What do yo uknow about versions? Versions carry a fair risk of cord accident and they can throw yo uinto labor and there is always a chance that they will not work. If I was looking at a c/section though, I'd go for a version...with an experienced care provider. Ask how many version they have performed. What is their success rate with them? Define "success"? How many of the women ended up with natural births? Vaginal births (any type)? C/S? How far out from the version did the mothers deliver? (hence my asking if they would allow a pregnancy to continue or automatically induce, which some doctors/midwives will do). HOw is the version performed? DO they give you muscle relaxers? Epidural? Just walk in and do it? There are different types.

If you have gone and done Websters and baby's still not turning, I feel that that baby knows where it is supposed to be. Perhaps she knows something will not be "right" if she flips. Please remember that nobody can section you if you don't sign the consent for it and if you don't show up for it. If you go into labor and show up fully dilated with a breech baby, they really only have two options and one of them is to catch a breech baby. Educate yourself on breech baby birth. Let your care providers know what you have educated yourself about. You're 38+ weeks, so your time is running thin, but it doesn't have to be too thin. Gestation can run to 43 weeks with no problems, don't let anyone pressure you that just because baby is breech it needs to be here sooner. Fight, if you have to, to gestate as long as humanly possible, thereby increasing your chances that baby will flip. Keep on doing the breech excercises. Talk to your baby! Never underestimate that. Have your partner or friends or other family talk to your baby (talk to your crotch). Visualize your baby in the position you'd like her in. And try to relax as much as you can and not woory too much!

Namaste, Tara

[miziki]

Originally Posted by MamaTaraX

If you have gone and done Websters and baby's still not turning, I feel that that baby knows where it is supposed to be. Perhaps she knows something will not be "right" if she flips. Please remember that nobody can section you if you don't sign the consent for it and if you don't show up for it. If you go into labor and show up fully dilated with a breech baby, they really only have two options and one of them is to catch a breech baby.

Tara stated this SOOO well!!! Please don't let breech scare you into anything - here's an EXCELLENT birth story from a bright, informed fellow MDC mama rubelin (she links to her birth story from her sig) who was in your position at the end of her 2nd pregnancy -- a must-read! Honestly, I do believe that sometimes our babies know things we don't, if we're just open to trusting them (which can be a challenge when all of the care providers and everyone else around us seems to be telling us there's "a problem" when really it could just be a variation of normal).

Educate yourself on breech baby birth. Let your care providers know what you have educated yourself about.... Fight, if you have to, to gestate as long as humanly possible, thereby increasing your chances that baby will flip. Keep on doing the breech excercises. Talk to your baby! Never underestimate that. Have your partner or friends or other family talk to your baby (talk to your crotch). Visualize your baby in the position you'd like her in. And try to relax as much as you can and not woory too much!

:

Keep us posted! Wishing for you a sense of peace and enough quiet (in all of the opinions you're getting, both from us mamas here and from your birth attendants) to really be able to connect with your baby about his/her position and know whether it needs to change or if it's the best position for your babe to be born. And of course, hope you have a *great* birth, however you decide is best for you/your baby to handle it!

[odessac]

Hi.
First let me say, my mother was a home birth midwife for 25 years. I always assumed I would have natural homebirths. I'm on my 3rd pregnancy and it hasn't happen yet. (Fingers crossed for this time.) So I whole heartedly support homebirth, natural birth and low intervention births. That said...
My first daughter I lost at 35 weeks due to a bicornate uterus. My second daughter was breech from 29 weeks on. I tried ALL the natural ways to turn her and then moved on to an external version. The first time the Dr. tried to turn her (at 35.5 weeks) I did it without meds and I found it to be uncomfortable but not at all unbearable. It didn't work so I went home with the plan to try again in a week. 4 days later I went into labor (not unusual for a bicornate uterus) and I had him prep me for a section (i.e. an epidural- to help relax my uterus and give the version the highest possibility of working. Brethine/Terbutaline also work and have the added benefit of discouraging you from going into labor right then.) then try to turn her again. It didn't work and once he sectioned me we knew why. She was wedged in by the septum and was holding one foot to her ear. She wasn't going to turn no matter what. The c-section was not what I wanted at all, but I don't regret it as I think she was at serious risk otherwise. I'm now due in 3 weeks. I had the septum surgically removed and this baby ended up being breech as well. Once again I went in for a version and by the time I got settled into the hospital for it he had turned by himself.
We are now hoping for a homebirth VBAC and maybe this time I'll get it!

There are risks to external versions. The longer you wait to have it done the higher the risks and the lower the success rate (once the baby is too big to easily turn). However, the are considerable risks to a vaginal breech as well (higher than version risks), especially depending on what position the baby is in. Do you know if there are any physiological reasons why the baby is breech (i.e. a septum)? Have you asked for an ultrasound to see exactly what's going on in there? There are some breech positions that have a great success rate for vaginal delivery. I think it all comes down to what risks you are or are not willing to take. If you educate yourself and ask every question you can think of then you will make the absolute best decision for you and your baby. In the end a c-section is not a lot of fun, but my daughter was worth every bit of it.

I hope you find peace in the best decision for you.

Good luck!

