Gentle Methods to PREVENT & TURN a Breech Baby
Interview with Dr.
Daoshing Ni and Dr. Jessica Chen, by Allie Chee
Just the word “breech” can strike fear in pregnant women—and rightfully so.
In the U.S. hospital environment, a breech
presentation would “almost certainly mean a cesarean section, considered
major abdominal surgery that generally leads to longer hospital stays, longer
recovery and, like all surgery, the risk of complications[1]”—and loss of any hope of a natural childbirth
experience.
In the case of home birth with a midwife,
some midwives will deliver breech babies and some won’t. World-acclaimed
midwife, birth educator and activist Ina May Gaskin said in one of her
lectures, “At first, we brought breech pregnancies to the hospital, but
we found after a while that we could deliver them here just fine. Footling
breeches, which are thought to be the most difficult, in our experience, they
often just slid right out.”[2]
However, today more than 90% of breech babies are born by Caesarean [2]. A woman will be hard-pressed
to find a provider who will happily encourage a vaginal birth with a
breech presentation and she will likely find herself in the OR on her big day.
But for any woman wanting to avoid that scenario—great
news!
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers
an extremely gentle, painless procedure with a high success rate for turning
breech babies. Further, TCM offers
suggestions and ideas for how to avoid a
breech presentation in the first place.
To find out more, I interviewed two
doctors considered top in the field:
