Breech Baby
In 2021 I had a VBB (vaginal breech birth) at 39+6 to a beautiful baby girl. I often say she entered the world feet first and hasn’t stopped since. I birthed her in hospital at about 2.30am and was home for breakfast. We knew she was breech from very early on, and despite me trying just about everything, she simply never turned.
Breech baby about 5 months along but feeling like 10.
During this pregnancy I started asking, “why is this so problematic?”. Every resource I looked up was themed “how to turn your breech baby”, but I was looking for reassurance. What if she didn’t turn? And what if I actually didn’t want to turn her?
After speaking to countless breech mamas, medical professionals and reading everything I can find…. honestly, it isn’t problematic for us here in the first world. It is something that the medical world isn’t used to seeing, and the way they often manage this is to scare women into having surgery and other interventions.
In the words of my own Dr: “we’re just much better at doing caesarians than we are at delivering breech babies”. Sorry, that sounds like a you problem. Not good enough.
Please know, I am not anti-caesarian.
I am pro-informed decisions and pro-empowered birth.
Despite this, I did try all the things to turn her around. Including:
Moxibustion - Moxa sticks are usually made of Chinese Mugwort rolled into a stick. You burn it like incense and hold the hot end over certain acupuncture points. There is a point near the little toe which is used when trying to turn a breech baby. You can purchase sticks online and have someone do it for you at home, or head to a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. I loved Moxibustion and I 100% recommend it to this day for relaxation, period pain, anxiety and sleep.
HOT TIPS: 1. If you are doing it at home, have a small cup of rice or sand handy to snuff the lit end when finished 2. buy the smokeless sticks.
Massage (this oil is divine for belly massage)
Affirmations and talking to my baby (amazingly this was recommended by our GP and I am so happy to share more about this for anyone who asks)
We must trust that our bodies know what to do and when. For me, I had to remind myself that I was going through a “normal” pregnancy, and that my body knew how to birth her. The more I did to intervene, the stronger I felt about leaving her alone and allowing my body to birth as it wanted to.
However, what I was being told was:
“you must have a caesarian”
“breech births are not safe”
“we’ll book you in for surgery if baby hasn’t turned by this date”
“you need extra scans”
“we’ve booked you in for an ECV on this date”
No asking, no discussion, no “do you need time to think about it?”.
Something we need to practice more often is saying “No thanks”. Scary as it felt, I followed my gut and advocated for myself, meaning I was able to have the VBB I so badly wanted.
An ECV (external cephalic version) if you haven’t heard the term, is when a Dr will attempt to turn your baby manually. They may inject you with a drug called Terbutaline to relax the uterus. Ironically this can increase your heart rate and cause you to feel quite anxious. They will then press on the belly, trying to manoevre babys head downward. Obviously mine didn’t work and if I’m being honest, I would never consider it again. For some women, it goes so smoothly and baby turns around like its nothing.
Gather your information and make an informed decision.
Since then I’ve met so many women who have also had breech births or are pregnant with a breech babe and it feels like there are so few resources out there to inform and support a breech pregnancy and birth.
If you are pregnant with a breech baby or have someone in your life who is, this is for you:
Breech birth is normal, and you can have a beautiful and positive birth experience.
You are the decision maker. Your medical team provide information and advice that helps you make your decision. A breech birth does not mean a caesarian birth unless you make that informed decision, and if you do then that is amazing. Empowered birth, yes!
Seek out medical professionals and other support people who are open minded around breech births. (A doula is worth their weight in gold.)
People will project their fears onto you, but you are prepared and powerful.
Find a meditation practice that gels with you and get meditating. I wish I did this much sooner.
I love talking about breech birth. If this is something you would like to debrief, discuss or ask questions about please get in touch.
One of my favourite resources for breech birth is the Breech Birth Australia & NZ facebook group. There are so many women there to cheer you on and offer reassurance, it’s a beautiful thing.
My Beautiful Breech Baby | Hypnobirthing script for accepting a breech baby | Calm Mum Happy Baby
Moxibustion For Breech in Pregnancy
15 minute pregnancy yoga class
PANDA - For mental health support in pregnancy and postpartum