P.S. Are you sure the hospital won't do a vaginal breech, or do they just discourage it? Try calling the maternity ward (or the legal department) and just asking if there is a hospital policy that precludes vaginal breech delivery. Many times it's up to the individual Dr to choose whether to do them or not, and if the hospital has no policy against it (and most don't) you can just choose to go in and demand a Dr who WILL do it. It's a pain in the butt, especially when you are in labor and shouldn't have to deal with stuff like that, but it can be a possibility.

[Brookesmom]

I'm 38 weeks also with a breech baby. I went to my 4th chiropractor appt yesterday for the Webster technique. I believe he's still breech. sigh... I too desperately want to avoid a c-section and the possible side effects.

I did talk my dr. into waiting until 39w5d to schedule a c-section- She was going to do it almost a week earlier (her standard) until I asked for more time for the baby to turn.

My prenatal massage practitioner and my chiro both gave me great advice- They said to know that I'm doing everything I can and if the baby still doesn't turn, perhaps there's a good reason. Then it's time to surrender. (and pray for a safe c-section I add!)

Somehow that made me feel a lot more peaceful, the idea of trying and then surrendering, "let God" if you will. I know there's always the option of a breech birth but I figure it's a lot safer to have a c-section than a breech with an OB who doesn't have much breech experience but a lot of c-section experience.

Hopefully our babies will turn though. Keep us posted.

-Kelly

[miziki]

Originally Posted by Brookesmom

I did talk my dr. into waiting until 39w5d to schedule a c-section- She was going to do it almost a week earlier (her standard) until I asked for more time for the baby to turn.

Why, why, why wouldn't you be able to wait longer - would your OB drop you as a patient or something? If I were in your position, I'd be looking for a local direct entry homebirth midwife in your area who will assist at a breech birth, OR, if homebirth isn't for you (and I totally understand it's not for everyone - our first was a drug-free hospital birth), why not just show up at the hospital crowning? Shoot, labor in your car in the parking lot of the hospital if you want to be close, and don't go in until you're feeling grunty/pushy. (OK, granted, laboring in the car doesn't sound fun, but neither does a c/sec!) The truth is: you have MORE options - not just one despite what most OBs say (c/sec).

It just makes me so sad to hear moms w/ breech babes be unnecessarily upset and thinking, "Well, my only option is surgery!" It's a travesty that the medical community is cutting on moms just because a babe might be breech (uh, sometimes they turn right at the end!). Somehow breech wasn't such a huge issue 60+ years ago -- docs assisted at these births successfully all the time!!! Why is it NOW such a "complicated delivery" that it requires major abdominal surgery? Ugh.

Originally Posted by Brookesmom

My prenatal massage practitioner and my chiro both gave me great advice- They said to know that I'm doing everything I can and if the baby still doesn't turn, perhaps there's a good reason. Then it's time to surrender. (and pray for a safe c-section I add!)

Surrender to your babe's being breech -- but perhaps not surrender to a c/sec?

Originally Posted by Brookesmom

but I figure it's a lot safer to have a c-section than a breech with an OB who doesn't have much breech experience but a lot of c-section experience.

OK, you do have a point here. But what about reading up on OB advice from those OBs and MWs who *do* deliver (or used to deliver) breech babes? If my memory is accurate, it's basically this: DON'T TOUCH THE MOM OR BABY (no pulling or interfering) and KEEP MOM VERTICAL. Any chance you can talk w/ your OB about this?

Hopefully our babies will turn though.

Definitely!!!!!

[Brookesmom]

I know, I know. I'm just really scared of that tiny percent of breeches that get stuck or injured, or some problem that is causing her to be breech that will be exacerbated by a vaginal delivery.

I really should have chosen a midwife or a midwife/OB team that considered breech deliveries a t the beginning, but I had a relatively easy 1st delivery/labor last time and figured this time would be that much easier, just show up around transition and push out the baby. I never thought I'd really have to consider a C-section unless there was a last minute emergency. sigh... I will bring it up to my OB and see what she says though. Last time she just said it "wasn't recommended". She's not quite 40 I'd say so I wonder if she has ever done a breech delivery. Yikes. Therein lies a big problem.

-Kelly

[day_sleeper]

Thanks for all the info and encouragement!

My midwife has had a heck of a time being able to feel the baby's position (the breech was confirmed with u/s), but yesterday she became really optimistic and sent me for u/s today. Guess what? No more breech! They cancelled the external version, and I couldn't be happier. By the way, I started seeing a chiropractor last week who does Webster. I'd like to think that helped since the fees are about to break me, but at this point I'm just glad baby is where she's supposed to be.

[Persephone]

I"m so glad your baby flipped! I saw my midwife today as well to check on the position of our baby (he was breech too), and he has also flipped! Guess they want to start giving us grey hairs already! I'm convinced that it was "Walk Like an Egyptian" played to my crotch that flipped this baby. He loves 80s music, like his daddy. It could have been that or the frozen vegetables on my belly.

Now we just have to have {{{{{{{{baby stay put}}}}}}}} vibes for you!

[mamazig]

sooooooooooooooo happy for you both!!!! stay put, babes!!!

[day_sleeper]

Persephone, that's awesome!

I definitely don't need any more gray hairs, haha.

The odds of them flipping back are pretty slim, right? The head's the heaviest part, so I'm hoping we're safe now.