They wanna flip baby!

Twinkle5086

So I'm not entirely sure what to do here. The baby is in breech position and has been the whole pregnancy. I am extremely uncomfortable and his head is really high up they said sitting right dead center between my breast LOL. Anyway...I took a spill the other day in the rain walking the dogs and landed on my side. I waited until the next day to call the doctor because I couldn't feel the baby moving around. So they hooked me up to the machine and did an ultra sound. All was fine they said baby was a little sluggish but his heart beat was fine and he was moving. Don't know why I couldn't feel it. While I was there they decided to do my weekly appointment instead of having me come back. They did the swab and then asked me to consider doing a version next week. With the position of baby and his size they said its unlikely that he will flip around on his own. The one thing I never wanted was a c-section and I've spent most of my pregnancy preparing for it because I knew he was breech, an now they tell me they could possibly move him but it doesn't come without risks. I read a lot on the subject and they want me to give them an answer on Monday otherwise they will just go ahead and schedule the c-section for my 39th week. Anyone have this done? Any thoughts or opinions are welcomed!

Wipz

Ick .. don't envy you that choice.  I can totally sympathize with theno c-section thing..  My Oby knows how I feel about that one... someone better be in serious trouble if they are going to push for that... I'll take a 36 hour labor as long as everyone is safe and ok before I take a csection.

Only you can decide ... I don't know the risks associated with them trying to flip baby, but if it's just a case of flipping not working and them having to csection.. you are facing that anyway.... what did they say the risks were exactly? and did they give you any idea how likely complications were if you tried to flip... and if there are any problems could they resort to a c-section if necessary ? 

I'd get as much information as possible then make an informed decision... I am pretty sure they wouldn't have even mentioned the possibility of flipping baby if they thought the risk outweighed the positives.

treble_clef

There are some ladies here who had successful versions.  If I were you, I would try.  My son was breech, but my doctor didn't let me try a version since I had preterm labor at 32 weeks.  If you are having a healthy pregnancy, and your doctor is supportive, I would try.  I had a c-section, and for me it was very easy, but it's a major surgery after all.   

cherishMB

I have  never had it done but I would rather try flipping lo than scheduling c section, or even trying to deliver vaginally. Your dr shouldn't tell you that you have to have a c section if lo doesn't flip, they should let you at the very least have a trial of labor.

Once a csection always a csection. Vbacs are hard to find willing drs for. 

LittleBirdy24

I had one done last week.  It wasn't exactly painful (my contractions with DD were much worse), but I personally would NOT do it again.  The risks are that they could put the baby in distress by pushing them around and you'd end up having an emergency c/s right then.  The dr that did mine said the success rate is about 50/50...that being said, mine didn't work because LO was actually pushing back as the Drs were trying to get her to flip, lol.  If you do decide to do it, be prepared for several hours in L&D whether it works or not. They'll monitor you and LO before (they put an IV in my arm just in case they needed it later) and then after they attempt the version they'll keep you on the monitors for awhile.  I've been doing inversions/tilts, hot/cold packs and just talking to LO and telling her to flip, but so far she's still breech and I'm looking at a c/s next weekend so I understand how you feel.  GL and just make the decision that you feel is best!  

MYLYNDA

Im in the same position. My baby has been breech since at least week 22, and is stubbornly frank breech. I was offered a vaginal birth, but was made aware of the risks for this ( internal tearing, head getting stuck) Baby is also measuring big, at least 3 weeks ahead since week 30. I have looked up and spoken to my Dr about an EVC, and the sucess rate and risks to the baby are not enough to make me choose this route. I have a c/s scheduled for 39 weeks. I figure if baby is in this position and has been for so much of this pregnancy, why risk it to flip it. This is not my first child, my son was born 15 years ago, vaginally. 

If we choose to have one more baby it will be my last baby, so I would probably have another scheduled c/s in order to tie my tubes.

But... baby could still flip at this time, and if it does, I will be having a vaginal delivery.  

shamwari

I had the same problem with my DS and was under so much stress about it. But I managed to get him to turn no problem! I went to a chiropractor who specializes in pregnant women and has a reputation in flipping babies, as well as doing spinning babies, and swimming. He actually ended up flipping a couple of times, but did end up in the right position. My chiropractor was very gentle, didn't do anything like an inversion but rather opened things up and created the space for the baby to get into the right position...little DS flipped almost immediately in the car on the way home from my appointment! Also use some visualization to help guide your little one to the right way. 

Good luck! 

tak2002

I would TOTALLY try to get baby flipped if possible. Try some of the more gentle methods people have suggested first!

grapeape73

Jumping in here:

I had 2 prior vaginal births, and did not want a c-section. 

My OB tried an ECV.  I was a really good candiate, but my OB will not do any vaginal breech deliveries. My hospital will also not allow any.

My OB does the ECV with an epi, and in the OR in case something goes wrong.  I had a constant monitor, and u/s.  My epi failed, and I felt everything.  It wasn't the worst pain I have ever been in, but I did have a broken rib because she tried to turn but was stuck. 

When the ECV failed, I could have just waited until I went into labor on my own, but we decided to go ahead with the c-section.  It wasn't the worst experience.  I had a pretty simple recovery.  I was up and walking in a few hours, and only spent 2 night in the hospital.  The post-op pain was minimal.  I had a toddler at home, so I had to be a little more careful.

I tried every possible thing to get her to turn.  Sadly, nothing for me worked.  I'm glad I tried the ECV.  I would do it again. I have some pretty graphic pics from mine, and I would be happy to share them with you in a PM.

Good luck. 

OpieMarie

There are a bunch of natural ways to flip the baby.  Try spinningbabies.com, exercises, always sit up strait, and maybe hypnosis.

babyrichsmama

You make it sound like a c-section is horrific and out of the question....I had a 38 hour labor to "try" to get her out when she was positioned badly, that resulted in one exhausted Mommy who still had to have a c-section to get baby out. Sometimes that's the only option and sometimes its the best for the baby. I didn't want to go through the recovery for the c-section but I also didn't want to subject baby to the risks of the version.

gumbaby1

I had a successful version with this latest LO (#3). Like you, baby was breech the whole time, and I wanted to avoid a c-section. Come to find out during the version process, she never would've flipped on her own because the placenta was basically blocking her ability to do so. All of the spinningbabies.com stuff (which I tried, along with the Weber chiropractic technique) wouldn't have helped me.

By the way, I'd heard that success rates were pretty low with the version, but my OB said as with many stats, it's an individual doc thing. She, for example, had never had a version fail. I was no exception. She also said that while it was possible a version would put baby in distress, it was very rare. So base your decision on what your own doc has to say, and go with your gut--rather than be scared by the "statistics." I would absolutely do it again if needed. Good luck!

cherishMB

Another thing to look into is moxibustion. I did it without the moxa stick using heat applied to the sides of my pinky toes. Then I took a hot bath and a nap, when I woke up baby had flipped! The moxibustion thing sounds voodoo-ish but it has been proven to be more effective than doing nothing. I also had been doing the inverted excersize from spinning babies. Basically all of the breech fixes focus on releasing and relaxing the muscles around the bottom of the uterus. The pinky toes is somehow connected to the bladder, the Webster technique releases the sacrals, the spinning babies excersizes release the uterine muscles which can become twisted ect ect.