Turning a Breech Baby

http://www.mothering.com/articles/body_soul/bodywise/bree...

Try the breech tilt. Some sware by it.

my son was breech as well and I had an appt to have him turned and i ended up cancelling it. after doing some research the success rate (65-70%) was not high enough to justify the potential risk to the baby by doing so, and there are significant (possible) risks. The people i spoke to that either had it done or knew someone that did said they would not do it again.

I ended up having a c-section, and although the recovery was a little longer for me than my first pregnancy, I would not have made a different decision.

Good Luck!

I didn't read all the other responses, but I have two friend who have had much luck in turning a baby in breech position with acupuncture.

I did not have this happen to myself, fortunately :) But being a homeopathic practitioner know that we commonly use the remedy Pulsatilla in 1M potency to turn the baby around. Many midwives either know how to use essential pregnancy/birthing/postpardum remedies or consult us. She might want to try the Pulsatilla, email me for instructions/where to get it.
Wishing her well,
Liz

Oregon law does allow Midwives to birth breech babies, Birthing centers are not licensed for birthing Breech babies.

External Versions (which is what your SIL's appointment is) can be painful. It doesn't always mean that the baby will stay that way. T J had many of the alternate ways to turn the baby. The one that I have seen the most success with is talking to the baby (both Mom and Dad) and asking it to turn or in some cases ordering it to turn. The other one that I have seen have better luck with is laying on the back with the pelvis tipped up, so that the baby is forced to move back into the torso area, which allows room for baby to rotate if it is stuck in the pelvic floor.

If your SIL is scared of any of this have her talk to midwives with in the hospital (if she is going through a hospital) some of them are willing to work with breech babies.

Birthing breech babies does carry a slightly higher risk of issues if the person who is monitoring the birth doesn't know how to deal with them, but a well trained midwife would have experience and would know what to do if there are issues. This is coming from a Mom who delivered twin breech babies.

Good luck for your SIL.

S.

I know people who have had the baby turn (one after labor had started) through prayer (as they attribute it and I would agree but obviously that is a matter of faith)

but more normally, the midwifery community might be able to help out. I've read about the all-fours method, but I hadn't heard it was painful (perhaps that is such a Known Fact that the midwife literature didn't feel the need to mention it for those of us sneaking a peek into their conversation). There were also discussions of other things: other positions, homeopathy, acupuncture ... and of course discussions of breech births, which are still largely accepted within the midwifery community (state laws may mandate what a licensed midwife can do; in Oregon for instance I am pretty sure a licensed midwife can't deliver a known breech, although a non-licensed one can choose to ... but that requirement actually pushes midwives to gather all the knowledge they can about how to turn breech babies, which is probably not a bad thing ;) ).

If your SIL is open to such things, she could contact a naturopath with a women/birth focus, or a midwife with a naturopathic focus, or add the more "woo woo" type of chiropractic (the kind that works more openly with body energies) or a woman/baby acupuncturist (again, looking for one that more openly acknowledges body energies, because a strict-to-'science' acupuncturist will be fixing only the mom's direct qi flows, by the book, and turning a baby would require acknowledging the energy and effort dance inherent in pregnancy, birth, and childrearing.

'K, that's my "woo woo" answer for today ;).

I hope no matter what her birth is like that it is beautiful. The one one one universal thing is to minimize fear--fear guarantees pain and trouble in birth in a more immediate way than in the rest of life ( ;) ), and hope and trust lead us to joy ... no matter what the process ends up being.

I was in this situation last year. From what I know, if the baby was able to turn from right to wrong it should be able to turn back. My baby was too big to turn right but never was right to begin with.
I was too scared to try the version (turning) after hearing how painful it was, statistics, and others' personal experiences and am glad I didn't try. I preferred to have a planned c-section than try the version and end up with an emergency c-section if the cord got wrapped around the baby, or if it worked and she turned again.

I did the all fours, upside down position, flashlight and music on my lower belly, acupuncture with moxa, and chiropractic webster technique but had a great c-section experience and would choose it all over again!

My second child was breech and we tried a version. It was rather uncomfortable and unsuccessful. I tried some of the ideas listed here as well but my little one just would not budge. We ended up having a c-section. When I compare my two birth experiences I actually prefer the c-section but that probably has more to do w/ the difficulties I experienced the first time around. Best of luck to your sister in law. I pray that no matter how it all turns out her baby is healthy and her recovery is smooth.

