Quote:
Originally Posted by OnTheFence
After having one in 1997, with not full information about the risks involved, that landed me in an OR with a ture emergency csection,
I found out that it was not uncommon to have a baby pass meconium during a version. Mine did.
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First off - your horrible version experience was almost 10 years ago. Technology, practices and medical advancements have been significantly made in that 10 years. So, what may have happened 10 years ago, probably would be a different outcome today.
The reason they give you the Meds (Mag or Trib) is to relax your uterus so that the OB is not fighting your body to turn the baby. With the uterus more relaxed, the OB is not having to push so hard to turn the baby.
Second off - how do you know that the baby passed the meconium during the version. No one knows, scientifically, what causes a baby to pass meconium while in uteru. It is a common belief that the baby does it when under some form of stress, but that is not always the case. Neither of my children were ever in any type of stress or distress, but they both had passed meconium while in utero. So, unless we have a video camera with color picture inplanted inside us when we are pregnant, we will never know exactly what causes a baby to pass meconium.
Third - most midwife's don't recommend ECV's because it is a medical procedure. Most midwife's attempt non-medical or homeopathic/naturopathic methods of doing stuff prior to turning to the "medical" model. Most midwife's only resort to the "medical" model as a last resort.
Lastly, every person's experience is different. I had a wonderful ECV, by a very gentle, loving and caring OB. I have no clue what his c-section rate was (or that of his practice) as I saw their Midwife through most of my pregnancy. I went to this OB on the high recommendations of many people - my family DR, two of my fellow employees who use him (this was with my first child, they no longer have the Midwife in their office, so I switched to a different practice that does). They have also tended to go more towards high risk vs low risk pregnancies because of their knowledge, expereince, and directions that they want to take. Heck, he is one of the only OB's I know who will work with a mother who is 42 weeks and let her go up to 43 weeks. His kids were all 44 weekers, but his fellow partners are not comfortable with going much beyond 42 weeks.
When I had him do my version, he stopped 1/2 way through turning the baby, because I suddenly just started holding my breath. He wanted to make sure I was alright. I had held my breath because I got the urge to puke, and didn't want to do that. Then, when I was feeling better, he continued on with the procedure, reminding me to breather. After he was finished he made all the nurses (1 full and 4 students) get me lots of pillows, a food tray (since he knew I hadn't eaten all day), and even made sure they had plenty of water for me.
When I went in for them to try to ripen my cervix at 41 weeks, he knew I didn't want to be tied down to a bed, so he made darn sure that his orders included "ambulatory with mobile telementry unit immediately". With Cervadil, I believe I had to stay laying down for an hour or two, to ensure that it didn't slip out. But once that time was over, he wanted me up and walking. This really pissed off many of the nurses, because I wasn't readily available to them. I was also going to be discharged after 1 dose....even though the nurses kept telling me otherwise. After the 12 hour time period of having it inserted, it was removed, and the nurse was put into her place when she tried to hand him the next round of the meds. I was monitored for about 1 more hour, because I was having regular and strong contractions, then sent home.
He really was working with me, so I could avoid a c-section, so I could do a natural (non medicated) labor and delivery.
I think most of the OB's around here either do external versions, have a partner in their office that does them (2 out of the 3 OB's in this group did them), or there is a perinatologist group that does them that women are referred to.
I am not sure if my current practice's OB's do them (I am with the Midwife's, but their supervising physicians are the local Med School Teachers) or not. I think they might, so that they can be taught.
Everyone has a different opinion, and I for one, would attempt another version or do almost whatever it takes to turn a breech baby vs doing a c-section. Because at that point, my choices are just go for a c-section or attempt to do a vaginal delivery and worse case scenario end up with a c-section.
BTW - I was reviewing a thread on another message board I am on, where people were comparing the prices of their pregnancies. The average cost of a c-section (including hospital, ana, and OB) was around $30,000 - $50,000. Vaginal Delivery varried upon how long you stayed in the hospital, but was around $5,000-$10,000.