Breech Babies Club

Siobhan’s story – A fast uncomplicated breech VBAC 

Birthing my daughter was, without a doubt, the most powerful experience of my life – my personal celebration of the female body’s strength. It’s incredibly empowering to trust your body’s ability, even when sadly the system may not always have this approach. The challenge with breech birth isn’t our bodies– it’s the lack of education and deskilling of medical professionals.

Our little one had been breech since at least 20 weeks, any attempts to turn her were unsuccessful, including two ECVs. She was perfectly content in that position. Knowing her personality now, it makes total sense 😆 

I was fortunate to have a supportive team who understood my determination to try for a vaginal breech birth. To calm nerves within my birth space I agreed to some requests – hospital instead of home and constant monitoring, as long as I could remain mobile.

Despite missing out on a home birth again, being in hospital exceeded my expectations. Each of my birth wishes was respected – midwife-led care, hands-off approach, uninterrupted skin-to-skin, optimal cord clamping and a physiological third stage. The entire experience was INTENSE, raw and surreal. Unlike my son’s birth everything happened early and fast. Baby girl was just over 38 weeks and birthed in about 3 hours, it was an unexpected 0-100 experience.

My waters broke at approximately 2:30am, contractions about 20 mins later and involuntary pushing began before we even got in the car! We arrived at the hospital around 3:30am, already at full dilation. It took two hours of the hardest work in my life pushing, with some emotional wobbles and incredible support, my daughter was born – bum first, followed by her torso, legs and half her head, then one final push & she was out 🥹 The relief, the accomplishment (and the shock)!!

Recovery was night and day compared to my C-section, being able to move and hold my baby without help! I’d take those perineal stitches over major abdominal surgery any day. I feel privileged to be a woman and to experience growing, birthing and nourishing life. It’s HARD, but it’s magic.

Teddy’s birth – a planned midwife-supported hospital breech birth

I discovered Teddy was breech at a growth scan at 36 weeks- it was completely unexpected as I had three different midwives at three previous appointments all tell me that the baby was ‘definitely head down.’ One of those appointments was two days before the growth scan!

I opted for an ECV which was booked at 37 weeks. I then spent the next week and a half desperately doing anything to try and turn baby. This was probably the most stressful time of my whole pregnancy. I physically and mentally exhausted myself with all the Spinning Babies exercises, handstands in the pool, acupuncture with moxibustion and just generally being terrified to sit down and slouch just in case he had miraculously turned and I did something that made him go back into the breech position. Sadly, not only was I unable to turn baby via these methods, the ECV also failed. Teddy’s bum was too engaged in my pelvis and they could not even start the procedure as he would not budge! The consultant assumed I would be booking in for a c-section and was shocked when I explained that I was still considering a VBB. She went on to list all the reasons why this wasn’t a good idea, but I had already started to do some research at this point and found a number of her reasons contradictory to what I had been looking at. My main fear with considering a VBB was the level of skill of the midwives as I was aware that it wasn’t common practice and, despite training, many of the midwives may have never delivered a breech baby or attended a breech birth. I knew that if I could find someone who had experience, was on the same page as me and who I could trust, then I really felt that I could do it.

I was booked in the following week to discuss options and come to a decision on whether I was going to opt for the c- section or VBB. My husband, James, and I spent the weekend researching via podcasts, looking at the work of Shawn Walker and the Optibreech trial and watching videos of VBBs. I had also spoken to a couple of local doulas as was considering additional support in this form if I was unable to find a midwife who was able to support me. One of the things I did struggle to find was a wealth of positive VBB stories, which is one of the main reasons I am writing this as I was desperate for any real life examples which could reassure me and make me feel like it was possible and that I was making the right decision.

We both felt pretty well informed by the time we met with the consultant on Monday- which made it all the more shocking when everything we were being told about the VBB contradicted all of the research we had done. For example, I was under the impression that the “hands off the breech” approach was best and that the best way to approach labour would to be in upright, forward and open positions and to even give birth on all fours. Yet, in my meeting, I was told that I would need an epidural at 5cm and would need to be on my back with legs in stirrups. When we questioned this, the consultant claimed that I would be in too much pain and by the time I am in the transitional phase, I wouldn’t be aware of what is going on and they would struggle to help me as I would be experiencing so much pain. I was determined to not have an epidural as I knew how important it would be to know when to push. Obviously, having not given birth before, I had no idea how painful it might be- but I also had confidence in myself that I couldn’t imagine myself reacting in the way the consultant described.

In my quest to turn baby, a number of people had mentioned a Kettering Community Midwife, Keeley. They said she had experience of delivering babies via VBB. I was given her contact details via an independent midwife and she was kind enough to meet with me. The experience of meeting and discussing a VBB with Keeley was so vastly different to my experience in the hospital with consultants, etc. She had been trained by Shawn Walker and her view of a positive VBB was exactly on the same page as mine. She made me feel like I could do it and I felt really supported by her. She gave me her number so that, if and when I went into labour, I could phone her and she would be there for me. She also informed me of another midwife who was also experienced and could support if, for any reason, Keeley couldn’t be there with me. I was so glad that I was able to make that contact with Keeley, as it was the final thing I needed to truly have the confidence to go ahead with the VBB.

