Breech presentation means your baby presents 'bottom-down' in the uterus. Even if you’ve reached 37 weeks and your baby is presenting breech, there is still a chance that he or she may turn and have a vaginal birth. Breech position is determined during one of your prenatal visits, but still up to 15% of breech babies are discovered during labour.
Some women take steps, such as acupressure, to help their baby turn, but there is no conclusive evidence that it helps.
Preterm breech position generally requires a caesarean birth as opposed to being induced. If your baby is found to be breech, there are several options for delivery that you can choose from, including:
-
Having a breech delivery
-
Manual attempt to turn the baby which can be followed by breech delivery, if the attempt is unsuccessful
-
ECV (External Cephalic Version), followed by a caesarean birth, if ECV is not successful
-
Elective caesarean delivery
If you decide to have a breech delivery certain conditions need to be met, which includes the following:
-
Your baby cannot be too small or too big
-
Your pelvis cannot be too small
-
Baby must be in extended or flexed breech and not footling breech
-
You should have spontaneous labour
You may choose to have an epidural and during delivery your doctors may choose to use forceps or their hands to assist delivery of your baby’s head. You will likely require an episiotomy.
Once your baby is delivered, you will be able to hold him or her after check up by a paediatrician.