ECV - External Cephalic Version - Flipping a Breach Baby

My mom had this done when she was pregnant with my brother, she says the pain was around a 12 on a 1-10 point scale. This was 22 years ago so they may have changed their technique, but I would go for the c-section if they offer you that. I did have one of those and it was not bad at all!

My first was breech, and we scheduled the turning, but the day before I freaked out and said no. I did research on it and I found that it was not very safe for the baby. I know women do it all the time, but I was to scared. I personally was ok with having a c-section and my doctor said if I was not ok with the turning then its better to not to. If you are nervous it will stress you out more and that wouldnt be good for the baby. It is your decision and you need to do what you feel comfortable with ! Good Luck and congrats on the new baby :)

Hi K....
Would you consider acupuncture to flip your baby? It is usually pain free and it works great! I worked for a chiro who did lots of acupuncture to flip babies, and the results were amazing. I think it would DEFINITELY be worth a try! Good luck!!

It is a gross manipulation that can result in premature labor from what I understand. When I watched it on the Discovery Channel, it looked pretty painful. I did not qualify for the ECV because I had a previous C-Section and there was a fear that it could cause major damage due to the region where the scar tissue was.

If this procedure does not work for you here are 3 alternatives you may wish to consider:
1) The Webster technique. It is a chiropractic manipulation done by a chiropractor who has mastered this technique. You may have to shop around for a chiropractor who can perform this particular technique
2) Acupuncturist. They can apply acupuncture at various points that will help turn the baby.
2) frozen vegetables. Yes, you read that correctly. Apply a package of frozen vegetables where your baby's head is positioned at, the cold would make it uncomfortable enough that the baby may turn

can you tell i've been through this before? Good luck and let us know how you are doing :)

I have not had this procedure done. But I've been 9 months pregnant 4 times. I can imagine what it would feel like to have hands pushing all over my belly to turn this huge baby all around. It sounds terrible!

I've also read that the procedure isn't very safe. I know it's scary to think of having a C-section. But if it were my baby, I'd be doing the c-section. My father was a breech baby and he did survive in the 40's when it was so dangerous. But his brother didn't. My grandmother had 2 breech babies losing one of them because they didn't have the capabilities then that they do now.

I hope that you and baby will be safe and that the best thing will happen. I have heard of babies surprising people and turning at the last minute.

Suzi

Honestly the risks are pretty high for a version. I have had two breech babies and opted out of a version both times. To me it wasn't worth it to go through all the pain and worry if your baby was going to turn right back around after it was over. I think I read that it's like 50% of the time the baby will flip back into breech position. My doctor was willing to do them but advised me that I would have to be monitored closely incase of premature labor and my water breaking. A c-section wasn't bad at all. Just take it easy and your up and going with in a week. So whatever your decision I wish you well and pray for a healthy baby:)

K.-

I have not had this procedure, so I cannot comment on the pain.

However, I have worked with a lot of moms with breech babies (~90% have flipped), and I encourage you to visit a prenatal chiropractor certified in Webster technique. At 37 1/2 weeks, you would need to start immediately to have a change to undo any pelvic torsion that is keeping the baby from getting head down.

The homepathic remedy, pulsatilla is also very useful. I honestly don't know how it works, but many times it does.

To find a certified Webster doctor, you can visit www.icpa4kids.org.

This is an article describing Webster technique:
http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/articles/pregnancy/Webs...

Good luck!

Yours in health,
Dr. Alyssa
www.dralyssaonline.com

I have never had to have ECV so I can't comment on the pain but I can tell you babies can flip literlly at the last minute. WIth my last baby (now 2 yr) the doctor did and ultrasound to check his position before inducing me. I had Pre Eclampsia and need to delivery immediately. He was head down when she started the ultrasound and we literally watch him flip into breech right in front of our eye and I had to have a C section. Also my sister had low fluid and her baby was breech at 38 weeks. A few days later when she went in to deliver he had flipped and she had him naturally.

I have had three children I a Csection did not take at more time to recover from than a natural birth.

Good luck. At Congratulations you are able to enter the most wonderful time of your life, Motherhood.

Good Morning K., I have never experienced this before, have heard that some babies actually turn on their own before delivery. My son was turned sideways and they used the Salad TONGS to move him over while I was in labor with him. Once they did that he came very quickly.
From reading the other Mama's response's it doesn't sound wonderful to go through. I would of gone with a C-Sec also if my son hadn't of moved with help. I wasn't medicated either until dilated to 10 had that saddle block way back when.. Never again. lol

God Bless you and your Family, Congratulations on your precious new baby.
K. Nana of 5

I would definitely look into acupuncture. I have heard that it really works to flip babies. I would consult your doctor, but medical doctors usually frown on natural remedies anyway. I don't think it could hurt anything, but check to make sure. Sounds much less painful than the procedure you're describing. You may want to talk to a chiropractor too, as someone else suggested.