My labour started early Saturday morning. I contacted Keeley when I started experiencing contractions every 5 minutes and by 2am Sunday morning, I had arrived at the hospital and was 4cm dilated. I was advised to keep active and they would look to move me into a private room in the next hour or so. I walked up and down the corridors and used my birthing ball until I was ready to go into a private room. In the private room, I almost instantly started feeling the contractions ramp up in intensity and frequency. We had gotten the room ready with battery operated tea light candles, our birth playlist playing, lavender scented room spray and alongside using hypnobirthing techniques (breathing, visualisation, etc), I also had a wave comb. When I was 8cm dilated, I started to have the urge to push but was worried that baby’s head would get stuck if I wasn’t fully dilated. Until this point, I had been following what my body was telling me to do and, in a panic, I started trying to hold in the urge and fight against the contractions. This distracted me from my breathing and was when the contractions were at their most painful. Keeley must have noticed that something had changed and I explained to her why I was holding back. She confirmed that I was ok to push and that was a massive relief.

As soon as I got onto the bed, into an all fours position, and started pushing, I felt much better. The pushing stage did not feel long at all and apparently Keeley and Melissa (the additional midwife who came in to support) chased the consultants away as they were confident that everything was going smoothly. Very soon, Teddy’s bottom was making an appearance and I was able to push more of his body out with each contraction. His left arm did get slightly stuck, Keeley unhooked it, and as soon as his face and nose were out, he started crying, which was such as a relief, as I had read that sometimes breech babies can take a little while to respond after birth. All that was left, was the top of Teddy’s head (from his eyes upwards) and this was where my contractions seemed to stop. I knew that I only had so much time to get the rest of his head out, so I did start to panic a little at this point. However, with a bit of coaching to push from the midwives and my husband, and some support with positioning from Keeley, Teddy made his full appearance into the world- six and a half hours after I had arrived at the hospital. James and I found out the gender together. It was such a magical moment. And, if anyone had told me that I would be giving birth to a breech baby on no pain relief, I would have not believed them. I felt invincible and so happy that I had stuck to my gut instinct about Teddy’s birth.

I am really grateful to have had the support of my husband and Keeley throughout the labour. It made me feel secure and confident to know that I had people who understood and supported what I wanted alongside me throughout the experience. I also feel proud that I was able to prove that a VBB is possible and is safe- just a variation of normal! I really hope that my story can inspire some confidence and reassurance in others whatever decision they make with a breech baby. I am aware that a VBB may not suit everyone, but after my experience, I believe that it is so empowering to be informed and to feel that you actually have a choice without being pressured or coerced down a route which may not be right for you or your baby. I also find it concerning how midwives are becoming more and more deskilled when it comes to VBB as it means more people are put off the VBB route due to lack of confidence. I hope my story can somewhat normalise a breech birth and show that it isn’t scary or massively riskier than any other type of birth- and that it can in fact be an equally wonderful and positive experience.

Listed below are a few of the links that I used to help inform my decision- thought they might be helpful for anyone who is interested/ going through a similar experience as I know they really helped me:

Hannah’s story – a midwife-supported hospital breech birth

Our baby girl was born on Saturday at the hospital in Truro, Cornwall. She is perfect! We had an incredible VBB, assisted by a lovely midwife. If anyone out there is feeling overwhelmed and unsure about their breechling please know that VBB can be so special.

Briefly, our little one flipped at 37w2 much to my surprise as my first was born vaginally head down so I hadn’t even really thought about breech at all. We went to the hospital to confirm and they immediately jumped to elective section and throwing quite a lot of data at me. It was overwhelming and I felt as thought something was “wrong” with me. I felt pressured to try an ECV but I went home first and did a loooooot of research. The internet is amazing. I decided to try the ECV. It was unsuccessful and now we know that the cord was wrapped around my baby’s head twice so I think that was what stopped her from turning. I doubt I would do an ECV again. I found it to be a very emotional experience.

So I moved on and decided to embrace my breechling as I was now 38w. I didn’t try moxibustion or anything else apart from continuing on with my daily yoga practice (which I did all along anyway). I let go of my homebirth plan because I couldn’t find anyone in my area to support me. I contacted the head of midwifery at the hospital and sent her my VBB plan and request for second birth partner (my doula) which was granted. I also spoke with Kemi Johnson who was just absolutely so supportive and reaffirmed my faith in myself. I filled my mind with positive VBB podcasts and stories and websites and videos. I also wrote an emergency C section plan and spent a little bit of time thinking on that.

My waters broke on Friday night/Saturday morning at 1:30am. The waters were red with quite a lot blood which is a bit scary. I was told to come straight in, the midwife on the phone was so excited when she heard I was planning on a VBB. Hospital was over an hour drive away and when we arrived I was still losing quite a lot of blood. I allowed the doctor to do a VE. I was 3cm. They asked if I wanted to do a section because they didn’t know where the blood was coming from. I declined and asked to wait a little longer as I felt fine and baby was happy. Surges had begun inconsistently. They agreed I could wait but they asked to put a canula in my hand so they had quick access to a vein should the bleeding get worse very quickly. That was scary and also very uncomfortable. But I felt it was a fair compromise.

My labour took a few hours to establish because I kept getting interrupted by various doctors giving me their unwanted opinions about my decision for a VBB. But the bleeding had stopped and waters were coming through clear now so my worry decreased. I got really annoyed with two male doctors pressuring me to talk about my c section plan should labour fail to establish within their timeframe since waters had broken. I just ignored them. When they left I asked my doula and partner to go and speak to our midwife.