I had an external cephalic version with my daughter last year, at about 37 weeks of pregnancy. She had turned breech by 34 weeks and all attempts to get her to turn back on her own were in vain.
The doctor who was turning her made it very clear that he would not FORCE her, just gently help her along. I had an ultrasound before the procedure and they hooked me up to the monitor for a while to make sure she was ok and also to see which way to turn her around.
The doctor slathered my belly in ultrasound gel, then pushed my lower belly up to lift her butt out of my pelvis. This was uncomfortable because if the pressure on my bladder. With his other hand her pushed on the side of my belly to show her to move. On the third try she got it and flipped around. After she turned they monitored me for another 30 min and I was told to walk a lot and remain upright after the procedure, which I did.
She remained vertex from then on and was born the next week after a nice and easy, speedy delivery, all natural without any drugs, which was what I had hoped for.

The procedure was not at all painful, just uncomfortable and I would do it again any time to get out of a sure c-section. It is true, that there is no guarantee, however, the doctor I saw was recommended by my midwife as the best baby-turner in Seattle, and I would definitely suggest that she asks around for someone with experience. He said he could get them to turn in most cases and had never go anything wrong. He also mentioned that the most important thing was to make sure beforehand, that the mother and baby are good candidates for a version (not heavily overweight, baby not too large or too small, enough amniotic fluid, no pre-term labor and a few other things).
Congrats and good luck to your sister.

My DD turned Frank Breech the week before I was due. Although I was not able to have her manually turned due to low amino. fluid and I had a high chance of having placenta previa, I was given 24 hours to try more "natural" ways to turn her. I went and had accupuncture. I was told that it has been successful for woman who had more time to do it. I was told 3x/week would help. I also laid inverted on my ball. The next day, she was transverse breech, so she did move a little. I still had to have a C-section unfortunately.

Good luck to your SIL!

My little one was breech up to labor. My doctor had me on all fours on the bed during labor and she turned by herself! I don't recall having any pain--other than labor. Good luck!!

My doctor attempted to turn my breech baby. It was unsuccessful (we later found out the cord was wrapped around her neck) and very painful. This was 17 years ago and I was very young. I am sure it made more of an impact on me because of this.

My advice to her is don't bother with the painful (and dangerous to the baby) procedure. One of my babies was fine for months, and then breech at my 39 week appointment. By the appointment on my due date she had turned and stayed that way until I delivered her 10 days later. My friend's baby turned during labor!
There is information online about the positions she should be putting herself in for the best chance of baby turning. She should sit Indian-style on the floor all the time, or if she has to sit in a chair she should sit backward. She should get on her hands and knees multiple times a day. (The heaviest part of the baby (head) will fall to the lowest point.) She can even add music and/or light to her lower pelvis to encourage baby to turn it's head to the sound/light.
Dancing - shifting weight from one foot to the other - with a partner or the wall helps, too, if she's leaning slightly forward with her legs spread a bit wider than shoulder width apart.
As a last resort, my sister in law delivered her baby knowing she was breech, and said it wasn't any harder than her other kids. However, some dr's won't do that because they're afraid of a lawsuit if something goes wrong. Anyway, she shouldn't worry. Odds are good that baby will turn within 2 weeks.

My son at about 3 weeks was breech and (almost) placenta previa.

The doctor looked over my (10 lb) baby belly and said you maybe having a caesarean delivery. I was very concerned.

I went home, told my husband and learned what I could. Then about 5 nights later, when I was laying on my side tummy, he turned, I raised my whole body 3 to 5 inches off the bed (really!) and rubbed him. But since he was my first I did not know that he turned, until I went to the next apt.

I ended up giving natural childbirth with no meds. I considered myself to be very lucky.

So babies can turn at any time. I wish your friend luck. When the baby turned for me it was a shock/painful for me, but much better than caesarean delivery, in my opinion.

