Twist and turn. External Cephalic Version (turning a breech baby) (Pregnancy Complications)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	Pregnancy Complications
Date:	13/11/08 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You are able to hae a normal delivery if it works

Disadvantages: 1% risk of complications and 50% chance it won't work.

Half way through my second pregnancy my husband and I decided that we would try to have a homebirth. Apart from an induction and really long laour with my first child everything went smoothly and there was no reason why not. Although I knew you shouldn't get your heart set on anything when it comes to giving birth I was really excited at the prospect of giving birth in my own home.

I had an extra scan at 37wks which is a standard thing when it comes to a home birth. They like to check that the baby is lying in the right position and isn't going to give the midwife who delivers any surprises.

The midwife came to our home two days before the scan to bring over the homebirthing kit. She did the routine check of examining the baby and checked how it was lying and all was well.

Two days later we went to our scan expecting to be told that we were all set and that was that but much to our disapointment the baby was breech (lying head up instead of head down). I was pretty devastated as all my plans for the home birth came crashing down. We waited in a room for a consultant to come and see us. She told us that there wasn't much chance that the baby would turn by itself at such a late stage in the pregnancy because there just wasn't enough room in there. She explained that there were two things they could do. One would be to book a c section there and then which I immediately said 'No' to.

The second was an 'External Cephalic Version'. This was a procedure where a trained doctor would manually turn the baby whilst it was in your tummy. She explained that I would have to be monitored and the actual procedure would be performed under an ultrasound. She also explained that there was only a 50% chance that the baby would be turned and stay the right way around. Apparently the risks of complications are small (around 1%) but there have been occasions where the cord has got wrapped around the baby neck and the mother has been rushed to theatre to have a c section anyway. We decided it was worth a try and if anything did go wrong then we were in the safest place for it to be corrected.

A week later we turned up at the hospital and I was hooked up to a monitor for half an hour. This meant that I had to lie on a bed for half an hour with a belt strapped around my tummy which picked up the heartbeat of my unborn baby.They have to do this so they can get an idea of the normal rate of the baby's heart beat so that when the procedure is done and they hook me up again if it's irregular they will know if the baby is in distress or not.

At this point I was a little nervous because I was half expecting to have my baby that day but was trying not to expect the worst. I was also really intrigued as to how they would actually do this and I was about to find out.

The doctor came in and explained that he would check my womb to see if it was soft enough if not then he would have to put a little injection in to paralize it so that the procedure was easier to perform. It turned out I was good. We were told that he would try to turn the baby three times and if they didn't work then that would be it. He hooked me up to the ultrasound and we were all encouraged to see that the 'little one' was on it's way around to the right position anyway. He still decided it was worth giving it a little help so he lubed up my tummy and his hands with olive oil (finely diced some onions and garlic!hehe!) and grabbed its bum and shoulders and turned it. It was as easy as that!

I spent another half an hour hooked up to the monitor and that was all fine. The baby had responded well to the procedure and was happy. I wasn't in any pain and I hoped the birth would be as painfree as this (I was determined to do it pain relief free this time!). I was given a bit of written information and off we went on our merry way.

We returned a week later for another scan to see if it was the right way around and thankfully the baby was. We were so pleased:)

I went to my appointment at the midiwife's a few days after the procedure and she was pretty shocked that they managed to turn the baby. Apparently in her experience it doesn't happen very often. Thankfully God had his favour on us and we got our way because a couple of weeks late Elijah Rayne Bruff was born on our sofa in the living room weighing a healthy 7lb11oz.

I would recommend this to anyone. It's a relatively standard procedure and I think it's worth trying this before having your tummy cut open and spending 6 weeks in recovery (c section).

Thanks for reading:)

Summary: I would recommend anyone to give this a go before havin a c section