Breech workshop reviews

Nathan Riley, MD

OBGYN & palliative care

I had learned very little about assisting the birth of a fetus in breech presentation throughout my obstetrics training. Naturally, the prospect scared me because I had been under the impression that it was prohibited by undue safety concerns for the baby. The Breech Without Borders workshop made me less afraid of attending a breech birth and made me confident that I could intervene when necessary. David and Rixa are providing the opportunity for birth workers to re-learn this critical skill set, and hopefully begin the slow process of reestablishing vaginal breech birth as a viable option for low-risk mothers. I recommend this workshop without reservation to any health care professional interested in improving their fundamental obstetrical skills.

Sheila Ramgopal, MD, MA

Medical Director / Allegheny Reproductive Health Center

As an general OBGYN trained in an academic, high volume setting, I was only taught breech extraction in dorsal lithotomy. As someone who tries to offer breech birth but has encountered resistance in the local hospitals, I was extremely happy to attend this workshop and interact with others who are doing this work actively. Learning about physiologic breech birth and the current data available at the Breech Without Borders workshop to support breech birth was outstanding. I feel much more empowered to provide this option for my patients and to present this information to local hospital administrations.

Karen Donald, RM

Whenuakite, NZ / LMC Midwife

The Breech Without Borders breech education course was the best comprehensive education on breech that I've been to since Maggie Banks' education on breech....This amazing course taught me the physiology of breech birth; I've never experienced being taught this properly in a course...By having this education and a great guideline, we strength our ability to strengthen the women who end up with the repercussions we have at present. We strengthen the woman, we strengthen the whanau, the hapu, the iwi...the waka...

Jonathan Scrafford, MD

OBGYN

I would recommend this workshop to any provider responsible for care at the time of delivery; it provided the best collection of videos demonstrating cardinal movements of breech delivery I have seen in one place, and it taught hands-on an array of potentially life-saving techniques to intervene when necessary. Dr. Freeze's review of clinical breech singleton deliveries was the most comprehensive and professionally outlined I have ever heard. While cesarean delivery provides a small but measurable improvement in neonatal outcomes for breech singletons, coerced or forced surgery upon an appropriately counseled woman who declines cesarean should be considered a never event; as such, maintaining skills for breech vaginal delivery remains essential for providers committed to respecting patients' autonomy.

Ms. F, LM, CPM

Midwife / Kansas, USA

I attended the Breech Birth Workshop in Rosehill, KS in October of 2018. This breech birth was the 15th breech birth I have attended at home out of 800+ births. It is the first breech birth I have attended since attending your workshop. 

And I want you to know that the workshop very much helped me recognize, in a concrete way, the physiological mechanisms of breech birth. 

I recognized complete breech with 2 feet dropping down before the rump. I recognized the proper rotation as he was descending. I recognized his lack of tone and lack of tummy crunch, lack of head flexion (NOT full perineum) and decisively did the shoulder press. It took about 30 seconds to get his head to flex. But it eventually worked or maybe he was going to flex anyway. He needed only stimulation, no PPV.