Spontaneous turning
Throughout your pregnancy, you will notice your baby turning and moving in all directions. As the pregnancy progresses toward the end, there will be less and less space. The spontaneous turning of your baby from the head to the breech presentation and back again will become increasingly difficult. At the check-up around 35 weeks, we want to know for sure how the baby is lying at that moment. With the ultrasound we look at the baby’s position. If your baby is breech earlier than 35 weeks, you don’t have to worry, just wait and see, you still have time for spontaneous rotation. If you have any questions, you can always ask one of your midwives.
Your baby is breech, now what?
Most children lie head down around 35-36 weeks. Sometimes this is not the case and your baby lies in a breech position (3% of all pregnancies in the Netherlands). If during the check-up around 35/36 weeks it turns out that your baby is in a breech presentation, your midwife will tell you in detail at that time how to proceed.
The cause of breech presentation (85%) often remains unknown. In a multiple pregnancy, an exposed placenta or certain uterine or infant abnormalities, a breech presentation does occur more often. We would prefer your baby to be in a head first position by the end of your pregnancy, before giving birth, because giving birth to a baby in the breech presentation gives a greater chance of complications during and after delivery. Giving birth to a baby in the breech presentation is possible in some situations. This birth always takes place in the hospital where you will be accompanied by the doctor.
External version
We now briefly explained the procedure if you are referred to the hospital for an external version. An external version is the turning of the child with the hands through the abdomen from breech to head position. This is done by a versionist. Versions experts work in a team (obstetrician and doctor) in the hospital with sufficient knowledge and skill to turn the baby. Before the version, the ultrasound will be used to see exactly how the baby is lying. You lie on your bed and your belly is relaxed. Your baby’s heartbeat will be monitored by CTG. The chance of success of the version is about 50% and depends on how many weeks you are pregnant, the amount of amniotic fluid, the position of the placenta and the thickness of the abdominal wall.