Depending on your feedback to your question, you may consider looking into visiting a chiropractor/acupuncturist to flip your breech baby. This is certainly less painful. The Dr. I go to has had success doing this before. He said he performed both acupuncture and a chiropractic adjustment to the hips (sometimes if they are out of alignment, the baby will move around because he gets uncomfortable). The baby flipped within 2 days of the treatment.

I see Dr. Brad Woodle, Family Sports Medicine & Chiropractic, at 126th & Metcalf in Overland Park, KS, in the strip mall with the Peanut and Pizza Shoppe.

Best of luck in whatever treatment you pursue!

K.-
I have no experience with this, but my friend's baby was breach at one time (but she was not as far along as you are). I forget who told her to do so, but someone told her to go swimming and dive into the water several times. Please talk to a doctor before doing this, but my friend said there was a study done by midwives about women who dive into pools and how their breach babies would turn. I've also heard great things about chiropractic and acupuncture. My friends baby did flip after she went diving, but it could have been coincidence. However, it wouldn't hurt to look into it (and talk to your doctor!)

Good luck!
A.

External version is not fun. How you handle pain depends on the level of tolerance you have. I almost ripped a Drs. hand off when they were doing it. Also, they told me I would go home afterwards........They lied. Fortunately someone had warned me that they would probably keep me afterwards and that I might have a C-section if the baby is not turned. Our little one is now 14 and I still remember the external version more than anything else in my pregnancy (even the C-section was not so bad). I did refuse to stay and do the C-section that day as my parents had gone out of town and my husband only had 1 day he could take when I got home. But I felt lousy that whole week afterwards and did have the C-section the following week. Also, I tried getting on my hands and knees and doing the cat and cow and just rocking back and forth. Did not work for me but I was willing to try anything that might help avoid the external version or the C-section. Good luck

A friend in my office tried ECV and said she wouldn't put her worst enemy through the pain! I had low fluid issues late in my pregnancy, and going on bed rest and drinking gallons of water was all that helped me get to full-term. I induced and ended up with C-section baby 2 weeks early, and discovered my placenta was infected causing the low fluid. All turned out fine--baby went on antibiotics in NICU for a week, responded well to that, and all is great now. I was afraid of c-section, but it wasn't as bad as I envisioned.

Hey K.,

I had an external version with my baby, and it worked. My OB had the hospital's maternal-fetal medicine specialist do the version, since his staff had more experience with the procedure. They told me it works in about half of the cases they try. They tried it with me because I was a good candidate -- fluid levels and baby position all looked good -- and because I wanted to try it. The version was scheduled when I was 38 1/2 weeks, with a backup plan for a section that day if the version failed.

How did it feel? For me, very physical. There was a lot of pressure and pushing and pulling, and it was pretty intense and it hurt, -but- it was over quickly. I opted not to have an epidural, though they told me many women do. From what I remember, they said if it's going to work, it tends to work quickly, and there's no point in trying for a long time. I found it really intense, with a lot of pressure, but bearable for a short time.

The version itself was done by two young doctors working on the MFM staff, under the supervision of the department head, and my OB was there as well. Before they started, they gave me some terbutaline, I think to help keep the uterus relaxed during the version. One doctor was moving the head, and the other the baby's other end, working all the time to keep her body aligned. They were both strong, and working very hard. It went fast, probably not more than a minute or two.

There was no shortage of people telling me ahead of time that it was one of the most painful things ever. I think no one who was telling me how awful it was had had it done. For me, I've had worse, but I think people's experiences vary. I wasn't screaming; mostly I was trying to stay calm and relaxed. It was less painful for me than having gallstones was after the baby was born! But that's probably just me.

I'd recommend talking with your doctors to get information about their experiences with the procedure and their recommendations, and see what feels right for you. It doesn't always work. It did in my case, and I was glad to have done it. Good luck gathering information and making your decision!

Its painful enough that it usually requires an epidural. Its not even 100% effective and a lot of times the baby will flip right back to where they were comfortable (breach). It is not very highly recommended. it has the risk of breaking the baby's bones. Not worth it to me!

