Breech Babies

The majority of babies are lying head down by around 37 weeks towards the end of a pregnancy, ready for birth.  But for 3% of women, their babies are in a breech position, meaning that their babies are lying bottom or feet first in the uterus.  Breech presentations can sometimes lead to complications and your obstetrician will discuss with you whether to try to turn your baby, to offer you a Caesarean section or to allow you to have a vaginal breech birth.  

What can be done to turn my baby?

Your obstetrician or midwife may recommend an external cephalic version (ECV) which involves a skilled obstetrician firmly pushing on your abdomen to turn the baby around.  Exercises involving knee to chest positions on a daily basis may also be recommended.  However, an increasing number of patients are recommended acupuncture and moxibustion as more evidence is coming to light for its effectiveness in turning breech presentations.  

A recent Dutch review of clinical studies was carried out to assess the relative effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion treatments on BL67 (Zhiyin), versus ‘expectant management’ which included external cephalic versions (ECV).  It also took into account treatment compliance and costs for stimulated breech presentations.

The results were that:

• 53% of women treated with expectant management for breech presentation were still breech, versus 32% of women treated with moxibustion;
• 50% of women treated with expectant management for breech presentation still required a caesarean section, versus 37% of women treated with moxibustion;
• Moxibustion was more effective and less costly than expectant management. 

The authors of the study concluded that “offering BVA-T (moxibustion therapy) to women with a breech foetus at 33 weeks gestation reduces the number of breech presentations at term, thus reducing the number of caesarean sections, and is cost-effective compared to expectant management, including external cephalic version’.

When do I need to get in touch?

Most breech babies will have turned by themselves by 35 weeks.  If at 35 weeks your baby is still breech, do get in touch with Lily to book an appointment as soon as possible as the treatment is much more effective if the baby has more room to manoeuvre.  You will usually only require one treatment, though in some circumstances, two treatments may be necessary. 

For more information or to book in for an appointment, please feel free to get in touch with Lily.

References

van der Berg I, Kaandorp GC, Bosch JL, Duvekot JJ, Arends LR, Hunink MG. Cost effectiveness of breech version by acupuncture-type interventions on BL67, including moxibustion, for women with a breech foetus at 33 weeks gestation: a modelling approach. Complement Ther Med. 2010 Apr;18(2)