Preparing for a Planned Vaginal Breech Birth

After you have done your research and have decided to consciously plan a vaginal breech birth, here are some suggestions for preparation:

Nilaya's Birth

Ideally, you would find a provider supportive of your plan.  This might be the most difficult thing to do in San Diego.  You can see the referrals are not listed for providers at this point because they don’t want to advertise they do breech (the few who do).  You might have to plan on traveling to another part of California to have the birth that you want.  Don’t dismiss this as a possibility.

Start reading stories about vaginal breech birth and watching videos to normalize it.  Even in researching the potential risks, no matter how small, we can begin to have the single story about everything being linked to complications.  There are so many diverse stories in so very many settings for planned vaginal breech birth, reading these can normalize it.

Stay connected to your baby in preparations rather than focusing on what everyone else thinks you should do for your birth.  Once you’ve chosen to birth breech vaginally there may be a shift away from convincing baby to turn head down.  Acknowledge this shift in perception.

Prepare for your birth like you would a head down baby.  Make sure those who are accompanying you are thrilled to be there, supportive of your decision, and that they will be helpful.  Telling people who are going to have a lot of worry that you’re in labor may not be useful.  Figure out “the next best thing” plan if your plans are deterred and talk about how you can stay connected as a family in all circumstances.

What if you don’t have a supportive and skilled provider on board?  Here are suggestions for searching for a supportive and skilled provider.