Heads up - what to do about a breech baby...
Tuesday May 12, 2009
Breech babies are about 3-4% of all babies at the end of pregnancy. But in general, babies start to turn head down around week 28 of pregnancy and continuing turning head down until well into labor. However, if you start approaching your due date, the thought of a breech baby might worry you. There are things that you can do, medical and non-medical to getting a breech baby to turn. If your baby does not turn head down, you may give birth by c-section.
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Comments
I’ve noticed that a lot of doctors aren’t suggesting the tricks in the above articles for turning breech babies and are simply scheduling c-sections. Some told me that my baby wouldn’t turn, although after using some of the techniques he or she did at 36 weeks. What do you think?? Is this the current trend or just something I’ve come across?
The above article is misleading. Saying if your baby does not turn you may give birth by c-section makes it sound like this is the only way to have a breech baby. Many women give birth vaginally breech (I did), and the most recent research shows that the risks of breech birth compared to c-section are about the same, the previous studies claiming otherwise were flawed and have since been redone with different outcomes. Make sure you do your research and are truly informed wen you make your decision as many doctors are more worried about malpractise than you or your baby.
It takes a well educated, assertive woman in today’s medical climate to learn the options, seek out help, do the routines and feel confident there are choices besides surgical birth since few doctors do anything other than schedule a section today.