Breech birth
By about 36-37 weeks most babies are lying in the head-first position ready for their birth. However, a small percentage (3-4%) of babies will be lying with their bottom first or feet first in the womb. This position is called the breech position.
During your pregnancy, your health care provider will be checking that your baby is in a head down position which is the most common position for a baby to be in before birth.
While there are a few places in Israel that will allow breech vaginal births under special circumstances, in most hospitals, it is not allowed. This can causes much stress for women who find themselves with the baby in the breech position during late pregnancy.
It’s possible that your baby will move into a head down position before the birth. It’s not your fault and there are some things you can do to encourage your baby into a head down position before labour begins.
Why is my baby in a breech position?
Some common reasons for your baby being in a breech position are:
Lack of room to move: As the baby grows there is less chance they will turn simply because there is less room in your uterus for them to move around.
Ligaments holding your uterus are tight and strained: Sometimes the issue is that the ligaments holding the uterus above your pelvis are tight and aren’t allowing your baby to move into a head first position or the angle of your uterus doesn’t allow the baby to move.
Placenta location: a low lying placenta that covers the cervix (also know as placenta previa) or nearby may prevent your baby from moving into a head down position.
Too little or too much amniotic fluid: not enough fluid may make it hard for your baby to change position while too much amniotic fluid means the baby too much space and can flip between breech and a head-down position.
The umbilical cord: may be too short to allow your baby to move into a head first position or it’s wrapped around your baby’s arm or neck and doesn’t allow for much movement.
The size and shape of your uterus: Although your uterus is expanding a great deal to accommodate your growing baby, it’s original shape may also impact how easy it is for your baby to be head down.
Multiple babies: when you are carrying more than one baby, it’s not uncommon that one will be in a breech position simply due to a lack of space.
Holistic treatment for breech babies:
If you read the list of reasons why your baby might be breech, it’s pretty clear that we don’t have control over many of the reasons.
However, we can relax and soften the ligaments and muscles holding and supporting the uterus and encourage the uterus into the best possible position. Many times when this happens, the baby has space to move and turn into a head down position as your due date approaches.
Emotional reasons for a breech position:
After working with many women at the end of pregnancy who were desperately trying to turn their breech babies, I think there is also an emotional part of why babies may be breech. In the breech position, they are closer to their mother’s heart.
Often these women have had stressful pregnancies because of fears that the baby isn’t healthy, health issues the mother is dealing with, they have experienced infertility and the pregnancy is extremely precious or they are dealing with a stressful life situation that’s not related to the pregnancy.
I have some visualisation and connection exercises that are very helpful in helping the baby and mother connect but communicating clearly that the baby is safe and encouraging them to turn. This works very well with the bodywork to turn a breech baby that I mentioned above. .
I’m a holistic therapist and I am here to help you!
I love helping women to overcome their fertility challenges and other issues related to your cycles, pregnancy, periods and/or anxiety.
I treat women with abdominal and womb massage techniques known as Sobada (formally the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage) and reflexology.
I’m also an Advanced EFT Tapping practitioner and I work with women in particular issues around anxiety, depression, stress levels.
I teach Fertility Awareness to help women better know their bodies and improve their chances of conceiving or prevent pregnancy naturally.
I live in Modi’in, Israel and that’s where I spend my days helping women during their fertile years, pregnancy, menopause and other hormonal conditions. Bodywork sessions (massage and reflexology take place in my clinic in Modi’in but EFT Tapping sessions and Fertility Awareness education can take place online or in person).
Learn more about working with me here.
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