Have you had a vaginal breech delivery?

I am at the point where I really need to decide on a birth plan. As of Friday, baby A was head down and the bigger baby and baby B was breech (after being transverse the entire time) My Dr. said that I am a good candidate for a vaginal birth as all my previous deliveries were so, and that baby A was bigger is good. He said that after A is delivered he would just reach in and grab baby B by his feet. I think I made a mistake by watching some vaginal breech extractions on the internet, and they look just awful. I am now very torn and un decided about what do do. I know a c-section is safer over all for the babies but I have higher risk and he other way around. I do not want a forceps baby either. I get so scared of Cerebral Palsy due to it. Who has had a breech extraction and how was it?

 

I was in the same situation...my Baby B was breech most of my pregnancy and I prepared (with my midwives) for a vaginal breech delivery. On the day I went into labout Baby B had flipped transverse and once Baby A was out of the way moved vertex (with a little help from my OB). It is very important to be prepared but there is also the possibilty the Baby B will not stay in that position for the actual delivery. Good luck!

 

You've already read my vaginal breech story so I won't repeat it

I just wanted to point out that this is false. Unless a c-section is medically indicated, vaginal birth is safer for mom & babies.

 

I had a breech extraction with Luke. Lila was born first, without any difficulty, weighing 7 lbs 9 oz. The doctor then reached in, guided by another doctor who was using an ultrasound machine, grabbed Luke's feet, and pulled him out. They did have to use forceps to deliver his head, but he was a big baby at 7 lbs 13 oz. He & I were both just fine after. All 3 of my earlier pregnancies were delivered vaginally with no problems. As long as the doctor is comfortable with the breech extraction, I would definitely consider it. Good luck!

 

Was great for me!!! Baby B was breech extraction. Midwife supported my stomach from the outside to keep him in place. Go with what you and your OB are comfortable with. Good luck

 

Dani (my win B) was transverse. They tried to turn her when I delivered Sydney but she came out feet first. It was not bad at all.

 

I'm very interested in the replies to this. I'm in exactly the same situation, baby A vertex and B breech. Around 28 weeks baby B was also vertex for a short while, but I guess she didn't like it because she flipped back breech and has stayed that way since.

For what it's worth my OB is more than happy to go for a vaginal delivery and deliver B breech if she can't be turned, in fact that's his preference(vs a c-section)as long the babies are over ~4lbs and past 34wks, but he's older and says breech deliveries used to be more common (I'm not sure if that's true).

 

I wish I'd had a doc comfortable with a breech B... my A was breech.

As long as you trust this doc's experience, I'd go for it!

 

this is very true - up until about 10 years ago, vaginal deliveries were preferred to routine c-births for breech babies. then the recommendation changed to doing routine c-births. now it's swinging back the other way, but unfortunately there's a whole generation of doctors not trained to do vaginal breech births. it's extremely frustrating if, after weighing the pros & cons, you decide that you would prefer a vaginal breech birth to a c-birth, but can't find a caregiver who can do it. the SOGC just changed their guidelines within the last year regarding breech presentation babies - here's the article.

there's a doctor working in a small town just south of Calgary here who is currently (or will be very shortly) starting a vaginal breech birth trial to collect data. i'm very interested to see what she finds.

 

i just want to add that a c section is definitely not the safest option for you or your babies...and i would go ahead with the vaginal delivery...especially since your OB supports it!

 

241!! Glad to see you are still pregnant! How has the home rest been coming? I am still home but not on strict rest any more. I go back Thurs. My Dr. just wants me comfortable with the decision to do a breech on baby B. I really am leaning that way now but just needed some reassurance! Hope you are doing well!

 

Ditto to this post. I read everything I could find on vaginal breech births when I was planning for my own delivery. I found it fascinating to see how the philosophies had changed over the years. There is also a doctor in Germany (can't remember his name) who has developed a new technique for vaginal breech deliveries and my midwife went to train with him. He has women deliver on all 4's and this was what I had intended to do if Baby B was breech. I watched vidoes of women delivering this way and it was quite amazing how "easy" it seemed for them in this position. Combined with the changes to the SOGC guidelines and the info from this German doctor my midwife has been helping to train/re-educate the OBs at the hospital where I delivered on how to perform vaginal breech delivers, some of them were never even taught in medical school and as a result go straight to C-section. I felt so much more comfortable with my decision to have a vaginal birth once I had all the information so hopefully it will help you feel confident with whichever disicion you decide to make

 

actually a c-sec isn't safer, my ob said its wickedly unsafe.

i had a vaginal breech extraction of baby b. DIFFERENT from a normal vaginal breech delivery since your body does the work. mine was complicated, but he would have had the same issues intensified had he been sectioned so i am not the one to ask. i know plenty of moms who have had breech deliveries and they said it was uncomplicated and easy, with the only issue being that the mucus (etc) didnt get squeezed out like in a normal vaginal delivery (same thing would happen in a c-sec). my baby b was bigger, had a cord wrapped around his neck, and both arms above his head, he went straight to nicu. my ob said had we done a c-sec, both babies would have been sent over to nicu.

