Successful breech birth?

FurBabyMomma

Wondering if anyone here had had a successful breech birth, ie no section? Met a few older women who have but it's so rare nowadays.

lazygal

You'll be hard pushed to find a consultant who'll risk a vaginal breech birth these days. I think the risks of a vaginal delivery are too great and insurance policies for OBGYNs probably have a role to play too. Anyone I know who had a breech baby had a c-section. My first was transverse breech, and I had a section.

FurBabyMomma

I agree lazygal, there are very few consultants who do it now. However some experienced consultants still do in cases of frank or complete breech under strict criteria so I'd be very interested to hear from someone who's been through it.

Sligo1

I think there are 2 consultants in Ireland who will possibly deliver a breech. I THINK one may be in Holles St but let me check that and get back to you.

It's a pity really. I know in New Zealand there were a lot of vaginal Deliveries for breeches. I think here it is a big insurance hit as the procedure does carry more risk. There would be more of a claims culture here...

Sligo1

Ok got some info... Will pm you

Penny Dreadful

Sligo1 wrote: »

I think there are 2 consultants in Ireland who will possibly deliver a breech. I THINK one may be in Holles St but let me check that and get back to you.

It's a pity really. I know in New Zealand there were a lot of vaginal Deliveries for breeches. I think here it is a big insurance hit as the procedure does carry more risk. There would be more of a claims culture here...

I believe in Australia they also opt for vaginal deliveries of a breech baby too.
I think it will often depend on the type of breech.

To be fair to the consultants given the claims culture they are working in here in Ireland I can understand the overall reluctance to participate in such a delivery. If people were slower to claim for many things then perhaps there would be a greater willingness to even discuss options.

I suppose it is a case of reaping what we sow to a certain extent.

Sligo1

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

I believe in Australia they also opt for vaginal deliveries of a breech baby too.
I think it will often depend on the type of breech.

To be fair to the consultants given the claims culture they are working in here in Ireland I can understand the overall reluctance to participate in such a delivery. If people were slower to claim for many things then perhaps there would be a greater willingness to even discuss options.

I suppose it is a case of reaping what we sow to a certain extent.

100% agree with u there penny!

Paddy 12345678

One of my kids was breech birth.
I was there for it as were many others as it went on.

Baby came out bottom first than its legs just seemed to shoot out.

Baby was facing up to start with but Doctors turned it to face down after legs were out.

I was trying to tell the doctor (when only the head was in)to pull the baby out.

But they took their time and baby is now 20+ .

There were some checks on the baby's hips for the first few years but was fine.

Paddy 12345678

The mother was about 8.5 stone weight before pregnant and baby was just over 7lb at birth.

indigo twist

My view would be that the reason it's so difficult to find a consultant willing to attempt it is because it is so much riskier.

I am totally against unnecessary intervention in childbirth, but to me this is one of those cases where we're very lucky to have modern medicine to increase the chances of a healthy outcome for both mother and baby. Personally I'd certainly look into methods of turning the baby while pregnant, but I wouldn't attempt a vaginal breech birth.

It was mentioned that only two consultants in Ireland will even attempt it - would love to know who they are? Also, I think it would be interesting to see how many attempts at it end up in a section anyways. Personally I'd rather just plan for a section and be fully prepared for it, rather than going through labour and attempting a vaginal delivery and then being rushed off for an emergency section - I imagine this happens a lot with attempted breech deliveries.

Sligo1

Breeches in Ireland are only attempted under very strict criteria. Eg. Weight and position of the breech. It's actually an extremely calm atmosphere believe it or not with one of the main rules being, "hands off the breech". It's prob one of the calmest labours one would encounter as there can be so little intervention for it to be a successful delivery.

dustie1

Breech births were discussed at my antenatal class and the midwife said that only one of the four Consultants in castlebar would consider a vaginal birth for a breech baby and this was due to extra training he completed. So you could transfer care to this consultant and see if you met criteria or go with elective section. So its great there are options to have choices in your care.

sari

If it is truly so much riskier than why is is standard to have vaginal breech birth in NZ or Aus?
If it's standard there then it's obvious that it's actually not riskier??

dustie1

It depends on he level of physician training and what's standard of care in the country. For example there are lots of medical devices and procedures which are standard in Ireland and Europe which aren't used in the US due to delays in approvals etc. You only want the most experienced physicians who've done it lots before caring for you.

lazygal

sari wrote: »

If it is truly so much riskier than why is is standard to have vaginal breech birth in NZ or Aus?
If it's standard there then it's obvious that it's actually not riskier??

