Tilly's Birth Story
So, our darling daughter, Tilly May Megan, was born 3.9kg on 9 October 2014. She was frank breech from about 32w, she turned at about 35w but only for a couple of days and then turned back (so frustrating!). My husband and I tried EVERYTHING to encourage her to turn for those weeks leading up to her birth. The Breech Birth Australia and New Zealand Facebook group was so helpful for working out what our options were and hearing about other people’s experiences.
I went to acupuncture sessions, two different chiros, Jules (my husband) patiently burned a moxa stick next to each of my pinky toes every night for weeks, I spent hours lying inverted on an ironing board with a pack of frozen peas on bubba’s head, a heat pack at the other end of my tummy to encourage her to head for the warm as well as a small speaker playing Vivaldi (who knew babies liked Vivaldi?!). Oh, and shining a torch into my stomach also encouraging the baby to ‘head for the light’!!
Initially I was nervous about having an ECV. I have suffered from anxiety in the past and was worried the drug they administer to relax the uterus would make me too jittery and uncomfortable to be able to manage what was already a pretty full on experience. I had talked to my midwife about the possibility of having the ECV without the drug, which she said I could do, however she did suggest gently that it may be better to have the drug as well, to give the doctor every opportunity to turn the baby. We had a few weeks to think about it, and after much discussion with Jules and reading about the procedure, I decided to go for it, uterus-relaxing drug and all, to give myself the best chance of turning bub. The relaxing drug was really just like having had a few cups of coffee (it’s been a long time!) and I used my relaxation techniques to take my mind elsewhere and keep my breathing long and steady. Unfortunately the doctor despite trying very hard, moved bub’s head but couldn’t get her bum out of my pelvis. So that was that. Breech she would stay.
There was quite a bit of too-ing and fro-ing with the hospital about whether I would be able to birth her vaginally (I was very keen to) - it would all be dependent on which OB was on when I went into labour basically. There are a couple of OBs at our hospital who have experience with and are comfortable with breech births and so we were praying I'd get one of them. I had been told initially that they wouldn't induce me (the hospital as a rule doesn’t induce breeches) and that I'd have to have a c-section, even if I went into good strong labour. We were very disappointed with this 'one size fits all' blanket rule that didn't take into account our specific circumstances. But with monitoring, I was allowed to go to 42w in the hope that I would go into labour naturally.
When I was 41w2d, we had a meeting at the hospital with a doctor to book in for the c-section and discuss how things would go. I was very insistent in this meeting that I wanted the chance to deliver her naturally (if she was still frank breech the following week). The doctor heard my insistence and was sympathetic and we had the most excellent fortune of both doctors comfortable delivering breech babies being on the following week, and both were happy to induce me that day if I hadn't already gone into labour! Oh the elation!
The week passed, no labour. And so into the hospital we went for an induction. The doctor checked me and my cervix was still closed and so he inserted a pessary to encourage my cervix to open. He said that if my cervix opened within 24 hours that he would then break my waters to encourage labour, but if it was still closed, then it would be a c-section. Which were very happy with. At least the opportunity to go into natural labour. The baby's heartbeat needed to be monitored the whole time the pessary was in (24 hours) which meant an uncomfortable night in hospital.
Sadly the pessary didn't work, my cervix was still closed 24 hours later and so finally, after everything, it was time for a c-section. It wasn't the scenario we had wanted, but this was the way we were destined to finally meet our daughter. We were together, we had our wonderful midwife beside us, we had our very capable and supportive student midwife with us. Not only that, we were lucky enough to have a wonderful, understanding, compassionate registrar with her own, similar experience that she shared with me prior to the procedure. After telling me how the operation would go, she told me that her first baby had also been frank breech, and that she too had wanted to birth her vaginally but ended up with a c-section and so she was very sympathetic to my situation. My fear of being 'just another tummy in the conveyor belt of c-sections' had been allayed. I felt an affinity with the woman who would be helping my daughter come into the world, and at that stage, nothing could be more settling for me and my husband. And so, we were prepared to do this, prepared to bring our daughter into the world in a loving, calm environment, different to but not inferior to the one we had initially imagined in the Birth Centre.
In my birth plan that I had provided to and discussed with my midwife weeks earlier, I had asked for delayed cord clamping. At the time, my midwife explained that if Tilly was to be born via c-section, it was very unlikely that they would delay the clamping, as this was not hospital policy in c-sections. As I was wheeled in to theatre, my midwife came over to me very excited. She had spoken to the registrar about my birth plan, and the registrar agreed to delay the clamping if there were no other complications! And there weren't.
I went to acupuncture sessions, two different chiros, Jules (my husband) patiently burned a moxa stick next to each of my pinky toes every night for weeks, I spent hours lying inverted on an ironing board with a pack of frozen peas on bubba’s head, a heat pack at the other end of my tummy to encourage her to head for the warm as well as a small speaker playing Vivaldi (who knew babies liked Vivaldi?!). Oh, and shining a torch into my stomach also encouraging the baby to ‘head for the light’!!
