My sister just had a baby and it was born breached and?

Question

first, the doctor induced her at 36 weeks and delivered the baby butt first

then the baby's oxygen level dropped to 79 and his arms and legs turned purple, but as long as he stayed in the oxygen tent he was OK

she was fine, no high blood pressure, no toxemia, and she wasn't in labor, she was having some contractions and was dialated 1cm when he gave induced labor

so is it normal to induce at 36 weeks?

is it normal to birth a breached baby?

if anybody has heard of anything like this, or any thoughts on this, please tell me about it

Answer 1

36 weeks is the first week that the baby is considered 'full term'. however, inducing at 36 weeks seems premature. why not just leave the baby in there for another 4 weeks and let the lungs develop. i have never heard of a doctor delivering a breech baby. usually they do a c-section. i think your sister is very lucky that her baby came out ok.

Answer 2

Inducing at 36 weeks unless the health of the baby or the mother is at risk is not a safe thing to do. At 36 weeks the baby's lungs can still be immature. The baby may not have a properly developed suck. And, due to the prematurity and lack of insulating body fat, temperature regulation can be a problem, as well as maintain a healthy blood glucose level.
Vaginally delivering he breech position is frowned upon, and has not been done in the hospital where I work in 10 to 15 years. (We deliver approx 6000 babies/year.) Delivering a breech baby vaginally poses a significant risk. After the butt and the chest are delivered, the cervix can clamp down on the baby's neck - potentially strangling the infant.
If your sister plans to have any more children, I would strongly suggest that she find another OB/GYN before she becomes pregnant.
I hope both your sister and your nephew are home and doing well. For the first few weeks, your sister can use lots of help around the house and with the baby, so if you're nearby.......

Answer 3

My son was breech, but footling breach, so it was a Csection for us.

Do you know, did the doctor try a version? As in, did he try to turn the baby? 36 weeks is when they do that normally with breech babies, and it can induce labour.

For your questions:
No, I don't think it's normal to induce at 36 weeks, not without extensive checks to make sure the baby's lungs are okay. The doctor may have decided, though, that the baby wasn't going to turn, and an earlier birth would be easier.

Is it normal to have a breech birth? Something like 5% of all pregnancies are breech deliveries. For a period of time (late 70s through 90s?) breech position meant automatic C section. They were considered too risky. However, for normal (butt-first) deliveries it turned out to be not enough of a risk to do the more risky C-section. The risks of breech birth include baby can be injured (nerve damage to shoulders and arms) or become stuck (but that's actually more common with preemies). Contrary to popular belief, the cord around the throat thing isn't that big a risk, or so my OB told me. The bigger cord-related risk is prolapse, where the cord goes through the cervix before the baby. So now, butt-first (aka frank breech) are more commonly birthed. The more rare footling breech positions are almost automatic C sections still, as their risks are greater. My son was double footling, and the OB said she would let me try if I insisted, but that if I failed to progress or the baby showed distress, it would be an emergency C section, I would have no choice.

Oddly, not only was my son breech, so was I. And apparently I got stuck, and had turned blue, half in and half out.

(edited because I misunderstood your Q at first)

Answer 4

Delivery at 36 weeks is premature and would be appropriate only if pregnancy complications indicated the baby would be better off being delivered than left inside. It is unusual to induce when the baby is in the breech position, however depending on the experience of the doctor, it may be appropriate and avoid delivery by cesarean section. It would seem reasonable to ask why the doctor felt that premature delivery was necessary and what the risk would be to plan on inducing with the baby in this position, but the best time to ask that question would have been before it was done rather than after.

Answer 5

I haven't heard of a baby being delivered at 36 weeks but I have heard of a baby being delivered at 37 weeks. The baby came out fine. The only reason my friend's pregnancy was induced was b/c she had some unforseen problems. There had to be something wrong for the doctor to have wanted her induced. He should have told her the reasons behind it.

As for giving birth to a breach baby, No its not normal, however it is common. There are some children that do not turn head down. It can however cause some complications.

Answer 6

I havent heard of anyone inducing at that early of pregnancy. Usually after 35 weeks if the baby happens to come early she would be fine. Breech is not uncommon. Lots of babies are breech when time to deliver, that is why they do c-sections. I think if they did induce, because of the baby breech, they should have waited to see if the baby would turn over, which is something that they do at the last few weeks. I think this Dr jumped the gun. Who know, maybe not. Doesn't sound right. Hope your sister and new baby is doing great though!!!

Answer 7

I dont understand why they wouldnt have done a C section on her, thats one of the main reasons they do c sections. But personally I have never heard anyone being induced at 36 weeks just because. I know if they have problems sometimes they will but usually they make you wait it out as long as possible. Im 38 weeks n 3 days and Ive had high blood pressure since I was 36 weeks, and he still hasnt induced me.

Answer 8

Yeah it is common to be induced at 36 weeks. As for delivering a breeched baby I'm not too sure. My best friends baby was breech so the doc inserted her hand to turn the baby the right way as she wouldn't let her deliver in the breech position

Answer 9

There are a number of reasons to induce labor. Insufficient fluid, the baby's heart rate was dropping, the baby was losing weight, maybe the baby was bigger than it was suppose to be. My Aunt gave birth to a breached baby, it is uncommon, but can be done. They usually try to turn the baby first, but this can result in problems, like the baby can't handle it and it can be very painful to the mother. Did your sister have trouble breathing during delivery? B/c my contractions were so strong that it was hard to breathe, so I had to be on oxygen to ensure that my son got enough, b/c his heart beat was dropping. The baby might of not been able to handle the hardship of delivery and was dis-stressed.

Answer 10

First of all...what was the reason for induceing her in the first place..docs dont induce for no reason....at 36 weeks the lungs arent fully developed...i went into labor at 36 weeks and they stopped it because of that...and i had my baby girl at 38 weeks than..and i wouldnt say its normal to birth a breached baby..because of risk of the cord wrapping around the babys neck..so im not really understanding this situation...id try asking a doctor that knows something..ask your obgyn