US woman Vanessa Fisher has shared footage of her doctor performing a successful External Cephalic Version (ECV) on her unborn baby.
For a baby to be delivered vaginally, it must be positioned head down in the womb, a process that usually occurs naturally in the weeks before going into labour. If this doesn’t happen (three to four per cent of babies will still be breech at 37 weeks) a ECV can be used to turn a foetus from a breech position (feet down) to a head-down position.
"It involves actually physically turning the baby by placing hands on the woman's uterus to almost help the baby do somersaults inside the uterus," Doctor Joanne Stone told Health.
The overall success rate for ECV is approximately 60 per cent and the risk of causing harm to the mother or the baby is low — less than one per cent.
In the caption on her Facebook video Vanessa wrote: “Prior to the procedure, we attempted a number of other methods to turn the baby naturally. Ultimately, our goal is to avoid a cesarean section by any means possible.”
In the incredible video, you can see the doctor manoeuvre Vanessa’s bump until the baby is in the correct position.
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"Physically, there was a lot of pressure; it was unpleasant," Fisher told CafeMom of the procedure. "You might notice that I almost grabbed the doctor's hand when he was pushing on a sore spot."
The video has been shared 27,000 from her page, as well as being picked up by Facebook community Love What Matters.
Despite a successful result (her son Ashton Nathaniel Fisher was born "healthy and handsome" this morning) some commenters took issue with her attitude towards C-sections.
"First let me just say that is awesome and I'm glad that it all worked out well. IDK y people get so weirded out about C-sections though. If it's needed it's needed," one wrote. "Get my baby out alive and healthy and I don't care what the FB birthing police have to say."
"Why are people so against C Sections?" wrote another commenter. "I had my son via C Section. I had the option to try and do a version if I wanted, but there are risks that come along with it that I was not willing to take those risks on my baby. Everyone has their own choice/preference but don't look down on those that did not have their baby vaginally."
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