Breech is a variation of normal. I could hear the panic in my client’s voice. She was walking out of her 32 week appointment with her OB and she yelled into the phone, “I need this baby to turn head down. I don’t want to have a c-section!”
Breech happens. Breech babies can be in multiple different positions including bottom presenting, foot presenting, & transverse. Before 28 weeks, around 25% of babies are in the breech position, with feet or butt closer to the cervix than the head. By 32 weeks, only 7% of babies are still in breech, and by 40 weeks only 3-4% are. Breech babies cause lots of stress for parents, especially because here in the US the vast majority of breech presenting babies will be born via planned cesarean surgical birth, and that isn’t most people’s first choice. As a doula, I honestly don’t start worrying about breech babies until around 35 weeks, partly because I know they most always turn, and partly because I know that I’ve advised my clients to do all they can do to help optimize baby’s position if they can. I also don’t really “worry” about them, because I know breech presentation is a variation of normal, but I DO worry for my clients who might now be navigating very different birth options than they were expecting and wanting.
What do I tell my clients with breech babies?
Here are my 3 approaches for turning that breech baby head down:
- Two Techniques to try: I advise all my clients to do the Spinning Babies Daily Activities, but when breech is concerned, there are some techniques to turn a breech that SB also has. The other thing clients do on their own is moxibustion, which is a Chinese Medicine technique that has a 60% success rate.
- Services such as chiropractors that are trained in the Webster Method can also help. We like to recommend: Baker Family Chiropractic (Henderson), Core Chiropractic (Evansville & Henderson), Edelen Chiropractic and Wellness (Owensboro), Integrated Physical Medicine (Evansville), VSC Wellness (Evansville), & Wittman Family Chiropractic and Sports Therapy (Richland). Some of these chiropractors also do acupuncture and craniosacral therapy which can be helpful. NorthHill Therapeutic Bodywork is another resource for craniosacral therapy that could be helpful for turning that breech baby.
- Talk to your provider to see if you might be a good candidate for them to perform an External Cephalic Version or ECV. This is a procedure that they perform, often in the hospital, where you lay flat on your back while your OB uses their hands to literally push your belly to turn baby to be head down while guided by an ultrasound technician. This can be really painful, and often people get an epidural before it and are induced immediately afterwards.
I do not currently know any providers working in any of the hospitals where I attend births who assist with vaginal breech births, unless the breech baby happens to be baby B in a set of twins. I am hopeful that the continued work by Breech Without Borders and other awesome researchers and providers, like Dr. Frank Louwen in Germany, will pull this practice back into the norm. I do know home birth providers who are trained and comfortable providing vaginal breech assistance if that is an option for you.
I hope these suggestions are helpful for you! I know that a baby in the breech presentation can be there for many different reasons. I’ve had clients who have had heart shaped uteri where baby was never going to turn head down no matter what they tried, and they tried ALL the things. I’ve also had clients who had successful ECVs and vaginal births, and others who struggled through the ECV only to end up with a surgical birth anyway. You have to decide what you are able and willing to do to try to turn your baby, and sometimes that’s nothing, and that’s ok too.
