How do you get a breached baby to turn?

Question

My wife is expecting in February and our baby is lying with her bum down. Our doctor's advise to get the baby to turn on her own is (1) for my wife to curl with her knees up for 15 minutes per day and (2) to play a transistor radio in the lower belly to encourage the baby to rotate. Any other advise?

Answer 1

i was breach and born in february! but sorry i have no clue on how to turn her

Answer 2

Here are a couple of things that I did when my daughter was breach...
Buy a pregnancy yoga tape, do downward facing dog position a lot, or do the position with your forearms on the floor and knees on the floor with butt in the air and let gravity do the trick (I used to put a mirror on the floor and watch my daughter turn around... she turned back every night because she was stubborn)

You can also do the ironing board trick... you'll have to help her with this one... prop an ironing board against the couch, she will have to lay upside down on it with just her shoulders and head on the ground... you'll be able to see the baby turn (sometimes they stay, sometimes they don't but I know a couple of people who did this and their baby stayed that way)

Eventually if nothing works than your doctor will recommend a version... that's where they give you a shot of something similar to asthma medication... I can't remember the name but that's how I remember it being described to me, and then they try to push the baby around... they try it four times but usually if the baby doesn't go the first time than they're not going to. It hurts like hell and is very hard to watch... my baby's dad couldn't watch and my mom had to leave the room.

If all else fails, just go for the c-section... they check one more time before the surgery to make sure that the baby hasn't turned and then they do the procedure... if you know it's breech and you schedule it, it goes really smooth, I went in for prep, laid around for a few hours, went into the surgery room at 1:00, was stitched up and in recovery by 1:20. It's not nearly as bad as everybody made it out to be.

Either way, good luck and congratulations!

Answer 3

I had a C-section for my breech baby, but I tried to get her to turn naturally, so her is what I learned.

First babies are harder to get to turn if they are breech because the uterine muscles are tighter than if you have carried other babies. Also on the down side is if you are a 5ft woman married to a 6ft man having a 9 lb baby. Mine simply ran out of room on my small frame to turn!

32 weeks is when they generally settle into head down, but the docs and nurses told me they can turn up to the last minute provided there is room.

Things I tried:
Drinking lots of water- my own hypothesis- to try and increase the amniotic fluid- it seemed like a good idea :)

The OB/GYN wasn't optimistic, but gave me a sheet with two exercises. The first is get on your elbows and knees like a kid reading a book, shoulders as low a possible and rump as high as possible for 10 minutes several times a day. I even put my knees on pillows or a step to get them higher. The second is to lay on your back, rump in the air. This is accomplished by laying on pillows in front of a couch or ironing board propped on the couch such that the rump is on the couch and head and shoulders are on the floor. This one my require help getting into and be careful of the head and neck.

I guess these are for if the baby's butt is stuck in mom's pelvis.

These others I read about:

Frozen peas at the top of the belly so that she is encouraged to find warmer quarters at the bottom of the belly.

Talk, play music, or shine a light at the bottom of the belly to engourage the baby to investigate at the bottom.

I did these whlie in some of those positions.

Do these things when you notice baby is awake and kicking or particularly active so that he might just accidnetally move the right way.

I also tried ECV (external cephalic version) at ~38 weeks, where the OB/GYN tries to manually, externally rotate the baby by making it do a somersault. This is not to be tried at home or by anyone who is not a doc! The doc was not optimistic about this either, but I wanted to try everything. It carries the risk of inducing labor, though I don't think it happens too often. You have to be admitted to the hospital for that reason. And it HURTS! I had a bruised belly afterwards, but baby was absolutely fine, just stuck Frank Breech.

I looked into delivering a breech naturally, but here in the US they teach surgery more than specialized techniques in natural birth. As I understand it, breech deliveries require special techiniques, more attention to certain details or something like that that is different from normal deliveries. And OB/GYNs tend toward surgery more so than family doctors. Midwives would be more likely to deliver breec, I'd think. Frank breech is best for vaginal delivery though. There is another type of breech that is ok, but there is one type where surgery is required.

Rather than fulfilling my wish for the perfect birth experience I opted not to risk the doctor not having the skills to deliver breech and went for surgery. I didn't have much of a choice as my doctor scheduled the c-section immediately after ECV didn't work, but I could have insisted if the risks were worth it.

Answer 4

DO NOT have the doctor do a manual version, this is very dangerous and a LAST RESORT. Secondly it is normal for a baby to be breech until 38 weeks.

Placing a flashlight low on the belly sometimes helps. Also, though it sounds silly just have her sit quietly and explain to the baby what she needs.

Seeing a chiropractor who is trained in the Webster technique is very effective www.icpa4kids.com Accupuncture and Moxibustion are very effective with no risk of side effects.

Doing a headstand underwater can be very effective, assuming you have access to a pool.

Answer 5

She should start doing breech tilts. She needs to lay with her pelvis elevated 12-18 inches. When I did it, I stacked pillows up on the floor next to the couch. I would lay on the floor with my bottom on the pillows and my legs up on the couch.

She can put heat on her pelvis (like a warm rice sock) and ice on her fundus (top of uterus) to get baby to turn towards the warmth.

She can do shoulder stands. This is what finally got my baby to turn around 38 weeks. I felt a HUGE movement when I came down out of a shoulder stand and my baby was head down at my next appointment.

Playing music, shining a light or dad/big siblings laying in mom's lap and talking to baby between her legs.

Turn cartwheels or do handstands in a swimming pool.

Talk to your doctor/midwife about external cepahlic version (ECV). If you try this, mom should be sure to be well-hydrated prior to the appointment.

Consider seeing a chiropractor who does the Webster Technique. This has a high % of success and is much gentler than an ECV.

Check out the website http://www.spinningbabies.com

Answer 6

First of all, this baby has PLENTY of time to turn on it's own and most probably will do just that.....but, in case by 37 - 38 weeks he doesnt turn, check out the 'spinningbabies' website and find a chiropractor who can do 'The Webster Technique" (this just opens up the sacrum just a tiny bit more and allows a baby to turn on their own) and.....breech babies CAN be born in that position!

Answer 7

yes that is true also agree with momma to ming
My baby was breech up until they did an external version. That is when they put pressure on your abdomen to make the baby move. it is painful but i would do it again if i was to have another breech baby.
if you go to web md and type in breech presentation they will tell you ways of geting you baby to turn like you discribed also yahoo health.
if you have access to a pool swimming also helps.
versions are done in the hospital.

Answer 8

During our class in the the Bradley Method for natural child birth, our instructor read to us one technique that involves the mother crawling down the stairs on her hands and knees head first. If you don't have stairs, elevate the hips and legs by sitting on the couch on the knees and then put her hands on the floor.
There is a funny alternative we heard of where some kind of incense/herb is burned and held near the pinky toe of each foot...oddly enough, it worked for every parent that mentioned it to us.

Answer 9

I would follow what the doctor advice is, and if its not working call your doctor and tell him.what is going on . maybe he can turn the baby.