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Breech Baby
Acupuncture to turn a Breech Baby
It is expected that a baby will adopt a head down position in the mother’s pelvis by the 36th week of pregnancy. If however, the baby presents a body part other than the head to the pelvic outlet, it is said to be in a breech position.
The Orthodox Approach
Most obstetricians recommend that breech babies are delivered by caesarian section. But, like any major surgery, there are risks involved with this method of delivery such as a reaction to anesthesia, respiratory complications, premature birth, postoperative infection, wound healing problems, injury to the mother’s internal organs or to the baby.
External Cephalic Version (ECV) may be used to turn a baby, but this procedure cannot be carried out before the 36th–37th week of pregnancy. It also carries a risk of complications, such as detachment of the placenta, premature rupture of the membranes, knotting of the umbilical cord, uterine bleeding and the reduction of the fetal heartbeat, all of which will result in an urgent caesarian section.
The IMI Approach
With all these potential problems it is no wonder why many women prefer vaginal births. Vaginal births are more natural and recovery is much quicker. A woman who delivers vaginally can be discharged on the 2nd or 3rd day but a woman who delivers by caesarian may need to stay in hospital for up to 14 days. At IMI, our primary objective is to give women an opportunity to deliver their babies as naturally as possible and to avoid caesarian births unless absolutely necessary.
Acupuncture or Moxibustion are safe and natural ways to turn a breech baby. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), acupuncture has been proven through controlled trials to be an effective treatment for turning a breech baby.
Acupuncture involves inserting very fine needles into specific areas on the body, to assist relaxation of the muscles and tendons. This painless treatment enables the baby to turn more easily in utero.
Moxibustion is an ancient technique that uses gentle herbal heat on specific points of the body to increase vital energy and blood circulation. It assists treatment of a wide range of conditions. For breech babies, this herbal heat promotes fetal activity and is applied near a point on the mother’s little toes. Studies have shown that moxibustion is more effective to turn breech babies than the control group (1).
According to Chinese Medicine a baby adopts a breech position if there is a deficiency of “active” or “yang” energy. Moxibustion promotes “yang” energy and provides momentum for the baby to turn into a more favourable position. The optimum time to apply moxibustion is between 34 and 35 weeks, before the baby is too large. However, it can also be used later on in the pregnancy. After the completion of the 10 day treatment cycle an ultrasound is recommended to check the position of the baby.
1. Cardini F et al. Moxibustion for correction of breech presentation: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1998, 280(18):1580-1584.
Practitioners for Pre-natal Care at IMI
For all enquiries about acupuncture please email acupuncture@imi.com.hk
