Last Saturday the gynae confirmed that our baby’s still breech. For some time about getting an External Cephalic Version (ECV) to try to make him turn. A friend informed me about a gynae who would be able to do it. I had almost made up my mind, when I stumbled upon this article.

Many sources state that this ECV is relatively safe, but that doesn’t mean that there is no risk. Here are some of them:
- Premature labor
- Premature rupture of the membranes
- A small blood loss for either the baby or the mother
- Fetal distress leading to an emergency cesarean delivery
- The baby might turn back to the breech position after the external cephalic version is done

The average success rate is about 65%. Even if the procedure works at first, there’s still a chance that the baby will turn back around to the breech position. That may not sound so bad, but mommies should note that this procedure is very painful. The same friend who informed about the gynae said that her friend opted for C-section after trying this ECV, because she couldn’t stand the pain. Another one told me that she did it, and it left her with pain on her tummy for as long as one week, and even then it didn’t work.

Another thing we should consider, being in Singapore, is the cost. Surely we wouldn’t want anything bad to happen, but in the case of emergencu C-section, it would be a lot more expensive than the scheduled one. Here is an estimated bill size from general hospitals here. If you plan to give birth in a private hospital, expect higher price.

So, for now we’re just hoping for the best, and sticking to the good old ways: lots of squatting, floor mopping and crawling with my head lower than my thighs. There’s still time for our baby to turn — and hopefully he will, being a good boy that he is. :-)