Conference moira::parenting

    I know there's a note in here somewhere on the external inversion, and
    I put my experiences in there on my doctor's attempt to push out my son
    after I delivered his sister naturally.  I still had to have the
    C-section, and do not recommend the external inversion.  Even with the
    epidural, I found the pain from the one doctor pulling from the inside
    and the other doctor pushing from the outside [that's what they do for
    an external inversion] to be painful, and I have a fairly high
    threshold for pain.
    
    Given the choice between another external inversion and another
    C-section delivery, I'd go straight for the section.  Other people may
    have different opinions, but I haven't heard a lot of success stories
    with the inversion.
    

Hi,

My daughter was in a breech position at 37 weeks.  Doctor was adament that he
would not turn her externally.  Said the risks were too great.  She ended
up turning herself.

Laura

Had a friend whose baby was in breech position at 38 weeks.
Baby turned head-down at the checkup prior to labor and
was delivered vaginally.

    Rowan was breech at about 37 weeks (and was born at 41.5 weeks). Helen
    was advised to postion herself on her hands & knees then put her head
    to the floor & stay like this for 20 minutes a day to try and turn the
    baby. Whether he turned by himself or this was successful I don't know
    but he ended up coming out the right way round.
    
    Why not ask your doctor about something like this?
    
    Andy

Elise was head down at 37 weeks, then turned breech
in my 38th week.  I remember it well - there was no
doubt what she was up to, as she had to work hard to
turn.

Then, two days before she was born, she turned again
(head down).

So, give it time.  The baby just may take care of it
herself.

Pat

    My sister's baby was breech ~35 wks, and they told her to try to stay
    "upside down" for ~20 mins/day, and the baby would turn.  She did, and
    after about a week, the baby did turn, and stayed head down- not sure
    if it was coincidence or not.
    
    I think the basic position is to get so that your butt is significantly
    higher than your head.  I THINK she did something like squat on the
    couch, and bend over to touch her hands to the ground.  I imagine
    whatever's the least uncomfortable would be okay.  
    
    I think this is also in the "What to expect when you're expecting"
    book.
    
    Ask your Dr ... and  I wouldn't suggest trying this w/out someone
    nearby to help you get "upright" again!
    
    

    
    
    Hi...
    
    As of a week ago my baby was breech (37 weeks).  It has now
    tured, is in position, I'm 3 cm dilated, 70% efaced and I 
    could go any time now.
    
    Prior to the baby turning and should the baby have stayed in
    the breech position the doctor would have performed a c-section.
    He's against trying to turn the baby (spinal damage, cord getting
    in the way, etc.).
    
    I've also heard of the "upside down" trick but didn't try it,
    the baby just turned and I can remember when it did...I thought
    I was going into labor.
    
    Good Luck!
    

    One another side here,
    
    You might want to look at some alternative medicine.  A seminar I  went
    to last spring on acupuncture and pregnancy mentioned turning breech
    babies by stimulating "bladder 67,"   points on the outside of your
    little toe nails.  Apparently the information had a fair number of
    documented successes.  
    
    Joy Gardner mentioned 6X pullsitilla several times a day as a
    homeopathic remedy to turn breeches.  
    
    While both methods seem quite a bit out of the mainstream, they have
    worked for some people and might be worth investigating.
    
    meg

    My first was breech, did the upside thing for a week or so, remember
    to this day the exact moment she flipped!  (Ended up with C after
    much labor anyway but that's another story).
    
    Recommended it to 4 friends since, all flipped.  But I do know 
    several other friends whose babies flipped to breech position while in
    labor.  Probably that's why my doctor said it doesn't pay to do the
    upside down thing.
    
    Not sure if the upside down thing works, or if coincidence.
    
    Good luck!
    
    

    I wish I knew about the up-side-down trick 5 months ago.  I had a
    c-section for my breech baby.  I went through 40 weeks of pregnancy and
    never even knew that my baby was breech.  I thought she was head first.
    
    I had an ultrasound around 17 weeks and was told that she was breech,
    but not to worry because she was small enough then to turn on her own.
    They day before I went in to have the section, my doctor said that she
    was breech. He never tried to turn her externally.  I don't think I
    would have let him.  I heard that it is very painfull and I hate pain.
    
    Since this was my first child, I didn't really want to go through
    delivery because I was a little scared.  So when I was told I needed a
    c-section my mind was a ease a little and then having all the pre-blood
    work I started to get nervous.
    
