The Fear of Breech Position and other Difficult ones

One of the biggest fears that I have is to have a breech baby. I have always want to try to give birth naturally but I realised that sometimes, things are not that easy. I do not want to go through Cesarean and take a longer time to heal (although there are mothers who do opt for it as well for it is supposedly to be less painful during the birth). And with a breech baby; one is very likely to have to go through the latter instead.

My mom says that all of us were breech babies. None of us actually made life easy for her, it seems. She has to go through Caesarean three times because none of us would turn into the natural position. Hearing such stories really do scare me. After all, we always talk about genes and stuff - what happen if I really do get this particular gene from her! Furthermore, things did not help when I was told mine was in a breech position at 24 weeks. Sure I do read that babies would turn in the later weeks but what happens if mine is as stubborn as me and refuse to? I have to do something and see if anything works.

So I started reading up about Breech positions. I really wanted to avoid it. I wanted to turn the baby around asap. I searched the internet and it was not of much good. All until I searched the National Library where I found this particular book. According to it, Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn (4th Edition): The Complete Guide , there are three types of breech positions and usually this position will affect 3-4% of births. They are:

Frank: the baby's buttocks are over the cervix and legs are straight up towards face (most common)
Complete: the baby appears to be sitting cross-legged over the cervix
Footling: one or both baby's feet are over the cervix

It suggested many ways of turning the baby around (even though the rate of success can be low from the 34-36 weeks of pregnancy) - ranging from positions to sounds to complementary medicine.

One way was the breech tilt position. It explains how one should lift their butts or pelvis higher than the head for about ten minutes three times a day, when the baby is active. I wasn't sure if that was going to work... I mean by then the baby has a little space to move. I'm not too sure if it is going to move because of lack of stimulus.

Another was the use of sounds. I was definitely more willing to try this one. It suggests playing familiar or pleasing sounds to at the lower part of the uterus and your baby may just try to move his/her head down to clear it clearly. Sounds can include white noise (sounds of static television, vacum cleaner and such), getting your partner to talk while placing his head on your lap or playing music near your pubic bone. I tried this method and by the 28 week, my gynae told me that she has turned with her head down! Of course, I do realise that there's still a few weeks away from the 34 week but I am hoping she stays that way....

There was another way which uses ice to place on top of uterus for no more than the recommended 20 minutes a time - thus making the area uncomfortably cold for your child. In order to avoid it, your baby would squirm and wriggle his/her way downwards. Yet I don't think I will be advocating this method much as it will be both uncomfortable for both mother and child.

Acupuncture has also been used to turn babies around. A trained practitioner is supposed to place needles at the outside tip of your little toes (the Urinary Bladder) point. For those who are less tolerant of pain (like me) , you can use moxibustion where they burn herbs near the vital points instead of using needles. Currently, the success rate is 50%.

There is one last method , called the External Version, of trying to turn a breech baby which achieves a 65% success rate. First, you will receive injections to relax your uterus. Then, using the scans to track your baby's heartbeat and for guidance; your caretaker will try to turn your baby around. It can take only one or two push or may take some time. The moment your your baby's heartbeat show distress, this 5-10 minutes procedure is stopped. For me, I may not want to go through with this as I do not want to see my baby in distress.

Somehow I am glad I managed to read up to find some interesting methods to try to avoid a breech baby. Though I'm praying she will not turn back up into her breech position during these few weeks left, I'm glad I tried and she has turned. Now I just hope that there are no other sudden complications that will have to lead me to a Caesearan (touch wood!)