If Your Baby Is Breech - What Can You Do To Help?

If you doctor or midwife tells you that your baby is breech, don't panic. It's not severe and there are ways that you can try and turn him.

What does it mean when your baby is breech?

What it means is that your baby is not in the head down position, that is more favourable for birth. The baby may be lying feet down, or bottom down towards your cervix. Your midwife can normally tell if you are carrying your baby in the breech position.

By 37 weeks of your pregnancy, most babies are pointing head down, only around three or four per cent will be breech. Occasionally some breech babies will still turn before labour, and occasionally some of them will turn during labour.

What kind of breech positions are there?

When your baby is breech, there are several positions he may be lying in:

Frank breech - When your baby is bottom first, with his feet up by his head.
Complete breech - Your baby is bottom first with his legs crossed.
Footling breech - This is where your baby has one foot, or both feet poised to come out first.
Transverse lie - This is where your baby is lying sideways, with his arm or shoulder pressing down.

If your midwife or doctor isn't sure whether your baby is breech or not, then you may be given an internal examination, or an ultrasound to determine his position.

Turning a breech baby

If your baby is still lying breech by 37 weeks, your midwife may offer to try and turn your baby, if it is suitable for you and your baby.

The most common method of turning a breech baby is by (ECV) external cephalic version. ECV will be done by your midwife if she has experience in this field. If not, you will be referred to someone who has.

ECV is carried out by applying pressure to your abdomen and manually turning the baby to a head down position.

If your baby is breech and you agree to an ECV You will usually go into hospital onto the labour ward just incase the baby goes into distress. If there are any problems then you will be give a caesarean. The baby will be monitored for a while, a heart trace will be performed. You will also be given a sonogram to check baby's position in relation to the placenta. If everything is ok with your baby then you may be given an injection in your arm, this will help to relax the muscles in your uterus. The midwife or consultant will start to turn the baby. Your baby's vital signs will be constantly monitored throughout the whole process. After your baby has been turned, he will be monitored for a while longer to make sure everything is ok.Mothers report the process to be uncomfortable or sometimes painful and may be offered pain relief.

The success rate of ECV is around the 60% mark for breech babies, and alot higher - 90% for babies lying transverse. Sometimes ECV will work, but your baby will rotate back into breech! Then other times ECV will not work at all.

ECV is not suitable for women who are having a multiple birth, if you have too little fluid around your baby. If you are having bleeding during your pregnancy this could make ECV unsuitable for you.

Other methods to turn breech babies

There are some home methods that you could try when your baby is breech to try and turn him. Although there are no details on how effective these methods can be.

Do discuss these methods with a medical professional before you try anything. Getting advice from your midwife or doctor will help you to make the right decisions on what to try.

You could try lying on your back, slightly elevate your hips with a pillow or cushion, and rock gently side to side. This can be done 3 times a day for around ten to fifteen minutes each time. This should be done when your stomach is empty.

Get down on all fours and then lean down onto the lower half of your arms, so your bottom is sticking up in the air. Stay like this again for ten to fifteen minutes. Again make sure your stomach is empty (you really don't want everything to come back up!) The idea of these two positions is that gravity will help to spin your baby round into the head down position.

Try swimming, as well as being a great form of exercise for pregnant women, it helps to keep your pelvis relaxed which will make it easier for your baby to turn.

You could also try acupuncture, do go to a qualified practitioner though.

Hypnosis may be worth a try, some women have reported great success after a couple of hypnosis sessions.

Chinese herbs can be used in a way that can stimulate certain acupressure points, again you need to find a fully qualified practitioner.

Here's a couple of strange idea's, actually they do make alot of sense though. Try placing a torch (turned on of course!) at the top of your uterus, around where the baby's head would be. slowly move the torch down the uterus to pubic area. The theory of this is that your baby will see the light and try to follow it by turning his head downwards. mother playing music to breech baby Music! Oh yes - Get your I-pod or your walkman. Turn on some nice relaxing music, then put the headphones inside your trousers or whatever clothes you have on. Try to get the headphones close to your pubic bone, around where the bottom of your uterus would be, with the music playing inwards. Again this works on the theory that your baby will try and follow the sound.

If your baby is breech, and none of these activities have helped, don't fret just yet. It doesn't automatically mean that you have to have a caesarean birth. Even though your baby may be breech, a vaginal delivery is still possible in some circumstances. Talk to your midwife or doctor if you feel you still want to deliver your baby naturally.

Take a look at breech birth.

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