When do you need to worry about the baby being breech?

dani2480 · April 2012

We had an elective ultrasound yesterday, and it was noted that the baby was in a breech position (her head is at the upper right of my uterus, and her bum at the lower left). Her legs are also folded up so that her feet are near her face (I think that's called frank breech?)

Anyway, we're only at 27 weeks, so I imagine it's premature to actually "worry" about it at this point, and that she has plenty of time to rotate head down. However, since this is my first, I'm not that familiar with it, and curious about when it actually does become concerning (particularly when planning a natural birth), and when you should start trying various things to get the baby to turn, if she hasn't already.

Also, any suggestions on how to encourage her to flip back down are welcome too!

LindseyJW · April 2012

at 27 weeks, your baby may flip many times before settling in to a birthing position. between 30 and 32 weeks, check again (you shouldn't need u/s to do this, manual palpation should be able to determine baby's positioning).

visit www.spinningbabies.com for tips on flipping a breech baby. note that the tips don't start until 30/32 weeks.

i am a hypnotist and i'm currently seeing clients with breech babies in prep for the 3rd international breech birth conference in november, at which i will speak about using hypnosis to turn breech babies. i ask my clients to do the following:

- drink extra water to give baby plenty of fluid to move about

- spend dedicated time each day in relaxation, releasing tension from the body, purposefully relaxing the body and especially the uterus, and asking the baby to turn downward into the vertex position

- visualize the baby in Optimal Fetal Position: head down, anterior (google an image and look at it every day)

- complement hypnosis with regular chiropractic and acupuncture treatments

sunflowergrl · April 2012

my MW's say they don't worry till about the 35/36 week mark. Check out spinningbabies.com, it has lots of tips on how to help baby get into position. Also, try to spend a good amount of time in the cat/cow yoga pose. Not only is it good for helping baby get into position, but it's feels super good too lol!

)

dani2480 · April 2012

Thank you, ladies! This is super helpful! Smile

lily225 · April 2012

I'm not sure on when babies are usually in their final position, maybe another poster had a thought or piece of info?

I just wanted to say that even if baby does stay breech, there is always a possibility for them to turn back past that "magic number". My son was never breech at anything past 25w I believe. Nothing that caused me concern. And then at 37w (!!!) he decided to flip to breech. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't a candidate for a version and didn't have chiro coverage to try that. So I tried everything possible that I could do at home. A friend told me to put peppermint oil on the top of my belly where the babies head would be. Apparently they can smell it and don't like the strong smell and try to "turn away" from it and will often turn head down. I tried this after 4 days of everything else. Put it on at night before going to bed and woke up to a head down baby Obviously I can't prove that's what worked, but I always mention it on here because hey, it's worth a try right? I continued to use the oil for about a week just to give me piece of mind that he/she was staying put. I'm sure you could start using it now if you already have concerns.

Good luck!

caralck · April 2012

The peppermint oil thing is interesting! my baby was breech at 20 wks then flipped to vertex at 23 wks (after some spicy mexican food...probably more coincidence than anything else but she goes crazy after mexican food all the time). Through self-palpation, I can tell that she goes between being transverse and vertex. Every day I talk to her and remind her where the exit is. Another strategy I read was that if your DH routinely talks to baby or if you listen to music regularly for her benefit or maybe sing a song to her, you can have DH talk to your crotch or play the music there and that supposedly can direct baby to the right position. Both sound bizarre but if it works...My hypnobirthing instructor also offered a session to flip baby when she was still breech.

Bonidiebabe · April 2012

My LO was breech for a good 16 weeks at least. At 28 weeks my mw suggested moxibustion due to my tight abdominal wall. She was afraid he wouldn't have room to turn. I was very apprehensive and everyone around me was telling me not to worry cuz it was too early. Well flash forward and he was still breech at 35 weeks. He was very content. He was not flipping back and forth.

I started going to the chiro for the webster technique. It is hard not to be skeptical cuz it really doesn't seem like much of a treatment at all. I also started listening to a hypnosis track for breech presentation. Once the chiro said things were more in line I had moxi done. It did not hurt. It did not stink. I thought it was very relaxing. I fel a ton of movement after the moxi. I knew he wasn't head down yet though. I went for one more webster, left directly from there to go for moxi. That time I asked to do the moxi while on hands and knees to give h more room to turn.

I was scheduled for my us the next day. If he was still breech we would have scheduled a version. He was head down!!!

My advice would be to follow your heart and not what others around you say. Everyone told me not to worry. He'll spin on his own. No. I don't think he would have. I am so glad I took the steps tht I did to get him to turn.

I also tried swimming, inversion, cold on the belly, using the flash light, ect.

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