    Don't be too concerned if your baby stays in the breech position.  It
    didn't bother my daughter.
    

>    What are others experiences with babies in breech positions?
    
    We discovered at approx. 10:00 when we arrived at the hospital that our
    baby was in the breech position. Everyone was surprised that this had
    not been noticed earlier.
    
    They did an episiotomy (standard practice apparently for breech births),
    and our daughter was born, bum-first, at 19:00.
    
    Mother and baby (and father!) all happy and healthy (and relieved) after
    the experience.
    
    
    Cheers,						Steve

    FWIW:
    
    there is a group of midwives in Tennesse who have an amazing record of
    vaginal breech deliveries.  I was privileged to see one of their videos
    last year on this.  
    
    meg

    I saw the doctor today he thinks the baby has turned, but is not 100%
    sure. If he is still not sure at 38 weeks he will do an ultrasound. He
    said he thought it was going to be a big baby though.
    
                                               Alice

    I had what is known as a footling breech. The baby was not folded.
    He was standing up. My doctor had a heartattack two weeks before
    delivery and couldn't deliver.  The doctor that delivered my baby 
    didn't come in till I was well into labor. They ran me 
    down the hall to do a C-section. The cord was wrapped through his 
    legs and around his butt. He wouldn't have lived. I'm glad I was 
    in a hospital.
    
    A footling breech is a 1 in 10,000 chances. With odds like that
    I could win the lottery.

<    down the hall to do a C-section. The cord was wrapped through his 
<    legs and around his butt. He wouldn't have lived. 

Can you explain this to me?  I know if the cord is around the neck it's
trouble, but what's the problem if it's around the legs and butt?  The cord
gets crimped and baby dies of lack of oxygen/whatever?

      Carol

My advice:

o Keep a positive outlook (I know it's tough) because the odds are in your
  favor that the baby will turn on its own

o Get your doctor's advice on the hands&knees exercise mentioned in previous
  replies.

o Get some #'s on your doctor's attempts and successes for doing the external
  version procedure. I was comforted by my doctor's 100% success rate.

o Read up on C-sections and be prepared for the likelihood of one, so you
  are ready in the event it's necessary. Knowledge reduces the fear in most
  cases.

My daughter was breech the whole pregnancy but did turn on her own at ~39 wks.
I did do the tilting exercises religiously for 10 days, but when I went in to
the hospital for the version procedure, and was prepped for it (IV attached
and the whole bit), the ultrasound done just prior to beginning the process
revealed the great news that she had turned!!

Good luck to you,
-Cori

    
    I have two children and BOTH were breech babies, the first one was a
    C-section, my second one turned during my last week of pregnancy.  My
    doctor turned him, and the baby turned again during labor.  My doctor
    couldn't beleive it!  By the time he checked me I was 10 centimeters
    dialated and the baby was breech.  Everything appeared to be ok so the
    doctor gave me a choice to try to push or C-section.  After being in
    labor for 10 hours I wanted to see if I could push him out.  After
    making sure the doctor was comfortable that the baby was ok I made my
    attempts in pushing.  45 minutes later I delivered my son vaginally.  
    
    Although this worked great for me, my doctor was amazed, so I think
    this was not typical of breech births.  But I would play it by ear and
    when the time comes just use your instincts.
    
    
    

    My son was breech probably during most of my pregnancy.  We didn't find out
    until the 39th week.  I opted to do the inversion as I wanted to 
    try and go naturally.  My doctor tried one way, got him all the way around 
    and then when he let go, my son flipped back.  Then he tried the opposite
    way and just got him 1/4 of the way and couldn't budge him anymore.  All 
    this was done externally (1989) in my stomach area.  It was extremely
    uncomfortable (tons of pressure more than pain), but, if it had worked
    it would have been worth it.    When it didn't work, we just decided to 
    schedule a section a week later.  We live 40 minutes from the hospital and 
    I didn't want to be rushing down there only to find out that nothing had 
    changed and there would have been an emergency section (my doctor REFUSED 
    to do a breech delivery) and I was comfortable with him that I didn't want 
    to change doctors at the last moment.
    
    Best of luck to you.

  Hi,
 

  At 36 weeks I just found out that my baby has turned
  from the head down position to a transverse position
  sometime during the last 2 weeks.

