Breech 101

So, I don't know about you, but I didn't know that much about a baby's positioning inside the uterus until I got pregnant. When the baby is very small he or she literally flips around in your uterus all the time, usually you can't even feel this. I personally started feeling Brady kick when he was around 19 weeks (it was actually right after we found out he was a boy!). I remember the ultrasound tech telling me at that appointment that Brady was in the breech position, which is why she had no trouble finding the angle at which to show us that he's a boy! Apparently, at that point in pregnancy the baby still moves around a bunch, so she probably just assumed we caught him at a breech moment! ;)


Well, it turns out Brady realized he liked being breech, and every ultrasound I've had since then has shown him this way. Usually by 30 weeks most babies have flipped into the head down position, but not our baby Brady, we're at 33 weeks now and staying strong with the frank breech position. See lovely diagram below (thanks, Google images) of the different types of breech positioning:

Isn't it amazing that he has lived most of his 33 weeks so far in this exact position. It makes me claustrophobic if I look at it long enough. It's just crazy! My little frank breech boy is quite flexible! I'm impressed!!! Anyway, apparently he's not claustrophobic at all because he hasn't made any attempts to head downward just yet. I feel him moving around all the time, but I still feel his sweet little head right below my ribs on the left side.

According to my obsessive Googling, I was able to find out the following about breech babies:

• Factors that can encourage breech positioning: Prematurity (twenty-five percent of fetuses are in the breech position at 32 weeks gestation- this drops to three percent at term), multiple pregnancy (twins, triplets or more), abnormal volume of amniotic fluid, and uterine abnormalities.
• Methods to turn breech babies, with varying degrees of success: External cephalic version (where a doctor turns the baby by manipulating the baby through the mother's abdomen, ECV has a success rate between 40 - 70% depending on practitioner, studies show that turning the baby at term is effective in reducing the number of babies born in the breech position, complications are rare), Maternal positioning or other exercises (there is insufficient evidence as to the benefit of maternal positioning in reducing the incidence of breech presentation).
• Caesarean section is the most common way to deliver a breech baby in the USA, Australia, and Great Britain. Like any major surgery, it involves risks.
• One large study has confirmed that elective cesarean section has lower risk to the fetus and a slightly increased risk to the mother, than planned vaginal delivery of the breech.
• The same birth injuries that can occur in vaginal breech birth may rarely occur in Caesarean breech delivery. A Caesarean breech delivery is still a breech delivery. However the soft tissues of the uterus and abdominal wall are more forgiving of breech delivery than the hard bony ring of the pelvis.

So overall, I think I learned a lot about breech- some of it scary, some of it neat. I am honestly quite fascinated by anything I can get my hands on about this little guy! I just can't wait to hold him and love on him (in a few weeks- I do NOT want him to come early) and let him stretch out finally!!!!!!

Our next steps are to wait and see what position he is in at our next appointment (2/17). At that point he will be almost 35 weeks, so if he hasn't moved head down by then he probably will not be moving! We will have to decide if we'd like to try to move him with ECV or just schedule a C-Section. I will keep you posted after that appointment and let you know what we decide. Hopefully he will decide to turn on his own and we won't have a decision to make at all.....come on Brady, you can do it!!! :)