They told her no more people in the room. Only her. No one else. They gave me my safe space back.

After that my surges came properly, soon they were just 2-3mins apart and lasting at least a minute each wave. I used my hypnobirthing and essential oils (lavender, frankincense and clary sage). My doula supported my back beautifully with a pressure point. My partner was amazing, reassuring and loving and supportive.

After an hour the midwife came to check in and she noticed that things had ramped up a lot. She asked to do another VE. I agreed but asked that she didn’t tell me my dilation, she was a bit surprised but agreed. Afterwards she told me I was 9cm. But after the check she just said we were going to get ready to meet baby soon. She began to get the room ready and spoke to me about staying standing and trusting my body to guide me into whatever position I needed to be in. I was on my yoga mat, kneeling and leaning into my partner. I began to shake and I knew I was in transition. All I could think was “the only way to my baby is through each wave”.

My midwife gently guided me in trusting my body and reassured me she would be hands off unless absolutely necessary and would talk to me the whole time. She told me not to push until there was just no way I couldn’t. She told me to breathe and take my time through each contraction.

Pushing began and lasted just 11 minutes, midwife called in second midwife to be present. This part was hard. Her one foot came out first, then her bum with her other leg. She was hanging beneath me, the midwife said I could reach down and then I felt her! We discovered we were having another baby girl! I cried! Then the midwife could see her arms were caught over her head. She asked me if she could assist baby because she was a little stuck. I agreed, it was very intense but I see in the video how gentle she was releasing the arms. After the arms were out I could feel the hardness of her head, it was soooooo hard after the squishy body! Midwife said to wait for the next surge and when it came to give everything. I did and she was out! Midwife told me to stand still as she unwinded the cord from around baby’s neck after which came her first cry as she was passed straight to me.

We did it! Euphoria.

The placenta took about an hour but we enjoyed golden hour and baby girl was just perfect, so alert and content. She scored 8/10 on the Apgar at birth and 10/10 after was few minutes. She began rooting and immediately latched on and started asking my body to feed her.

Later I was told that there were doctors and a neonatal specialist outside the door. But the midwife told them she would press the button if she needed help and otherwise to stay outside. She was absolutely incredible. I feel so lucky to have had her assist us in this birth.

Our baby girl was born at 12:54pm and weighed 3.4kg and we were discharged a couple of hours later. No stitches for me this time around.

I know it’s a bit of a long story but I also know there are others out there looking to stock up on positive VBB stories so this is for you. Our bodies are amazing and however we birth our babies, head down, head up, through a section, we are all incredible for what we go through.

Sending love to you wherever you are on your journey.

Isobel’s story – a planned midwife-led breech birth

I just wanted to share my positive breech vaginal birth story. I spent many hours in the weeks leading up to the birth searching for such stories, so hopefully mine will bring some comfort to those who are in a similar situation.

We found our little boy (second baby) to be breech from about 28 weeks following regular growth scans. I had an unsuccessful and rather distressing ECV at 38 weeks and was then given the option by our hospital of a planned C-section on our due date, or to attempt a vaginal delivery. I was desperate for a natural birth so I was lucky that our local hospital supports this option and we were told we would be assigned a senior midwife on arrival if I went into spontaneous labour.

Fast forward to 5/7/21 at 39+3 I started having regular contractions so we made our way in to the hospital. I was put on continuous monitoring as per protocol but was allowed to move around.

4 hours later I noticed the telltale signs of transition and began to push. I was allowed to be on all fours which was my preference. I heard some commotion of more people entering the room but we were made aware of the need for a doctor, NICU nurse and additional midwife to be present for the birth due to the potential for myself or baby needing some additional help.

The whole birth was hands off, with the midwife just talking me through what was happening which I found a huge help and a great motivation.

His body delivered in 2 contractions, these then died off and I was instructed to push his head out without the aid of contractions as there is a time limit on how long they will let the head go undelivered. This was actually not as difficult as I had anticipated and I got away with not even a graze.

Our little boy was born unresponsive, and needed immediate cord clamping, CPAP and vigorous stimulation at the beginning but quickly came round with no ill effects. Having the NICU team present was actually a real comfort and at no point did I feel anxious, I knew he was in safe hands and having done plenty of reading in the run up to birth I knew that this was quite normal for breech babies.

Apart from having some spectacular ‘frogs legs’ he is doing really well and my recovery has been far easier than my first vaginal cephalic birth.

I hope that this helps even one person in a similar situation who may be undecided about what sort of birth to go for. I knew I wanted to avoid surgery and felt that on balance trying for a vaginal birth was the right thing to do for me.

At the end of the day, you must go with your gut feeling – you will make the right decision for you!

Freya’s story: Two breech babies, both born naturally

First breech birth – Abigail

Born at the Oxford JR Hospital, 15 June 2017, 8:43pm, 7lbs

We found out at the 36-week scan that our daughter was breech. Having limited knowledge of breech babies at the time, I assumed this would rule out a natural delivery. I was booked in for an ECV (external cephalic version) for the following week. (This is an attempt to manually turn the baby back to a head-down, or cephalic, position through manipulation and pressure on the bump.)