I was told that my first child was breech and did exercises that my doctor gave me of standing and bending forward leaning on the back of a chair(seat away from you) and rotating my hips in a circular motion. I did this several times a day and was pleased to find out that my son had turned. This can also be done on your hands and knees. I also moved my hips forward and backwards. Good luck to you and many blessings

My 3rd baby was transverse, and was turning all around on his own right up until the end. I never felt him turn, so I doubt external version, if they'd done it, wouldhave been painful, jsut a little pressure. Prob would be the same for your sil. He was head down when I went in for the version, then they started an inductin since he was in position, but he flipped transverse during labor and I ended up having c/s. Foudn out it is not uncommon for 3rd and later pregnancies to have a looser uterus so the baby can turn more easily into odd positions. She'll just have to decide what she's comfortable with, but my suggestion would be if they do the version, ask if she can be induced immediately afterwards to reduce the chance that baby would turn back (altho' my baby did just that anyway...) I don't think all the positions and method work with a looser uterus, I did all of them and baby would flip, then just flip back. Good luck to her!

My first child was head-up. The doctor tried turning her. It was very painful and did not work. I had my dauther by c-section the next week. Then I had my son naturally 2 years later. Just warn your sister-in-law that it is painful and it does not always work. It is worth a try if she wants to have a normal delivery. Would I try it again, of course, it was 10 years ago.

My second child was transverse. My doctor did an external version, which successfully kept the baby head down for a few days. Then, the baby flipped transverse again. I had another version a week later, which lasted for a few days, then...back to transverse! Neither of the versions hurt. A little pressure, but no pain. My OB was very skilled, though, and I also think I have a high tolerance for pain. Things that bother others don't seem to bother me.

After this, I tried laying inverted and then lighting moxibustion sticks (purchased cheaply from an acupuncturist) between my toes. THAT was fun, but didn't work. Baby just liked being sideways.

A few weeks later, my water broke, baby was still sideways, so I needed an emergency c-section. After opening me up, my doctor told me I had an inverted, bicornuate uterus (heart-shaped) which probably contributed to baby being transverse. Although my other two children were head down, and delivered vaginally. Hmm. It's a mystery!

Best wishes to your sis in law.

Hands and knees is a great start.
If she can go in for some acupuncture that might also help. Or chiropractic adjustment might also help.
Some babies keep turning up until they are born.
Here are a few other things.
1. Visualizing the baby moving down with the head very deep in your pelvis, several times a day; especially in conjunction with positions and exercises below.
2. Swimming as often as possible. This keeps your body and pelvis loose and relaxed. Do in conjunction with headstand below if you have help.
3. Headstand - with assistance and in a pool frequently as possible.
4. Breech Tilt - begin at 32-35 weeks gestation. Do 3 times daily for 10-15 minutes each time, when you have an empty stomach, and the baby is active. Prop one end of an ironing board securely on a sofa or chair 12 to 18 inches high (or may use slant board). Lie down, bend knees but keep feet flat on board. Relax, breathe deeply, avoid tensing. May also use pillows on a flat surface to raise hips 12-18" above shoulders. Gravity pushes the baby's head into the fundus, tucks it, and baby can then do a somersault to a vertex position.
5. CD/iPod headphones - place them inside mom's pants toward her pubic bone and play classical music for 10 minutes 6-8 times a day.
6. Flashlight - try moving slowly down from the top of the uterus toward your pubic bone while you are in a breech tilt position.
7. Massage - start with your left hand at the bottom of the abdomen and your right hand just above it. Move move your hands clockwise around the right side of your tummy. As your right hand reaches the top of your abdomen, slide the left one over your right and move it down the left side of your tummy. Your left hand leads as you you come full circle, continuing clockwise. Massage gently as you would to apply lotion. Massage for ten minutes or more up to several times each day.
8. Clothespin - place on the small toe of each foot at the outside corner of the toenail; sideways so that the toenail and toepad are stimulated for 30 minutes per day, this is an acupressure point that is a "moving down" point. You can also do this with just finger pressure as you remember to do it.
9. Motion Sickness band - place with the bead four fingerwidths above the inner ankle bone - another acupressure point that is used for stimulation of the uterus. Do not use this point if you are experiencing any pre-term labor.
10. Glass of orange or other juice - follow this with a side-lying position with your hips positioned higher than your feet. Babies move more after a sugar high!
11. Pelvic Tilt- with an ice pack on the top of your tummy on an empty stomach, 10 minutes twice a day. Do this while lying on your back on the floor with knees flexed and feet on the floor with three large pillows placed under your buttocks. Try this in conjunction with headphones and visualization.
12. Cat stretch - start with all fours, then lay your head and chest flat on the floor with your buttocks in the air, as you round your back and return to all fours.
13. Knee-chest position - by kneeling with hips flexed slightly more than 90 degree, but with thighs not pressing against your tummy and your head, shoulders and upper chest are flat on a mattress for 15 minutes every two waking hours for five days.
14. Belly Relaxing followed by Inversion - Partner places a shawl, sheet, towel or rebozo under mom's hips as she lays on the floor. Lift up on the corners of the cloth and shimmy her from side to side moving your hands up and down to wiggle her belly from side to side. These should be very small movements which mom should find very relaxing. Do this for about 5 minutes. Then mother kneels on the stairway landing. Walk your hands down 2 or 3 stairs into an all fours position; have your partner support your shoulders to balance you. Remain in this position for about 5-10 minutes or as long as comfortable. Also do this on an empty stomach.