 

+1 -- I could have written this post myself! I am 26 weeks and baby A is head down as she's been throughout, but baby B has remained transverse or oblique.
My dr also prefers baby B to be breech as he said he can reach in and grab legs, but not a head!!! So to him, he feels it's a safer method of a vaginal twin birth.

 

I wonder what the over all response is in the states. The article above was written in Canada and I wonder if the same school of thought has made its way to the US. My OB said his entire office does and are qualified to do breech extractions. I certainly want a vaginal birth.. in fact I really wanted a drug free birth again, but my OB says I have to have the epidural just in case I have to have an emergency C-section, plus the reaching in and turning or pulling out part can be extremely painful. Any thoughts or experience with this.

 

I did have the epidural because I needed one just to get the cerclage out prior to birth With my breech extraction, my peri had his arm pretty far up there. I wouldn't have wanted to experience it without pain relief, but that is just my opinion I actually tore with his birth and I think it was because of the reaching & pulling because my babies weren't very big (4.1 & 3.10). I also did sign the c-section release form. I understood that if things started to go wrong with the extraction because of their prematurity, I wanted them to feel comfortable cutting me immediately to get him out.

 

This is definitely true. The doctor who delivered Luke breech had only ever done 3 or 4 breech extractions before. She said they no longer even teach them how to do them in med school since most all doctors will just do a c-section. Luckily, she was assisted by an older doctor who had done many & who I trusted completely. The younger doctor was happy to have gotten the experience!

 

I was told the same thing and opted to have my twins naturally as I had done with my son. I discussed this at length with my midwives and OB. In the case of having to reach in and pull out a baby that would not descend or a c-section a spinal can be done in less than 4 minutes. This would have been my preference if the baby/babies were not in distress. In the case of an emergency I was willing to accept that I would need to be put under general anesthetic to remove the baby/babies. I felt that since I had had an uncomplicated, easy, natural vaginal delivery with my son and completely trusted my body as well as my care givers that this was the right decision for me. Thankfully everything went incredibly smoothly and both girls were born vaginally.

 

Thanks! I'm glad to be here and happy to see that you are too. The home bed rest is going well, and it's not as strict now that I'm at the 34 week mark.

I was a little nervous too about a possible breech birth for twin B, but given my OB's attitude (and the experiences of many people here) I'm comfortable to go that route if it becomes necessary.

Take care!

 

i'm not sure what the current ACOG recommendations are now regarding vaginal breech birth, but you could ask your OB.

[quote name='E's 3' date='15 November 2010 - 10:24 AM' timestamp='1289841840' post='1721980']
I was told the same thing and opted to have my twins naturally as I had done with my son. I discussed this at length with my midwives and OB. In the case of having to reach in and pull out a baby that would not descend or a c-section a spinal can be done in less than 4 minutes. This would have been my preference if the baby/babies were not in distress. In the case of an emergency I was willing to accept that I would need to be put under general anesthetic to remove the baby/babies. I felt that since I had had an uncomplicated, easy, natural vaginal delivery with my son and completely trusted my body as well as my care givers that this was the right decision for me. Thankfully everything went incredibly smoothly and both girls were born vaginally.
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this was my reasoning as well. although, i hadn't had another baby first & so my OB was really against me opting for a med free birth as she felt i hadn't "proven" i could birth vaginally (among a list of other reasons why she thought i shouldn't "risk" it). thankfully (well, more for my DH's peace of mind, i think) the OB on call when i was in labor had a different opinion & wasn't concerned with me not having an epidural. i should say that my OB & i had very, very differing opinions & philosophies on childbirth & i really wish i had made the effort to change caregivers to find someone who's opinions & philosophies were more in line with mine. in the end, i didn't, but lucked out in the OB on call & both my girls were born vaginally without meds. next time around, i'm planning on having midwives, come hell or high water.

 

My Baby B (Karli) was born breech...butt first. During labor they had monitors of both of their hearts and then all of a sudden B's stopped. Talk about panic! They got ultrasound in there very quickly and we determined that B had flipped breech during labor. This happened after A's water was broken, due to the extra room. The doctor gave me a choice, either vaginal and try to turn B knowing it could result in emergency c-section, or just choose c-section. I chose vaginal and I'm glad I did!!! After Tenli was born, Baby B was born 1.5 minutes after in the breech position. I had an epidural of course. SOOOOO glad I did because the doc had practically her whole arm up in me. Karli's heart rate stayed fine the whole time! I had to have help pushing her out...my anaesthesiologist was cramming his fists into my belly to help push her down quickly. With one final PUSH, I mean a hard push, she came flying out. My belly was sore for a few days because of the pushing on my tummy.

Did I mention I didn't have any stitches, tearing or abrasions down there at all?????? SWEEEEEET!! It was the best recovery I've ever had. GO FOR IT!! If everything goes well, You'll not regret it. My girls were both 5lb. 15oz.

 

Sabrina was baby B and smaller. She was born breech. I wasn't a twin and was breech, as was my little brother. I read in the last year or so that the Canadian Obstetrics Association (I think that's who it was) no longer recommends automatic c-sections for breech births, even in single babies. I would say it should be decided on a case by case basis. And since you've already had vaginal deliveries, you and baby would probably do just fine.