In the days between the scan and the scheduled ECV, I began practising some of the techniques from the Spinning Babies website to encourage the baby to turn – crossing my fingers that something would work and the ECV wouldn’t be necessary. I also went to see an acupuncturist, who specialised in moxibustion, a technique of heating acupressure points, involving holding a burning mugwort stick next to your little toe for ten minutes at a time over several days. While these various techniques have undoubtedly been successful for other people, none of them worked for me, as the scan prior to the ECV confirmed: she was still in an extended, or frank, breech position.

The ECV appointment was my first experience with the Oxford JR breech team, and from this point right through to the end of my birthing experience they were absolutely amazing in their approach, treatment, care and expertise. They told me that they would make a maximum of two attempts during the session: the first with no other assistance, and the second, if it was needed, with an injected muscle relaxant that could help things along. As it was, both attempts were unsuccessful and Anita, the breech team’s lead midwife, said we should stop there; that there must be a reason the baby was stubbornly staying breech. We would not try again the following week. The procedure itself was uncomfortable and not particularly pleasant; however, it was all over relatively quickly, and I didn’t feel any residual pain or discomfort afterwards.

I spoke to the team for some time following the procedure – they took the time to explain things fully and answer all my many questions! My options now would be either to book an elective C section (usually at around 39 weeks) or to aim for a vaginal breech birth. I already knew the latter option was what I wanted to try for. The possibility of needing an unplanned C section during labour was higher than if she was head down – but, as I had been discovering ever since that 36-week scan, the main reason breech births had been considered so “problematic” is that hospital staff in many areas simply didn’t have the experience of dealing with them. Since the early 2000s, when a flawed report (the Term Breech Trial) sparked off the stigmatisation of breech birth, the number of hospitals able, or willing, to deal with natural breech births had fallen dramatically. Most people, when learning my baby was breech, automatically assumed I’d be booked in for a C section.

Following my ECV, and after a couple more days of doing moxibustion and Spinning Babies techniques, I decided to embrace the breech, and spend the rest of my pregnancy focusing on relaxing, breathing and doing hypnobirthing techniques (I listened to Maggie Howell’s Hypnobirthing Relaxation tracks), and generally looking forward and being positive. I’m so glad I took this approach, rather than desperately hoping that she would turn right up until the birth. 

I went into labour on 15 June 2017, when I was at 39+1. I felt the first twinges not long after lunch, which initially felt like period pains. At first I thought it might be Braxton Hicks, not having felt them up until then, but they got stronger and it soon became apparent that something more significant was happening. Things progressed quite rapidly after that. My waters broke on the bathroom floor and contained meconium – which is very normal for a breech birth, given the position the baby is in! Even so, the MAU told my husband on the phone that we should come in straight away. He managed to get the TENS machine on me (the only pain relief – or, really, pain distraction – that I used) and we drove the 20 minutes from our house to the JR. I was now fully contracting, and it wasn’t the most pleasant journey, but the TENS vibrations and me making a lot of noise definitely helped! We arrived at around 6:30pm. Once at the MAU, I was assessed fairly quickly, and then taken through to the breech team in the delivery suite. It was a lovely room with dimmed lighting and floral patterns on the wall, helping create a calm and soothing atmosphere. Once in there, I was given space to let things happen. 

I didn’t have an internal examination at all throughout the entire labour; it wasn’t necessary. The breech team’s approach was the preferable “hands off the breech”, and that’s exactly what they did – simply talking me through the breathing and pushing when appropriate. They needed to attach a heart-rate monitor to my tummy, which was quite difficult as I couldn’t lie back at all, it was far too uncomfortable. But very soon after that, they could see the baby coming. I instinctively started pushing and the birth started happening. The only assistance Michaela, the midwife, needed to give was to ease the baby’s arm down once her bottom, legs and other arm were out. Her head was still to come, but then my contractions stopped, so I had to push without a contraction – this was more difficult, but I managed, and all was fine in the end. And then, at 8:43pm, just over two hours after we arrived, our baby, Abigail, was born weighing just under 7lbs.

I found the labour and birth to be a positive experience – the whole thing was relatively quick, so I wasn’t in painful labour for hours, and only pushed for a few minutes. It was extremely intense but not unmanageable. My recovery post-birth was relatively rapid too. I felt that if we ever were lucky enough to have another baby, I would be OK with him or her being breech too, given my first breech experience. 

Second breech birth – Camille

Born at home (born before arrival), 11 October 2020, c.2:50am, 8lbs 6oz

Having joked about the likelihood of this baby also being breech, I was still a little shocked when I found out this was indeed the case at the 36-week scan. She appeared to be in exactly the same position as our first daughter had been: frank (extended) breech, with her back to the right. I knew already that this was an optimum position for birthing as far as breech went, and due to my previous positive breech experience, didn’t feel the same anxiety as the first time. 

After discussion with Anita from the Oxford JR breech team, I ended up opting for an ECV this time as well, as the absolute ideal position (with the minimum risk) to birth a baby is head down, and I knew I’d be constantly wondering if she could have turned if I hadn’t tried it. I had the ECV towards the end of the following week, at 38 weeks. I knew there was more likelihood of it being successful as it was my second pregnancy. However, this one also failed; the baby, just like her big sister, was completely sure she wanted to stay bottom down! 

