Doctor Tells All! Kim Kardashian’s Risky Procedure To Turn Breech Baby Had Serious Side Effects – Is Her Baby Okay?

What should be a special time for Kim Kardashian has turned into her worst nightmare, as the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star has faced health crisis after health crisis during her second pregnancy. Her latest medical issue was her baby’s breech position, which could have forced the reality star to undergo a C-section at birth. In an attempt to avoid the surgery, Kim received help from Dr. Elliot Berlin and his colleagues to try to turn the baby around with the procedure External Cephalic Version. Although ECV was successful, the side effects could’ve been life threatening for her unborn son.

“The water could break,” Dr. Berlin explained of the side effects. “Trauma to the placenta, the placenta could become partially detached. Also the baby's heart rate tends to go up or done and quickly recovers, if not it becomes a birth.” If any of the side effects occurred during the procedure, Kardashian would’ve had to undergo an emergency C-section.

While Dr. Berlin didn’t perform the procedure to turn baby West, he did prepare the reality star in the weeks leading up to ECV. “We work with the mother’s body,” he explained. “If we can improve the muscles and bones around the lower back, hips and pelvis, we could make for a smoother delivery.”

After weeks of trying to make her ligaments less stiff with a massage technique, Dr. Berlin turned her over to experts to perform the procedure. “Then they try to turn the baby by pushing down low by her pelvis and another doctor pushing the opposite direction on the head to manually turn the baby,” he explained.

The only side effect Kardashian did experience was pain. “It tends to be painful,” the producer of the documentary Heads Up: The Disappearing Art of Vaginal Breech Delivery said. “Unlike child birth, where people can opt for medication to numb the pain, they don’t have the option during the procedure.”