In preparation for birthing, sometime between the thirty-second and thirty-seventh weeks of pregnancy, the baby turns from its upright position into what is called a vertex position in preparation for birthing. With this turn, the baby’s head is properly positioned down at the mouth of the cervix. Because the head contains the brain and the skull, it is the heaviest part of the baby’s body. Once the baby is almost fully developed, the natural pull of gravity is usually sufficient to draw the head down.
Most of the time this turning goes without note, especially if it occurs while the mom is sleeping. The turn can be delayed, however, if the mom is experiencing fear or tension, or if there are circumstances in her life that are upsetting.
Some moms, for any number of reasons, are reluctant to “let go,” and so their uterus remains taut and the baby is not able to complete the turn. When this happens, the baby, deprived of adequate space in which to turn, is unable to complete the rotation and remains in the original, upright position. The baby’s buttocks remain at the neck of the uterus in what is called “breech presentation.” Sometimes the baby completes only a partial rotation, leaving a shoulder, an arm, or one or both feet positioned at the lower part of the cervix.
A breech position, if not reversed, calls for important decisions. The options are limited to making every effort to help the baby turn, to birth the baby in the breech position, or to resort to a surgical birth. Since few medical providers are trained in the birthing of breech-presented babies, most resort to cesarean births, but this doesn’t need to be the first avenue to explore. Many women birth their breech presented babies vaginally with homebirth midwives.
Helping the Breech-Positioned Baby to Turn
Many babies have been coached to turn with the help of HypnoBirthing techniques. A special session has proven to be very effective in helping the breech-presented baby to spontaneously reposition into vertex position on its own. This concept is buttressed in a study, presented by Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madronna, formerly of the psychiatric department of the University of Vermont Medical School and Arizona University School of Medicine. The study included 100 women who were referred from practicing obstetricians and an additional 100 who responded to an advertisement. Only women who were found to be carrying their babies in breech position at thirty-six weeks gestation or more were included. Mehl-Madronna approached this study looking at reports on serial ultrasound examinations and abdominal palpation that suggested that the likelihood of a breech-positioned baby turning after the thirty-seventh week was no more than 12 percent.
One hundred women in the study group used hypnotherapy. The comparison group of 100 women had no hypnotherapy, though some did have ECV (external cephalic version), a procedure whereby the baby’s head is manually manipulated from outside the abdomen to bring about the downward turn.
In the study group, the mothers, while in hypnosis, were led through guided imagery to bring about deep relaxation. Suggestions were then given that they visualize their babies easily turning and see the turn accomplished, with the baby in proper vertex position for birthing. The mothers were helped to visualize the uterus becoming pliable and relaxed in order to allow the baby sufficient room to make the move. The mother was asked to talk to her baby, and the therapists encouraged the baby to release itself from the position it had settled into and to turn downward for an easy birth.
The study ended with 81 of the 100 breech babies in the study group having turned spontaneously from breech position to vertex position. It was originally thought that each mother would require approximately ten hours of hypnotherapy in order to accomplish the desired result. As the study unfolded, the average number of hours spent with each woman was only four, and half of the successful 81 turns required only one session.
In the comparison group of 100 women who did not participate in hypnotherapy, only twenty-six babies turned spontaneously. An additional twenty were turned with ECV. It should be noted that it is not uncommon for the baby who is turned through ECV to turn back into breech position. The figures arrived at through this study are considered medically quite significant.
From these findings we see that, in addition to working with visualization conducive to relaxing the uterus, mothers with babies in breech position can be helped through release therapy. Release therapy is an integral part of the HypnoBirthing program, where mothers are helped to identify and release negative emotions. If your baby is in breech presentation and there is talk of a possible surgical birth, seek the assistance of your HypnoBirthing practitioner, who will help you with a special hypnosis session that has been found to be especially successful in achieving the desired turn. When the turning of the breech baby is achieved through relaxation and tension release, the baby usually remains in vertex position.
Your practitioner can also help you with finding community resources, acupuncturists, acupressurists and chiropractors who perform the Webster technique, reflexologists and others who can help with turning techniques. Inquire about “tilting” techniques and other methods for helping the baby to turn. Then, and only then, consider ECV if it is still necessary. ECV should be a last resort. It is not usually a procedure of choice for most women, but it is preferable to surrendering to a surgical birth.