We booked ahead an appointment for 40+4 to discuss options if the baby hadn’t come by then (they don’t like to let breech babies go too far over the due date, generally ten days maximum, rather than two weeks plus for head down babies – and breech babies aren’t induced; if labour doesn’t start naturally, it will most likely lead to a C section). As my first baby came at 39+1, I kind of assumed this one would come at a similar time, or maybe even earlier as it was my second baby. However, 39 weeks, and then 40 weeks, came and went, and I became very keen for her to make an appearance, as I really wanted a natural delivery again. The Saturday night following the Thursday due date, I couldn’t sleep (again!) and eventually went downstairs around 1:30am (so, now Sunday, 11 October). I’d been feeling low-down pressure in my abdomen, which was getting more pronounced, and found I was unable to sit comfortably on my birth ball, and after a bit longer, was unable to walk to the kitchen (I really wanted a cup of tea!). It took a little time for my brain to catch up with what was happening: I crawled back to the lounge where my waters broke. It was then that I called to Gareth, my husband, and he came rushing downstairs. I managed to make it to the downstairs bathroom to go to the toilet, then got a very strong, continuous contraction, followed minutes later by an uncontrollable urge to push, so I just went with it. We realised that the baby was coming – right now! She started emerging, and Gareth raced to get his phone to call 999 and grab towels (I was insistent that we needed them!). As he came back, the baby was born into my arms. It only took about three or four pushes; an incredibly quick birth! The 999 operative talked us through the checks to do on the baby; thankfully she was fine and was responding well. A short while later, the ambulance arrived and transferred me and our baby, Camille, to the JR hospital, while Gareth followed in the car (once he’d cleaned up the downstairs bathroom!).

Camille passed all her checks and observations at the hospital with flying colours, and we were back home at lunchtime that day. Her weight was 8lb 6oz (3.8kg). I was really pleased to have had another successful breech delivery; even though this one was much speedier than I’d expected, it was still a positive experience. Our first daughter, Abigail, who is now three, was fascinated to learn that her baby sister was born the same way up that she was – our two special breech babies!

Helena’s story: breech birth in a Birth Centre

I gave birth to my daughter in December 2020 and I just want to share what an amazing experience I had at the Royal Oldham Hospital Birth Centre.

When I found out that my baby was breech I was extremely worried. The last thing I wanted was to have a section. I had a straightforward, head down water birth with my first baby and I was obviously hoping for the same experience again. The thought of having a section filled me with dread and worry.

When baby failed to turn, I had an ECV at 37 weeks, which was unsuccessful. The consultant who carried out the procedure then informed me straight away, in no uncertain terms, that the only other safe option would be to have a section. The midwife present quickly stepped in and informed me there were other options that could be considered. She then very kindly put me in touch with a specialist breech midwife, Amy Meadowcroft, who luckily worked at the hospital. She was amazing to say the least. She explained to me that a section was not my only option and that I could give birth naturally to my breech baby. As we were both low risk, the risks to my baby from being born breech were incredibly low, the same as a straight forward head down birth. So I decided that this was what I wanted to do. With the constant support of Amy, we made a plan for me to birth naturally at the hospital birth centre.

Baby decided to arrive 8 days before my due date and the labour and birth could not have gone better. I gave birth to my baby girl naturally, bum first, and everything went perfectly. The support I received from Amy and all the staff at the birth centre was just amazing and I couldn’t have done it without them all. So for that I will be eternally grateful.

I just wanted to share my experience with any ladies out there, that may be in the same position as I was, and are worrying about what to do. If it wasn’t for the midwife stepping in, after my ECV, I would have been none the wiser about my options, to an extent, and I would not have been put in contact with my midwife Amy. I just want to say to any ladies in the same position as I was, please ask if there is an experienced breech birth midwife at the hospital or if they know of any at other local hospitals. If you want to go down the vaginal birth route then it is worth fighting for. I am so glad that I did.

Zoe’s story : A first baby born breech

I planned a home birth but found out at 40 weeks that my baby was in extended breech.

I felt scared into a caesarean after a failed painful ECV but went away from the hospital and had a think and spoke to midwives and my friend who’s a midwife and decided on a natural breech birth.

The hospital had little to no experience with breech births so I think the doctors discouraged me but always remember it is your choice. The midwives were fantastic and very supportive and excited!

I went into labour 40+5 at 3:30AM and delivered at 11:24AM with no issues.

Now I have had no problems throughout my pregnancy which was my first and he came out 7lbs 1oz. A natural pregnancy can be achieved even with breech ?

Arlo’s story : a footling breech freebirth

By Tess Bell

Here’s my story about Arlo Herbie Bell 6lb 6oz born feet first at home on 29th November 2019 at 4.08am.