The following techniques to turn breech babies to vertex involve the assistance of a specialist or medical professional:

15. Acupuncture - find a acupuncturist who is familiar with pregnancy and knows the points to stimulate for turning a breech baby.
16. Webster's Breech Technique - see a Chiropractor who is experienced in this technique.
17. External Version - this can be done in the hospital at about 37 weeks; see an Ob-Gyn for assistance and more information.

Your poor sister-in-law! I found out my son was breech at 36 weeks pregnant. I tried getting on all fours, lying on my back with my feet in the air against the wall, and elevating the end of my bed with cinder blocks so the end was 6 inches higher than the head of the bed.

Nothing worked, so I did elect to try to have my doctor turn the baby. It was VERY painful as the baby had pressed up against a rib, and I'm pretty sure my rib was bruised in the process. I trusted my doctor and his success rate was about 50%. Your sister-in-law should ask her doctor the success rate before she considers trying this procedure.

I ended up having a scheduled c-section because the baby never turned and he was a "frank breech" meaning he was hugging his legs, so there was no way I was going to try a vaginal delivery.

Best of luck to her...

My baby was in the breech position and I had a chiropractor perform the Webster technique on me and in the first session the baby turned. It is definitely worth a try and there is absolutely no pain involved.

i seem to be in the minority here but i did have an aversion, without pain meds, and it wasn't painful at all (other than my dr's scratchy nails). sure it was uncomfortable but it worked. well sort of. turns out i have a strangely-shaped uterus so my baby's head fit better up top. she'd get her flipped and then my baby would flip right back to the top. i didn't go into labor and we proceeded with a scheduled c-section a few days later. they only found that my uterus was weird after they delivered the placenta and had a look at my uterus.

My 1 month old was breech until a week before he was born. I did acupuncture and sitting upside down. We also went swimming and I did a whole bunch of flips.

Who know which helped, but he did turn. I had so much fluid that I did not realize he had turned until we did an ultrasound.

Best of luck to your Sis-in-law

my baby was breech at 35 weeks. at 36 weeks i went in to have him manually turned....for me it was SOOOOOOO painful. you would have thought i was giving birth if you were standing outside of the room. the tried a few times but he just wouldnt flip. his butt was really low so they even tried to go in vaginally to help flip him (tmi!). i cried through the whole thing. i went home, my belly was so sore and bruised and i swore that i would never do that again. i tried the exercises but they never worked for me. i think my baby was too far along at 36 weeks to flip...he was just too big and too cozy. so i ended up scheduling a csection and to this day, if my next baby is breech...i will NOT try to manually turn the baby for a million reasons: mainly because it was too painful and i didnt like the chances of the babies cord wrapping around his neck or his heart rate going up or the potential of going into labor. although i will say that i saw a show where a woman's baby was being manually turned and she didnt even flinch. so i might just be really sensitive.

Good morning! i have had this procedure done while late in my third trimester. The procedure was not painful and was successful. Our son turned with a little nudging from the physician. Prior to undergoing this procedure I was informed that it can be uncomfortable, cause bruising and may induce labor so make sure that everyone is ready for the "potentials". Good luck to your sister in law.

