What is a Breech Presentation?

At the time of pregnancy, normally a baby is born head first. However, there is a possibility of about 3 percent that your baby is in the breech presentation which means that his buttocks are at the bottom and this is going to create a problem at the time of delivery.

A breech presentation is considered to be a routine many times during pregnancy, as the baby moves around in the womb and you will definitely see that the baby keeps on changing positions, however, after some time it is better for him to be in the position with the head down and the rest of the body going upwards as there is more space in the womb in that way for him or her to fit the whole of his body and move his legs.

Children love to kick, and a mother to be can easily find out if there is something wrong with the position of the baby especially if she finds that she is having pressure on the lower part of the body as the baby may also be having the feet folded in this position.

Can this position change?

Although most cases of breech babies stay breech until the time of birth, there are some things that you can do to try and change the position of the baby and these include elevating the mother’s buttocks with pillows above the shoulders for ten to fifteen minutes every day. This may help the baby turn around, however, this is not something that works every time and it can be very uncomfortable for the mother as well. Not to mention the discomfort that she is having already from the breech presentation.

Another method which is sometimes recommended is to manually turn the baby around, however, there are the risks of disturbing the placenta or damaging or entangling the cord in the process. Mothers that have been through this process can definitely tell you that this is a very painful procedure.

Natural birth versus cesarean

Most breech presentations are treated seriously and therefore, a cesarean is normally recommended as trying to deliver a baby in this position is not only risky for the health of the baby, it is also risking for the mother as the possibilities of complications like tears in the birth canal and infections, plus the amount of time that the baby is going to require to come out in the breech presentation cannot be calculated clearly.