A bit of history about me – I have the biggest hospital and needle phobia ever. As a child I spent 2 years in and out of Ipswich hospital, I was 4 at the time and had a cyst on my throat, it ended in 5 operations (because the hospital never removed it properly the first 4 times) and 2 years of my life in and out of the hospital and the doctors.
I was pinned down and forced to have all my hospital treatment, I used to beg and sob for them not to hurt me again but they still did, I had no trust in these people that forced horrible things onto me or my parents who allowed it to happen and pinned me down too, I felt so alone and lost, why were all these hospital staff and my mum forcing me through this hell? I fought with all my might with every needle, anaesthetic, plaster, ‘magic cream’, everything they were doing to me was a fight, a fight I never won! What are they trying to do to me? Kill me? No one explained what was happening or why, I just knew when we turned up at this horrible place everyone forced horrible things onto me and I didn’t understand why! I felt so helpless and afraid! It was torture and it has stayed with me forever, it’s something I’ve had to live with all my life, this horrible demon that follows me round and lives with me. Due to this I refuse all needles and refuse any kind of treatment I’m not happy with, the control was taken away from me as a child so I have to be in control with any medical situation now and I’m against any medical intervention if it can be avoided!
I tried to have therapy a few years ago but the memories and phobia were so bad that the therapist ended up giving up as she was getting nowhere with me.
I was diagnosed with a unicornuate urterus and 1 kidney during an ultrasound scan for a misscarriage, I’d had 1 successful vaginal delivery but I kept miscarrying when trying for our 2nd baby. I knew my urterus was efficient – it always miscarried early and fully without needing any medical intervention and the miscarriage was because the baby hadn’t stuck properly or in the right place. I’ve had 6 miscarriages in total.
We had our second baby, I went through the pregnancy refusing bloods as I had first time but because they knew about my uterus this time I was sent for lots of growth scans, everytime I saw the consultant they discussed why I’d refused bloods which bought my bad memories flooding back and ended in sobs of tears, at 37 weeks they said they will be inducing me as the baby is too small. I knew my baby was fine and I trusted my instincts so I refused induction and they were awful about it and had me sobbing yet again as they told me to come back next week and explained they would be persuading me to be induced and my home birth couldn’t happen, so I cancelled my appointments and never went back, I had the baby at 40+5 by myself at home in the bath with a quick, painless beautiful labour and he was 6lb 6oz and perfectly healthy.
Baby number 3 was a surprise, the pregnancy was the same with growth scans and constant tears everytime my past was brought up because I had refused bloods, I ended up writing a note on the front of my notes to say I do not wish to discuss bloods please respect my decision for my own mental wellbeing but this was ignored yet again. I had all my scans at Norwich hospital but due to where I lived had to have the Ipswich team for the home birth and after care. Baby was breech at the 32 week ultrasound but 2 midwives had said he was head down at 34 and 35 weeks (must have been thanks to the week of walking I’d done at Disneyland at 33 weeks).
At 36 weeks I was sent to Ipswich hospital to see the homebirth team to book the birth in. I was dreading this, I couldn’t even drive past the place without having awful flash backs of my childhood but I knew I had to face it to get the home birth I wanted. I was asked about my phobia yet again and then asked to go into further detail about it, I said I can but it’ll really upset me but she wanted me to go ahead so I did in floods of tears of course, she then felt my tummy and told me baby is breech so I can’t have a home birth or a vaginal birth, a c section is my biggest fear, putting my trust in their hands wasn’t something I could mentally deal with. I left the appointment crying, I got in the car and called my husband, I was an emotional mess, barely being able to talk through the sobbing, then it hit me, the panic, I had a panic attack, I couldn’t breathe! Hubby stayed on the phone trying to get me to breathe and after 20 minutes I started to calm down enough to drive myself home, I sobbed the entire journey then fell into a heap on my husband when I got home, I said I can’t do this anymore (I had been diagnosed with PTSD a few years previously due to my traumatic childhood experiences and I couldn’t let that dark place consume me again) my husband said ignore them, do what you need to do for you!
I booked a private scan the next day which showed the baby was footling breech, I told the home birth midwife the outcome and she said you can’t deliver a footling breech naturally. I cancelled my next scan to give me time to try turn him, I then spent weeks trying to turn him, moxibustion, pulsatilla, spinning babies, laying upside down on an ironing board, frozen peas on his head, sitting up right but nothing worked.
I put my phone on silent and ignored all the hospital calls, I cancelled all my appointments, I knew I could do this and I knew my body and trusted my instincts. I had to ignore them and concentrate on me for my own sanity, I had started having flash backs from my childhood and couldn’t mentally cope with anymore pressure from the medical staff trying to force things onto me.
From ‪36 – 39‬ weeks I was harassed, I was getting phone calls, voicemails and appointment letters constantly from both hospitals, midwives and my Dr’s surgery. The midwife that caused my panic attack even turned up at my house but I wasn’t in! They even tried making contact through Facebook by a mutual friend who happened to be a midwife! Then I received a signed for letter, it was Ipswich hospital (signed by the same lady that turned up at my house) stating if I vaginally birthed a footling breech my baby would die and if he was transverse we’d both die! I had no support so knew my only way forward was to free birth!
I did all my research online and read lots of positive breech birth stories, the more I researched the more I realised how possible it all was, I was totally prepared.
At 39+6 I went into labour, I kept active spending 30 mins at a time in different positions, laying on my side in bed, in the bath, on my birthing ball, on all fours, walking round the coffee table. After 4 hours I felt it was getting close, I got in the bath on all fours tried pushing but nothing happened, I told hubby that I think I’m ready to push before baby is ready to come so I waited an hour and breathed through my contractions, I stood in the bath and rocked my hips I kept getting the urge to push but nothing happened, I had read that breech babies can make you want to push too soon, I tried to resist the urge as much as I could, I knew when the time came I had to go for it so the head didn’t get stuck, I could feel it getting close but wasn’t 100% sure when the right time to push was as it was so different to the head down experiences. I couldn’t get in a good position so sat on the toilet and did a push, I could feel him coming, I jumped back in the bath and squatted, I felt for the cord in case of a prolapse but I could feel feet so I pushed and shouted hubby. I put my hands down and felt legs, I quickly pushed again whole heartedly and as hard as I could, I knew I wanted the head to follow the body. He flew out and I caught him in the bath and instantly pulled him up out of the water and he cried straight away. It took 2 pushes and about 10 seconds for him to be born, it was the most painful, intense feeling, 10 times worse than the previous two with the pain of him coming out but it was worth it to avoid medical intervention. I sat on a bin bag that was in the toilet and within 2 minutes the placenta fell out, we waited an hour and hubby sterilised a hair band and scissors and cut the cord. I wanted this special moment to be calm, I wanted it to just be us to enjoy, no rushing around and midwives turning up. I showered and got dressed while hubby dressed the baby, I made myself comfortable on the sofa then the children woke up, it was perfect as though this baby had just appeared, they instantly loved him. I text the midwife and told her he was here, she came out that afternoon to weigh him and register the birth, she checked us both over and said we were both perfectly healthy.
It was the best decision I made, I knew what I was capable of and I trusted my instincts, it was very painful and very intense towards the end but it was so worth it to avoid any more mental damage and a c-section.
2 days after birth a different midwife came to do the newborn checks, she was lovely and very old school and in previous years had been an independent midwife, she asked all about the labour and I discussed the whole story with her.
She was over joyed, she said she was so pleased I stood my ground, she said she wished more pregnant women were as assertive as I was and that breech is just a variation of normal. She said years ago she would deliver breech twins without a second thought and nowadays they just get every breech in for a section. She also said every mother has a choice and it makes her cross that they don’t stipulate that, they just say you have to have a section when they should be saying we can offer you a section but it’s your choice! She was so supportive and so pleased that I had ignored them and free birthed, she also said she would be taking the news back to Ipswich and passing it on so it gets back to the midwife that wrote the letter and upset me so much.
My advice is to trust your instincts, you know your body better than anyone, your body was made to carry and birth a child, it is your body, your baby also therefore your choice!

