Has Anyone Had a Baby in the Transverse Position?

[ReneeA]

My DD who's 2 was breech for most of the third trimester. I was not happy at all because after successfully delivering a 10lb. baby boy a year and a half earlier (pretty easily), I really wanted another naturaly delivery and not a c-section. The last three weeks of my pregnancy, I got down on all fours with my hips spread pretty widely and did the rocking motion (like minkydog). I did it three times a day for 10 minutes. She finally turned and my water broke the next day. I had a very fast and easy delivery.

Here's hoping for a fast and easy birth for your DD...however it happens .

ReneeA

 

[Jenn Lynn]

While my DS never went transverse he was constantly changing positions and did it until the day he was born.

My Mom kept telling me to put a cold bag of peas on his head where I didn't want him to get him to move!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

My best friend is in the medical field and she said that a manual move can be extremely uncomfortable and one of the main risks is having the umbilical cord get wrapped around the baby's neck.

I'm just leaving it in the hands of the doctors. I don't want to worry my daughter needlessly. I have to have faith that they will do what's best for her the baby.

Unfortunately, a family friend had this done and yes the umbilical cord got wrapped around the baby's neck. The baby was stillborn. I would NEVER let this be done to me.

 

[LBAK]

My youngest DD was transverse. I went to a specialist to turn her and quite honestly I would not wish that on my worst enemy. It was extremely painful and I was bruised for days. It didn't work, the baby turned right back around. She liked that position I guess. I ended up with a c-section and she was perfectly healthy as was I. The c-section was less painful then the turning!

Congrats and good luck to your daughter!

 

[LglBlonde]

Would you believe I have TWO pregnant daughters - both due with little boys within two weeks of each other???!!!

Daughter number 1 has a scheduled c-section for December 20th. This is her third child - first one born naturally, but with two broken collarbones - second one was a c-section.

Daughter number 2 is due on New Year's Day - first baby. This is the little guy who's decided to lay sideways. I know that a lot of people don't agree with c-sections, but I'd just as soon see this scheduled and not put her or the baby through anything risky. She's a patient at an outstanding facility, so I know they'll take good care of her.

My second child was manually moved during labor and ended up with the cord around his neck three times and no heartbeat. It was by far my worse delivery, but I'm happy to say that he made it and appears in my signature below - coming home from Iraq.

Just wanted to say, wow - what a picture of your son returning! made me tear up!!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

deleted

 

[mrsv98]

That was "back in the day" when they didn't really do C-sections unless it was a matter of life or death.. I think that has all changed over the years though with the increase of lawsuits and what-have-you.. There's probably not a doctor out there in the world that would deliver a breech baby normally now..

I think this is absolutely correct. DD was breech for ages so we knew she would be a c-section. I did some research (out of curiosity, didn't care about having a section) and could only find one midwife hospital in KY that routinely tries breech deliveries.

The risk of complications with a breech are such that we never even considered trying. And when I saw her gigantic head, coupled with a foot on each side, I was never so glad of a c-section!

 

[tiff211]

My baby was in the transverse position and a lot of people suggested the manual move. My Ob-Gyn (who i worship) told me that she wasn't a big fan of that because it is very uncomfortable and because the baby can move right back. She told me I would have to have a c-section because a baby can't be delivered that way. I talked to my baby and told her if she didn't turn head down, she would be in time out when she was born!!! She did turn for me!!!! When are you due? I was 36 weeks when she was transverse and she was head down at 38 weeks. Good luck and try not to worry too much!

 

[gshanny]

I have a friend who became a doula. She told me about different things that can be tried to turn a baby. I remember a few. One was to lay flat on your back with feet up. The suggested way was with an ironing board laid up against a couch(does that make sense?) The one I thought was neat is a flashlight. The idea with the music would probably be about the same thing. Start where the head is and each day move it down a little and the idea is for the baby to try to turn to be closer to the music or light.
She told me all kinds of things that sound kind of odd. She had the incense cigar looking thing that is supposed to help start labor. I think you burn it by the feet. I can't remember the points on the foot, I think it was one of the toes, that is supposed to help start labor or strengthen it when you massage this spot.
Best of luck in whatever happens!
Congrats on the babies!!

 

[copper68]

there are some exercises that she can do to help turn the baby.. most of these say for a breech baby.. but, i would think they would still work..


1. Knee to Chest Position
In one study of 71 breech babies, 65 turned when their mother adopted the knee-chest position. To do this, kneel with your hips flexed at slightly more than 90 degrees (but do not let your thigh press against your abdomen) and try to keep your head, shoulders, and upper chest flat on your mattress. Maintain the position for 15 minutes every two waking hours for five consecutive days. By positioning your body so your head is lower, gravity encourages the baby's head to "float" toward your fundus, flex her chin onto her chest and start to turn under. As pressure builds on the back of the back of the baby's head, she gradually rotates first into transverse, then all the way to vertex.

2. Breech Tilts
Do when you have an empty stomach and times when the baby is active. Concentrate on the baby, avoid tensing the body (especially the abdomen). Lie on your back with your hips elevated 12" (use pillows) and your hips and knees flexed. Gently roll through 180 degrees from side to side for 15 minutes and repeat this maneuver three times a day.

3. Pelvic Rocking
To do pelvic rocking get down on your hands and knees and gently tilt your pelvis as you arch your back, then return your back to a flat position and relax your pelvis. Do thirty to forty of these 3 times every day.

