CASE STUDY : Breech 38 weeks

Introduction

About 3-4 percent of all pregnancies will result in the baby being breech. A breech pregnancy occurs when the baby is positioned head-up in the woman’s uterus, so the feet are pointed toward the birth canal.

In a “normal” pregnancy, the baby will turn inside the womb into a head-down position to get ready for birth, so a breech pregnancy presents a few different challenges for both mother and baby.

Presentation

A new client came in at 38 weeks pregnant with a breech baby.

Treatment

I gave her an acupuncture treatment to encourage the baby to turn. I also focussed on boosting her energy, which felt deficient from overwork and little rest. I gave the client take home moxibustion sticks. The client's partner held the heating moxa sticks over a special acupuncture point to turn breech babies for 20 minutes for the next five days. On the 5th day, the baby turned into a perfect anterior facing cephalic (downward) position. She was due for an exterior cephalic version (ECV) the following day and was overjoyed that this procedure was no longer necessary. My client had one more acupuncture treatment and then had a natural, efficient delivery that didn’t require any interventions at 40 weeks.

My lovely client said, ‘I will always be grateful that she turned in the last week! The combination of acupuncture, osteopathy and hypnobirthing exercises seemed to pay off! Thanks, Emma, for all your help and positivity, the recovery is going well.’