Sarah and Michael’s breech birth story

So after a lot of thinking I have decided to share my pregnancy story in the hope it helps other mummies and daddies to be.

I found out I was pregnant with my sixth child and me and my husband were over the moon. We decided to have our baby in Lewisham Birth Centre and couldn’t wait till the day came when we got to meet our bundle of joy. Everything was going according to plan – we had our 12 week scan and baby had a strong heartbeat and was growing lovely. Me, my husband and our children were so happy to see her.

Then we had our 20 week scan and found out we were having a girl and were so happy – we had our name picked. Baby Niamh was due on the 9/9/19. We were all so excited – we couldn’t wait to meet baby Niamh to see who she looked like, what colour eyes she would have, what colour hair she would have. We then had our 32 week scan and baby Niamh was breech. We weren’t worried as at this stage there was still time for baby Niamh to turn.

So at 36 weeks I went to see my amazing midwife and she then told me that baby Niamh was still breech. I had to have a scan just to make sure baby was breech and talk through my options. So I went for my scan the next day and was told baby Niamh was definitely breech and there were a few choices I had. The choices were talk to a consultant about a cesarean, or try an ECV (external cephalic version) to try and turn baby Niamh, or have a breech vaginal birth, but there was no way I could have my baby in the birth centre. So I went away feeling a bit worried about a breech baby and disappointed that I couldn’t have Niamh in the birth centre, but I was looking forward to talking through my options with a consultant.

At 37 weeks I had an ECV to try and turn baby Niamh – she was monitored constantly to make sure her heart rate didn’t drop but her bum was firmly in place in my pelvis and they couldn’t move her. So I had a scan at 38 weeks just to see if baby Niamh was still breech. She was so I saw a consultant/senior doctor. This was such a bad experience I cried and cried after this appointment feeling worried I was going to be putting my baby at risk if I went ahead with a breech birth and then on the other hand I was putting myself at risk if I had a cesarean. I was booked in for a cesarean for the 7/9/19, 2 days before my due day and really wasn’t looking forward to major surgery as I had 5 other children.

I then spoke to my midwife as I was so unhappy about my consultant appointment. My midwife phoned me and spoke to me for a while trying to calm me down and talk me through things. She then said that she wanted me to speak to her manager (a lovely lady) so she passed my details on to her manager and told her what had happened. Her manager then phoned me and asked me to go in and see her. We spoke about a cesarean and also a breech birth. She made me feel a bit better about it all. I was still nervous but feeling better.

She also phoned the labour ward to see if they could fit me in for another ECV. Which they did so I went along to try and get baby Niamh turned again. Sadly it was unsuccessful again. Niamh’s bum was firmly in place in my pelvis and wanted to be born breech (cheeky baby). I was then trying everything I could to get baby Niamh moving so I could have a breech birth but nothing seemed to work, she was just too comfy.

It then came the day 5/9/19 to have my pre-assessment for my cesarean so I went along to Lewisham Hospital to have my bloods taken and find out what time I had to be in on the day of my cesarean. The midwife I saw was absolutely amazing – she asked me if I was 100% sure I wanted a cesarean. I said no I didn’t want it but baby Niamh didn’t want to move. The midwife then asked me if I wanted to push back the date of my cesarean to give Niamh more time to come naturally so of course I said yes and was so happy so my cesarean was now booked for the 9/9/19 my due day.