4. Ironing Board
Elevate the pelvis by laying on a board or ironing board that has been propped up onto the edge of a couch - MAKE SURE IT IS STABLE! This position should be assumed for 8 to 10 minutes daily. This position has been shown to be as successful as an external version in some studies.

5. Massage with External Stimulation
Give the mom a full rocking massage - it relaxes the whole body and is essential for the mom to feel the space for the baby to turn. Then, place pillows under her knees, tilt her slightly with a rolled up towel on the right side. Touch the baby (mom's belly, talk to the baby and rotate hands in the direction that they want to go). Have total faith and it will turn.

6. Cat Stretch with Light & Music Stimulation
First, get in a "cat-stretch" position: on all fours, head lower than rear end. You can use pillows to kneel on. Take a flashlight, turn it on, and put the light against your lower abdomen directly the skin - the lower, the better. At the same time, use a walkman or portable CD player's headset against the lowest part of your belly, with music turned on (but not blasting-loud). The fetus will hear the music and see the light, both encouraging him/her to turn toward it, i.e., your pelvis. Try for 30-45 minutes. You may need to do deep breathing - the baby will be MOVING!

 

[TwinMom7]

I'm printing out a lot of these hints for her - but just not the scarey stories. She's paranoid enough as it is.

Thanks so much to all of you!

 

[McKelly]

My first baby was frank breech and estimated at 11 lbs., she had to be delivered via C-section. My second baby was transverse breech and I scheduled a C-section, did not want to take any chances and he was estimated at 9lbs. They had to cut me up and down though. I don't know if it was because of how big he was or because of how he was lying in the womb. But now I have two scars on my tummy and the kids each know which one was theirs!! I will tell you though, my transverse breech was pushing into my bladder with some part of his body and it hurt TERRIBLY!! But I would do it all over again, to make sure the baby was safe. I didn't want to take any chances!

 

[QT Pooh]

My son was transverse and I was in labor for a looooooong time. They manually turned him. It was very, very stressful, which I'm sure wasn't good for the baby. It also hurt like ****. The doctor joked and said he was glad he clipped his nails that day - I wanted to tear his heart out.

 

[ZachnElli]

My son was transverse and turned sometime before I went into labor, I don't know when. But it was in the last week. He was good sized 7lbs 12 oz and 21 1/2 inches and I'm small, but he still had room to turn. Boys never ask for directions! Good luck to your daughter and grandson!

 

[U2_rocks]

My youngest turned transverse at about 37 weeks. I did not want her manually turned, and I did not want a C-section unless absolutely necessary. I researched tricks to get a baby to turn. I decided to try the easiest first, which was to take homeopathic pulsatilla (tiny pellets you place under your tongue - pulsatilla encourages more even uterine growth/tone, which helps if a baby has gotten stuck in a bad position). I did this through a professional homeopathic doctor. I decided to give that a little while to work, and if it didn't I'd do the various exercises etc. By 38.5 weeks she had turned. She was born just before the 40 week mark, weighing 9 lb 7 oz. She wasn't well-positioned (she hadn't gotten into the optimal position when she flipped back down), and she caused a tear in my amniotic sac and a whole weekend of early labor, but it was worth it to not have to have major surgery! Others may disagree of course!

BTW: she was head down when born, but she was at a slight angle i.e. her head wasn't facing exactly the "best" direction, and the top of her skull wasn't pressing evenly on all the right places, which gave a lot of false signals about starting labor, and put pressure on the side of the amniotic sac instead of at the mouth of the cervix where it belongs. None of this was dangerous to anyone - just a bit more uncomfortable and annoying for me. But nothing like recovering from a C would have been!

In the end it boils down to personal choice. If she plans to have other children after this one, a C now will really restrict her options with her future kids and increase her risks if she decides to not have a repeat C. If she's happy with the idea of a C now and probable Cs for future kids, then she may want to go ahead and plan for one just in case. I knew I would avoid a C except in extreme necessity, so I was more motivated to try to turn that stubborn transverse baby! She may not be so motivated.

I agree with others that manual turning is dicey, and I didn't want it done.

PS: breech turning techniques: http://www.birthbabiesandbeyond.net/turningbreech.html

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

If transverse is sideways--my SIL just delivered via C-cetion her baby. He was sideways breach, considered too big (HA--almost a full pound less than my youngest was, but I digress my kid wasn't breach), and she had low amniotic fluid. Her baby---so it is up to her to listen to her doctor, but the same doc also told her that after she was 6 months along, she couldn't travel anymore. She was low risk and no issues and in her early 30s. I'm surprised that they didn't give her an inkling of a suggestion of what she could do.

I don't know how her low fluid played into it--but I just feel they could have tried before he got much bigger. He'd been breach for a while (a long while).

 

[CarolAnnC]

My second baby (20 yrs old now) had turned transverse after I had an emergency appendectomy in my 7th month. She had been head down, but apparently the trauma of surgery caused her to turn this way. The doctor had me lay on my back, put my feet up on top of my headboard, with pillows under my back for support. He also had my put my feet over my head whenever possible, not easy since I was recuperating from the surgery. AFter a couple of weeks, I was laying on the sofa with my feet way up on top, watching Dynasty, lol, when she turned head down again. Boy the earth really moved, lol.

Good luck to your friend.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with my DS when he turned from a head down position to transverse (it felt like he was rock climbing in there). The doctors were NOT happy. But within few weeks, he turned head down again (this time it felt, and looked, like he stood up and laid down the right way...DH and I just watched, stunned). He was born 2 days late (I was induced) and weighed 11 lbs 5 oz. It can happen.

Good luck to your DD, and congratulations Grandma!