  The doctors want to try to turn the baby around (external
  version), they say the good news is that since the
  position is transverse, it is only a quarter of a turn.
  They also want to do this earlier rather than later before
  the baby grows to big. (Earlier means next week since the
  only doctor who knows how to do this procedure in my practice
  is on vacation right now). They told me that this procedure can
  in some cases bring on labor, however at 37 weeks, that should
  not be much of a concern, should it happen.

  The bad news is, I guess, that the baby can not be born in
  transverse position, and if the position can not be changed there
  is only the C-section option left for us.

  I see in previous notes that a lot of doctors were against
  trying the version procedure. Maybe because turning a breech
  is considered harder than turning a transverse baby? 
  My doctors give the impression of not wanting to go the
  C-section route as a default, on the other hand none
  of the concerns/dangers with version that I've read about here
  and elsewhere (pinched cord etc) were mentioned, with exception of
  the early labor.

  They say the version is to be done with ultrasound and that they will
  keep me under observation for some time afterwards to see that all
  is OK before they send me home.

  Anyone had experience with this (tranverse vs breech)?
 
  

  Thanks

/Malin

    I am wondering if there are nurse midwives associated with your ob
    practice? Sometime, there are ways of encouraging the baby to turn of
    its own volition, through various postures done daily, e.g., laying
    with your feet and legs up at an angle. There are also yoga postures
    such as cat stretch which can also encourage the baby to turn itself.
    
    36 weeks is still time enough for the baby to turn on its own.
    best of luck,
    

My first was also breech at 36 weeks.  I asked about turning the baby and he
said it was out of the question (and this was from a doctor who was very
laid-back about alot of things).  Said there were too many risks.  I cannot
remember them all, but the one that really stuck in my head was the risk that
the cord could become wrapped around the baby's neck.  He gave me a bunch of
different positions to try that encourage the baby to turn and she did.

Good luck,

Laura

    Our first was breech, they tried a version, it failed (unusual for
    our Dr, he usually succeeds).This was at 36 weeks. It was quite
    uncomfortable for my wife (read pain), she hated it. She had a section
    for him.
    	The second was breech, Dr turned him at 36 weeks with the version.
    Not as painful, went better, but still no fun. He was delivered
    normally.
    	Version are done under Ultrasound, with a good Dr. I see no great
    risk, as they monitor stress and heart rate during this, and stop
    immediately if a negative change occurs. The pushing will undoubtedly
    start some contractions, though probablt not severe, and a shot of
    something (adrenalin??) usually stops the contractions, did for her.
    then you lay around with monitors to make sure you're stable without
    contractions, and the baby's vitals are fine.
    	Decide if you think it's too risky or not. If the risk seems
    reasonable (did to us, we trust our Dr very much), the decide how
    important it is how you deliver the child. My wife would have chosen
    a section, the Dr. discouraged it, citing other increased risks due
    to the surgery over a vaginal delivery, and a faster recovery. I'm glad
    it went the way it did, my wife is too (now, not sure then :).
    	let us know what you do, reply here.   good luck
    
    (I also agree baies can flip back/forth right up to delivery, though
    after a point they usually stay put (no room to turn))

    If your OB or a midwife in the practice is experienced with versions
    and the baby is a transverse lie you have a good chance of the version
    working with minimal discomfort.  Try to be as relaxed as possible as
    tensing up can hurt you and prevent a version from working.
    
    You can also try slant boards to get the baby to turn on its own
    volition, or in the case of one friend, she patted spots and got her
    baby following the "pats"  YMMV on this, but it did work for her.  The
    Dr are right a transverse lie is undeliverable, while a breech or
    vertex position is workable.  Breeches are being done by a small
    percentage of Dr's in the US now, and there is a group of midwives who
    are teaching some Dr's how to deliver breech babies.  Ina May Gaskin
    (The Farm, and Rociante in TN) has a book and video tape available on
    breech deliveries.  Best wishes one way or the other.
    
    meg

From the author of 875.19:

I went for my version appt yesterday and the good news is,
the baby had already turned head down on its own.
So, it turned out they did not have to try to turn it 
by hand after all.
The current theory is that there is more room for the baby
in its current position so it is not very likely that it
would move around again, since it then would be more
crowded. (At 37+ weeks they estimate the weight, using
ultrasound, to be 6 lb, 14oz.)

Time will tell, thanks to all for the answers in here and 
my mail


/Malin