Initially I was nervous about having an ECV. I have suffered from anxiety in the past and was worried the drug they administer to relax the uterus would make me too jittery and uncomfortable to be able to manage what was already a pretty full on experience. I had talked to my midwife about the possibility of having the ECV without the drug, which she said I could do, however she did suggest gently that it may be better to have the drug as well, to give the doctor every opportunity to turn the baby. We had a few weeks to think about it, and after much discussion with Jules and reading about the procedure, I decided to go for it, uterus-relaxing drug and all, to give myself the best chance of turning bub. The relaxing drug was really just like having had a few cups of coffee (it’s been a long time!) and I used my relaxation techniques to take my mind elsewhere and keep my breathing long and steady. Unfortunately the doctor despite trying very hard, moved bub’s head but couldn’t get her bum out of my pelvis. So that was that. Breech she would stay.
There was quite a bit of too-ing and fro-ing with the hospital about whether I would be able to birth her vaginally (I was very keen to) - it would all be dependent on which OB was on when I went into labour basically. There are a couple of OBs at our hospital who have experience with and are comfortable with breech births and so we were praying I'd get one of them. I had been told initially that they wouldn't induce me (the hospital as a rule doesn’t induce breeches) and that I'd have to have a c-section, even if I went into good strong labour. We were very disappointed with this 'one size fits all' blanket rule that didn't take into account our specific circumstances. But with monitoring, I was allowed to go to 42w in the hope that I would go into labour naturally.
When I was 41w2d, we had a meeting at the hospital with a doctor to book in for the c-section and discuss how things would go. I was very insistent in this meeting that I wanted the chance to deliver her naturally (if she was still frank breech the following week). The doctor heard my insistence and was sympathetic and we had the most excellent fortune of both doctors comfortable delivering breech babies being on the following week, and both were happy to induce me that day if I hadn't already gone into labour! Oh the elation!
The week passed, no labour. And so into the hospital we went for an induction. The doctor checked me and my cervix was still closed and so he inserted a pessary to encourage my cervix to open. He said that if my cervix opened within 24 hours that he would then break my waters to encourage labour, but if it was still closed, then it would be a c-section. Which were very happy with. At least the opportunity to go into natural labour. The baby's heartbeat needed to be monitored the whole time the pessary was in (24 hours) which meant an uncomfortable night in hospital.
Sadly the pessary didn't work, my cervix was still closed 24 hours later and so finally, after everything, it was time for a c-section. It wasn't the scenario we had wanted, but this was the way we were destined to finally meet our daughter. We were together, we had our wonderful midwife beside us, we had our very capable and supportive student midwife with us. Not only that, we were lucky enough to have a wonderful, understanding, compassionate registrar with her own, similar experience that she shared with me prior to the procedure. After telling me how the operation would go, she told me that her first baby had also been frank breech, and that she too had wanted to birth her vaginally but ended up with a c-section and so she was very sympathetic to my situation. My fear of being 'just another tummy in the conveyor belt of c-sections' had been allayed. I felt an affinity with the woman who would be helping my daughter come into the world, and at that stage, nothing could be more settling for me and my husband. And so, we were prepared to do this, prepared to bring our daughter into the world in a loving, calm environment, different to but not inferior to the one we had initially imagined in the Birth Centre.
In my birth plan that I had provided to and discussed with my midwife weeks earlier, I had asked for delayed cord clamping. At the time, my midwife explained that if Tilly was to be born via c-section, it was very unlikely that they would delay the clamping, as this was not hospital policy in c-sections. As I was wheeled in to theatre, my midwife came over to me very excited. She had spoken to the registrar about my birth plan, and the registrar agreed to delay the clamping if there were no other complications! And there weren't.
I bled very little and Tilly was breathing very well. And so, despite being born via c-section, Tilly was still able to benefit from all of the rich, oxygenated blood in her cord. I was so relieved to see her in all her perfect glory.
This photo is of me feeding Tilly on the table. This was, again, a particularly rare event in a c-section, but when Tilly was brought over to me, I could see she wanted to feed straight away (she had tried to attach to my husband's nose as he carried her over he later told me!). I asked if I could feed her, and again, the wonderful registrar said she had enough room and wholeheartedly encouraged my midwife to make it happen. And so Tilly and I were able to share this moment, only moments after her birth. This was one of the most profound experiences of my life.
All in all we had such a wonderfully positive experience, despite it not looking like what we had initially imagined. Even though it wasn't low lights and a warm, soothing bath, my husband and I were so fortunate to have such a caring and professional team supporting us and Tilly was born into a very calm, loving and respectful environment, which, when it boils down, was actually the essence of what we had initially wanted.