Sue

Getting on all fours is a start, but even better, lay your head on the floor with your bottom up in the air. The baby's head is the lightest part of its body, and wants to "float" to the highest point.

Moxibustion and acupuncture can also help.

I personally havent had any breech births but on of my babys hadnt turned far enough and they didnt relize that until many many hours of painful labor...(Pre Ultrasounfd days) they took me into the delivery room and had to push the baby back just a little and move him so his head was in the right place he was against thr right side of the pelvic instead of being against the cervics . a. Very Painful.B. I dont persomally recommend it ,but im not a dr.If It we me I would tell my dr to do a c-section . this late in the game I dont t hink that little girl is going to turn her self..there isnt enough room..My daughter in laws have blessed me with 12 grad children and some have been breech, delived by c-section because at the late stage of the game they decided to lay side ways. cute little cuddle guy he was ... he did say that if thwey are breech at this late stage they arent going anywhere.good luck ..and God Bless.....D.

let her know that my twins were both transverse 3 weeks before they were born and every night i would go on all fours and do some gentle rocking back and forth like my doctor suggested and they were head down and ready to come without a c-section when they were born. good luck!!

I have known two women who used moxibustion to turn their babies. Research it and find a practitioner...both said it worked quickly and both went on to have natural childbirths.

Here's a link about breech presentations that may be helpful
http://www.birthinternational.com/articles/andrea13.html

Best Wishes!

Hi!

my first child turned breech for a while before she was due. i tried everything form moxabustion, laying inverted with my feet above my head, even talking to our baby. she would occasionally turn a bit in one direction on her own, but then turn back onto her feet. finally i scheduled an appointment with an OB, i was working strictly with a midwife up to this point. the OB was experienced in manually turning babies with version so we gave it a try. he tried turning in one direction and she immediately popped right back. then i explained that she normally wanted to turn in the other direction. once he tried in the opposite direction it was much easier to turn her and she stayed right where he put her. like magic. as i remember i believe some medication was administered but it was not as painful as i was lead to believe. though i do have a high pain threshold. you are correct in that there is no guarantee but our stayed put. no problems after that. if you or your sister-in-law have any questions please feel free to ask. good luck!

My second was breech and didn't turn. I tried a version and chiropractic. The version was extremely painful for me and is about 50% successful. Chiropractic isn't very painful at all and has a much higher success rate, I think around 90% maybe better. The sooner she gets in and tries the better her chances baby will turn. Hope all goes well.

Hi N.,
I had my breech baby turned manually a week or 2 before birth. I was told all those things that you mentioned, but it went fine and the baby didn't turn back. Everything was smooth. I had tried being on all fours every day prior to the turning, but it didn't help. Turning the baby did hurt, but only when it was happening, it didn't hurt afterward. It certainly was nothing compared to childbirth!

Hope everything goes as smoothly for your SIL as it did for me.
J.

My daughter was breech and I did the exercises that had me lie on my back with my hips elevated several times a day. After several days, she turned, and yes, I felt it! She stayed head down after that.

Hi,
My experience with this was very painful. I had a good Dr. but the manual turning did not work for me they gave me a mild seditive to relax this does not help. My niece also had this done and she warned me ahead of time that it is painful. I guess she may base her decision on how she would like to have the baby. I ended up having a "c".
They also suggested to me to put my legs up on the couch and lay upside down to try and turn the baby yeah not so good at 8 1/2 months.
Good Luck I hope this may help.

Hi N.,

A fantastic website that you can check out is www.spinningbabies.com. They have some great articles on turning breech babies as well as options that your sister in law has. This will give her the oppertunity to decide what she feels comfortable with and make a great informed decision from there. Hope this helps. If you need any more in-depth information or have any questions, please let me know.

D. Rylander
A Blessed Birth Doula Services
###-###-####
____@____.com

I personally had to go to great legnths to have a VBAC, including driving to OHSU for all my prenatal care and delivery. When I found out I had a breech baby, I was willing to do anything, and spent a lot of time lying inverted on an angled ironing board, finally, I went to an accupuncturist for a procedure called Moxibustion at the suggestion of my midwife. It's strange, but the baby turned that night and I delivered her naturally!