I asked if I could have a sweep as it worked with my last daughter. So in came a matron (absolutely lovely) and I had a sweep and she said she could feel baby Niamh’s bum so I was excited things might start moving soon. I then went home and drank more raspberry leaf tea, bounced on my ball, went for walks, but still baby Niamh didn’t want to move. So on the 7/9/19 I went back to the hospital for my pre assessment. When I got there I saw the same midwives again, had my pre assessment done and also had another sweep in the hope it would work.

Then on the 8/9/19 my waters broke. I was so happy I phoned the hospital and off I went to give birth to my breech baby. I was still a bit nervous as I have never given birth breech before but it was just as simple as a normal (head down) birth. The midwife on the labour ward knew about baby Niamh being breech and talked me through who would be in the room when I gave birth.

Then the time was here to push. Her bum was coming, then her legs came, then her arms, then the final push and she was in my arms. All the worry was over. She was here safe and sound and perfect. I gave birth to a breech baby. I was fine and healthy and baby Niamh Fionnuala was finally here happy and healthy.

It was such an amazing experience I would do it all over again. I’m so proud to say I gave birth to a breech baby and to share my amazing story with you. I hope this helps some mummies to be feel at ease with a breech birth.

Stay positive you can do it. Good luck!

My birth story – Sarah & Ronnie

We found out at our 29w growth scan that baby was breech but were told not to worry as baby had plenty of time to turn but me being a bit of a worrier went away and did the thing I tend to do and turned to google!

I found myself doing lots of research on breech babies and birth options and I decided then that if baby was still to be breech further down the line I wanted a vaginal breech birth. In my case knowledge is power and having researched I felt a lot more calm and relaxed about what might happen if baby were to stay breech.

At 34w I went into hospital with reduced movements and got chatting to one of the lovely midwives and she said she could refer me to The Safe Active Birth Team that consisted of Supervisors of Midwives for support with my plans and I’m so glad I agreed for her to do that. The support I received from them was amazing, we chatted about everything I wanted and none of it was too much of an ask and a specific ‘plan’ for me and baby was put in place. One of the midwives asked if it was ok with me that she would like to be on call for the birth, to which I agreed. Knowing someone I had met and who knew what I wanted would potentially be there made me more relaxed.

I saw 2 consultants at around 37w after it had been confirmed by a scan that baby was still frank breech, they both fully supported my choices of a vaginal breech birth and understood my reasoning of declining an ECV to try and turn baby, they also answered any other questions that I had
.
We left it that I would see the consultant again at 40+5 if baby hadn’t arrived before that. From 36w I had some reflexology sessions and as I passed my ‘due date’ I started to feel a little fed up but I think that was mostly to do with hormones, tiredness and being uncomfortable.

I saw the consultant at 40+5 and we decided that if baby hadn’t arrived before 42w we would go in and have a planned c section, even though it wasn’t what I wanted, I felt that by that point I would have given my body a good amount of time for things to happen spontaneously and if it hadn’t then I had some time to come to terms with having a c section.

As I reached 41w I went for another session of reflexology and had a good chat with the midwife who did it, I then headed to the hospital for a sweep which didn’t go ahead as my cervix was too posterior too reach. I came home feeling a little deflated and had a really good cry for no particular reason, and I mean good as it took a while for me to stop crying at anything and everything.

I went to bed early only to be woken at 2.30am with pains, I started to time them to which they were coming every 5 mins. I gave it half an hour before waking my husband and I called the hospital at 3.20am. The pains became more intense quite quickly so I put on my TENS machine and started getting ready, My mum arrived to look after our eldest and we set off to the hospital at 3.50am. Whilst in the car the contractions started to get more intense and closer together, I called the hospital again and asked them to contact the midwife from the Safe Active Birth Team to let her know so she could make her way to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at around 4.30am and were greeted by a midwife who showed us to a room, she did my blood pressure and temp before hooking me up to the wireless monitoring to keep a check on baby and then she went to start filling the pool with water (the consultants were happy for me to use the pool to labour in). The midwife from the Safe Active Birth Team arrived shortly after and with the contractions I started to feel a bit pushy so I asked for some gas and air. We moved down the corridor to the pool room where I got on the floor cushions on all fours before being asked if they could examine me to determine where we were at. I agreed and was happy to hear that I was 8cm, I was feeling a lot of pressure. I went back to all fours and after a couple of minutes baby’s heart rate dropped and took a little while to come back up so the consultant came in and asked me if I would get onto the bed. In the mean time a number of other staff came into the room and stood well back to watch the birth (I had said I didn’t mind others watching when we were originally doing the birth ‘plan’ and I was asked again if it was ok whilst I was in labour). It’s not very often people get to see a vaginal breech birth especially in our NHS trust with if being quite small.

Pretty quickly I was 10cm dilated but baby’s heart rate dropped again so it was advised by the consultant that an episiotomy would help baby be born a bit quicker. I started to push and baby arrived into the world bottom first after 5mins of pushing.

We had another boy!

Ronnie was born at 6.05am weighing a healthy 8lb 15oz.

He didn’t need any support with breathing, we had delayed cord clamping and some skin to skin then about 20 minutes later my husband cut the cord and had a cuddle whilst I had some stitches done. After that we were left for a good hour or so to have some lovely skin to skin and take it all in. We stayed in hospital for observations to be done on him due to him having slightly low blood sugar at birth but there were no further concerns and we went home the following day!

I’m so proud of myself for trusting my instincts and believing in my body knowing what to do. This was 100% the right decision for both myself and baby!