It comes down to training and experience and what insurance will cover. OBGYNs have huge insurance costs because the payouts for things that go wrong during birth are massive as the costs are awarded from birth and can cover a lifetime of care. The risks are mitigated by the comparatively safer option of c section for breech babies compared to vaginal delivery by a consultant and midwifery team who might have limited experience of the procedure. If I was in Aus or NZ and knew an experienced team would deliver my breech baby and the risk of anything going wrong would be low, I'd probably go with the medical advice and have a vaginal delivery. However here I'd go with the surgical option, which most consultants will advise, as the risks to me and baby would be lower.

FurBabyMomma

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your replies; for some reason I haven't being getting notifications for all of them so didn't realise there were so many comments!

I have really done my research on this and have tried everything to turn this baby - the most helpful thing has been going to a chiropractor qualified in the Webster technique as this is the only thing that got the baby to move at all. Unfortunately I left it very late to go as I was constantly told on palpation that baby was cephalic and not to go, when in fact baby was frank breech all along.

I have a very experienced consultant who delivered his last breech 2 weeks ago and is satisfied I meet the criteria. However it's a lonely position to be in when most people choose the section even when given the option of the breech birth. And people are very quick to judge if you deviate from the section.

A lot of it is due to a report called the Hannah report which was published in 2000 but has since been discredited.

Thanks for your story Paddy btw.

lazygal

You decide what's best for you and baby. I have had two sections and I know I was judged for having them - the too posh to push mentality is still extremely common amongst some corners. If you are happy with your decision and your doctor is experienced and confident you can try a vaginal birth, that's all that matters and don't mind what anyone else has to say.

FurBabyMomma

lazygal wrote: »

You decide what's best for you and baby. I have had two sections and I know I was judged for having them - the too posh to push mentality is still extremely common amongst some corners. If you are happy with your decision and your doctor is experienced and confident you can try a vaginal birth, that's all that matters and don't mind what anyone else has to say.

Ohave my gosh lazygal that 'too posh to push' attitude infuriates me!!! It's abdominal surgery often with serious recovery time needed so how people can be so dismissive is beyond me!

lazygal

FurBabyMomma wrote: »

Ohave my gosh lazygal that 'too posh to push' attitude infuriates me!!! It's abdominal surgery often with serious recovery time needed so how people can be so dismissive is beyond me!

I know, but there you go. I think some people think c sections are an 'easier' choice or something. I was asked 'did you have the baby yourself or did you have a section?'. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

sari

So it's not that it's riskier it's that out consultations aren't skilled enough to deliver a breech baby. Well that is a huge difference.
OP glad things are working out for you hope your birth goes good for you

FurBabyMomma

sari wrote: »

So it's not that it's riskier it's that out consultations aren't skilled enough to deliver a breech baby. Well that is a huge difference.
OP glad things are working out for you hope your birth goes good for you

That's exactly it sari. Thanks for your well wishes

SanFran07

FurBabyMomma wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your replies; for some reason I haven't being getting notifications for all of them so didn't realise there were so many comments!

I have really done my research on this and have tried everything to turn this baby - the most helpful thing has been going to a chiropractor qualified in the Webster technique as this is the only thing that got the baby to move at all. Unfortunately I left it very late to go as I was constantly told on palpation that baby was cephalic and not to go, when in fact baby was frank breech all along.

I have a very experienced consultant who delivered his last breech 2 weeks ago and is satisfied I meet the criteria. However it's a lonely position to be in when most people choose the section even when given the option of the breech birth. And people are very quick to judge if you deviate from the section.

A lot of it is due to a report called the Hannah report which was published in 2000 but has since been discredited.

Thanks for your story Paddy btw.

Planned breech birth in the Coombe 3 years ago negotiated by a first time mum and it was a very positive experience. PM me if you'd like to speak to her.

Paddy 12345678

OP I hope you don't think I am a troll.

Both the mother and I were young and were not that worried.

Our first was section and second breech.I would say she had a easier time after with the breech .

I am sure the Doc cut her but it was 1 or 2 stitches.

If you go this way expect extra people there that are there to learn how to do this.
With ours there was way more people than needed be there but who cares when your in that situation.

It was never a panic but the fact the baby came out head last it seemed to get blocked air ways which when cleared brought a sigh of relief to docs but I thought they must deal with this on a weekly thing and was comforting the Mum.

They turned baby a few times but she was having none of it.:) and turned back.

The mother would not know most of what happened at the birth end so I'm just giving this point.

Paddy 12345678

SanFran07 wrote: »

Planned breech birth in the Coombe 3 years ago negotiated by a first time mum and it was a very positive experience. PM me if you'd like to speak to her.

If you need to negotiated it then best walk away as you already have people that are up to it.

Coombe is where mine was born though.?

FurBabyMomma

SanFran07 wrote: »

Planned breech birth in the Coombe 3 years ago negotiated by a first time mum and it was a very positive experience. PM me if you'd like to speak to her.

Thanks so much SanFran, I'll PM you now