Breech baby, external cephalic version

Re: Breech baby, external cephalic version

• harpseal135 member

  October 2022

  I personally did not have it done, but my best friend had it done.  She said it was extremely painful as they push and try to shove baby into position. It did not work and ended up having a c-section anyway.  
  
  Everyone is different,  but from her story- yikes!

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• knottieb7eec825d573d477 member

  October 2022

  Wow she is brave, thank you for sharing. Yeah, we are in same boat to make decision and this is helpful

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• ravenhairedgirl83 member

  October 2022

  I am in a similar position. 35 weeks, breech, and trying the forward-leaning inversion exercises at home to encourage rotation.
  At 37 weeks, my last growth scan, if still breech, I will need to make the decision. I am a candidate for the ECV procedure (includes spinal anesthesia and another longer trip to the hospital). However, statistics (especially for first babies) aren't overwhelmingly strong that they work. I also don't care for the manual pressure from the doctor. I go to a teaching hospital for my pre-natal care, so I tend to be focused heavily on stats, case studies and data. We'll see what happens in these next two weeks. If you ask me at this exact moment, I am leaning toward no ECV and doing a scheduled C-section (even if this wasn't ever in "the plan"). 

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• ravenhairedgirl83 member

  October 2022

  @harpseal135 I appreciate you sharing your friend's experience as well. Not looking for advice, of course, but these real-life experiences are helpful. I am starting to weigh out possible scenarios.

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• rac2718 member

  October 2022

  My sister in law had her baby 1 month ago. She was breech at 35 weeks but had turned herself by 37 weeks with no intervention. It does happen. 

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• ravenhairedgirl83 member

  October 2022

  I hope I have the same luck as your SIL. Just taking it one day at a time for now and seeing where we end up at 37 weeks. Hoping my little is part of the 97%. 

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• coldlife2 member

  October 2022

  I know several people who’ve successfully had them and then gone on to have normal vaginal deliveries. I also know a person for whom it was unsuccessful and went on to have a vaginal breech birth (this was many years ago before automatic C/S for breech was as common as it is now). 

  
  

  Yes, they can be uncomfortable and even painful, but the people I know who were successful are so glad they did it, and even the unsuccessful one was not upset that she tried. 

  
  

  I had a baby that didn’t flip on her own until pretty late in pregnancy, and I absolutely would have attempted an ECV and if unsuccessful, gone to a doctor willing to try a vaginal breech birth (my midwives had one they would refer me to) before having a C/S. 

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