Both of my daughters were breach and with the older one I went for the ECV and it was pretty unpleasant. I would say the pain was about an 8 and the stress was a 10 and she did not flip. The only reason I tried it was I was really confident in my Dr (still am) he only tried to get her to flip for 5 min and it was obvious that she was not moving...After the procedure I was bruised up and down both sides of my abdomen. It was also pretty awful to watch for my husband..Basically the Dr was laying his hands on my abdomen and putting his weight into twisting and turrning my stomach. I had no complications and had a c-section 2 weeks later(39 weeks) and for me the c-section was less stressful. Wih my second child, she was also breech I opted for the c-section. I would be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

Hi K.! I may be too late, but I just wanted to say good luck with the procedure if you have it, and also with your delivery! I was in the same position with my son who will be 11 this Valentine's Day! He was breach and my amniotic fluid was low, so we tried an external version. My doctor was a high risk pregnancy specialist, and I had much faith in him. Unfortunately, the procedure didn't work. I really can't say what pain level, so I guess I've blocked that. LOL I tired everything from standing on my head to get him to turn too, but he was stubborn. I think the low fluid makes it more difficult for them to turn. My doctor did not keep me at the hospital, but my water broke a few days later and I went into labor, before we had had a chance to schedule my c-section. I was about 38 weeks, and everything turned out fine. The c-section recovery was no big deal, really. IMHO

Hi, K.. My son had to be flipped and, yes...it hurt bad! My son had started to drop already, so that made it a bit harder. I wasn't screaming, just holding the rails REALLY tight and having to try not to move. I mostly tried to remember Lamaze classes, they helped. One thing to remember is that they will not manipulate for longer than 10 minutes.

I will say that my son briefly went into fetal distress and I almost had to have an emergency c-section, but that only lasted about 2 minutes and his heart rate settled.

It may work, it may not, but it won't last long either way. In my case, he did flip and I did not have to have a c-section. Good luck to you!

Get all the information on this procedure and be careful i'm not sure I would do it unless baby is right there in the birth canal.Just like all procedures there are risks invloved as well as carrying baby.My baby sowed she was breech at the 20 week ultra sound but unsure if she still is she moves around so much buth the advice I recevied was to do pelvic tilts to move baby around get on all 4's and tilt in babck and forth like your rocking several times a day and see what happens worth a try and no pain involved Good Luck

Don't do it. I had this done with my first baby and he did not turn. It hurt sooooo bad. I actually had 2 doctors (one on each side of me) trying to turn him and as soon as they stared pushing on my belly I instantly had tears running down my face. It was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. My husband told the doctors to stop it was hurting me so bad, and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. It is not worth it, have a c-section, it is much easier.

Hi K....
I had this procedure done with my little one. It really didn't hurt me. It was uncomfortable, but that was it. Unfortunately, it did not work. I really didn't like doing it because I felt like it was going to break her little neck! They would get her halfway turned and then she would literally pop back. I never felt her move so fast. Do i recommend it, no. But I'm not a doctor. Go with your gut instinct. A side effect of doing it was that I would go into pre-term labor. Which i did. My procedure happened on Thursday. I went in labor Sunday night. She was born by c-section. The reason she never turned is because her legs and pelvis was stuck in between my hip bones. She had dropped too soon. I wish you the best of luck. Breath through it because if you THINK that your in pain, you will feel like it. Concentrate on how your stomach muscle can help you. Good luck!

J.

Hi K....

I don't want to add to your fears, but I was scheduled to have an ECV as well with my first. It does have risks, but I would talk thoroughly with your doc and the doc that will do the ECV (if they're different) to alleviate all your fears. I was pertrified, because as you have here, there are many conflicting accounts. Anyway, they will do an ultrasound when you arrive to check the position of the baby. This higher-tech ultrasound showed other issues with my girl and the perinatologist was the one that suggested we not do it. I didn't need too much convincing, so it never happened. So I was scheduled for a c-section one week later and had a perfect baby! My point here is this, if you feel confident in your doc's recommendation, go and see what happens. Talk to the perinatologist and do what you think is right. And if you decide not to do it, that's okay too, follow your insticts. Oh and lastly, I was way worried about the c-section too and it was a total breeze!

That sounds horrible! I would look into some of the more natural remedies like hands and knees, chiropractic, and there was one I saw when I was in labor of a midwife in Mexico who takes women, lays them on the floor on their back on top of a wide blanket or scarf, and then with the help of another person, each of them stand on one side of the woman. They each take turns pulling the scarf their way, basically rolling the woman around on the floor. It sounds weird, but it can help the baby move into position. It sounds like a CSec is preferable to an ECV, but try the natural remedies first if you feel comfortable with them. Csecs are no walk in the park for mom or baby. Oh, and getting into a big tub can really help the baby become buoyant and move.