Before the arrival of her second child, Vanessa Fisher and her husband, Nick, created a birth plan together. The couple decided that they wanted to have a home birth with a midwife and even intended to do a lotus birth, where the baby's umbilical cord isn't cut and instead is left attached until it naturally detaches. However, her baby boy was breech, and this mom from Texas was extremely apprehensive about attempting to deliver him naturally in this position.
When Vanessa was 28 weeks, she found out that her baby was breech.
She patiently waited and hoped that her baby boy would change positions, but as the weeks went by and her due date approached, he was still feet-first. Vanessa was determined to have a natural home birth and was afraid of what delivering a breech baby would be like, so her midwife suggested that she consider external cephalic version (ECV). "The ECV was a relatively new concept for us," Vanessa tells CafeMom. "At that point I was afraid to have a breech delivery based solely on information that I had read online. In a discussion with [my midwife], she explained that breech birth was natural and not any more painful than delivering baby in a head-down position."
Despite learning that she could still try for a breech delivery, Vanessa and her husband Nick decided to learn more about having a doctor attempt to turn the baby before she went into labor. "Although fascinating, it sounded painful, and since my baby [had] been in the same position for so long, there were sore spots on my stomach that I didn't even like to touch myself," she says. "But the thought of him not turning — along with my misconception of breech delivery — had begun to cause me anxiety by that point, and I was open to the options."
She decided to opt for a procedure that would attempt to manually turn her baby.
After trying unsuccessful home methods, Vanessa and Nick met with Dr. Cummings, who described the procedure as well as the risks. "He stressed that although he was fully capable of performing a C-section, that he would personally prefer not to, but ultimately he was on board with whatever we decided was best for us," she says. "The most important point I took away from our conversation with Dr. Cummings was that the objective was to birth a healthy baby; how he/she comes about is secondary. It was humbling to be reminded of this. I was so determined to strictly adhere to my birth plan that I had lost sight of the fact that although we all have our preferences, our priority as mothers should be to do what needs to be done to get the baby here, in our arms."
With that in mind, she elected to attempt an EVC in his office. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, this procedure typically takes place when a woman is between 36 and 38 weeks pregnant. To perform an EVC, the health-care professional applies firm pressure to the abdomen in an attempt to have the fetus "roll" into a head-down position.
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It took her doctor two attempts to flip the baby boy in her womb.
However, Vanessa admits that she was incredibly stressed on the afternoon of the first attempt, and Dr. Cummings stopped before being able to turn her baby. "I was tense and possibly still slightly apprehensive about the procedure, which it made it more difficult to turn the baby," she says. "He stopped there, concerned that it was too painful for me."
Instead, he offered to try again in a hospital setting with medicine available to help her relax. This changed everything for Vanessa.
Nick captured the (surprisingly quick) second attempt on video.
"In the video we shared, I had the weekend to discuss the procedure with my husband," she says. "Mentally I was able to prepare, decided that I wouldn't make it more complicated than it had to be, and I was going to relax and do what I needed to do to make better situation for my baby. Physically, there was a lot of pressure; it was unpleasant. You might notice that I almost grabbed the doctor's hand when he was pushing on a sore spot. I knew that I was in good hands, and he was done so quickly I was very impressed. The peace of mind that came with the success of the procedure was priceless."
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At almost 42 weeks, Vanessa hasn't delivered yet -- but she's eagerly awaiting her little one's arrival.
Vanessa's due date was December 31, and after doctors checked that it's still safe to wait, she's patiently holding out until he decides to make his arrival. "The baby is doing great breathing, active, with plenty of amniotic fluid. And he is still in the head-down position!" she says.
In the meantime, she hopes that her experience breaks stereotypes surrounding breech pregnancies.
Vanessa and Nick explained that they decided to share their experience in the hopes that it empowers other women.
"It was important to us to share the video to make others aware that there are options available to them, as well as professionals who are dedicated to seriously considering and honoring the desires of mothers through pregnancy and child birth," she says. "My husband and I chose a natural path for care and delivery for this pregnancy. It has been enlightening and liberating to be able to experience this process on our terms … Although in some cases it is needed, C-sections shouldn't be the first and only solution to any and every hiccup in pregnancy. I don't like to see a doctor's convenience or pharmaceutical profit take precedence over a mother's right to make good choices concerning her own body and child. Childbearing is a blessing, not a business."
