At my 35-week appointment I found out that my baby is still breech. She has been in a frank breech position every time we have went in for an ultrasound. I would have thought she would have flipped head down into cephalic position by now. The doctor reported that he is not worried about it until 36-37 weeks. If she hasn’t flipped after 37 weeks there is a procedure we could do, called the external cephalic version or ECV for short.
What is an ECV?
An ECV is a procedure that they do to turn a baby from a breech position to a head down position by giving you an epidural and applying pressure to your stomach to try and rotate the baby. It has about a 50 percent success rate and if you have smaller baby, it is more likely to be successful. This procedure has a chance of causing a ruptured placenta and turning into an emergency c-section (although this happens less than 1% of the time). Another concern is that the baby could flip back into a breech position. For this reason, I plan to try all the natural ways to flip a breech baby! I have not decided if I want to move forward with the ECV at this time.
Prayer & Declaring the Word (Applying the supernatural to the natural)
God has given us power and authority to speak over our bodies. We speak the word of God over our bodies to change the natural. There is an amazing book that a friend shared with me called Supernatural Childbirth by Jackie Mize. It will change the way you look at conception and birth. It shares testimonies of women who have applied the principals found in the book (from the bible) and changed their situation including having a painless birth.
A prayer I have been saying found in the book: “Baby, in Jesus’ name, you move and place yourself in perfect position for birth: headfirst, not breech and face down. You rotate properly as God intended you to. I command the umbilical cord to be in proper position as well. Body, you function perfectly during this time. I have perfect peace and am relaxed. All fear must go and stay gone for I have God, who is perfect love and casts out fear. My body will not be tense but relaxed, at peace. I speak specifically to all the parts of my body to come in line with God’s word and will.”
Exercise/Stretches
These videos by Bridget Teyler and Pregnancy and Postpartum TV are super helpful for explaining and demonstrating exercises to flip a breech baby.
Here is a list of the exercises that I have been doing daily:
- Pelvic Tilt
- Through the Hole
- Forward Leaning
- Forward Leaning Inversion
- Breech Tilt
Hopefully this is helpful for you if you find out that your baby is still breech or has turned breech in the 3rd trimester. I will keep you posted on whether or not my baby girl flips into the head down position or not. If for some reasons she does not, then we may consider the ECV or just move forward with changing our birth plans to a C-Section. Truthfully, I will feel grieve the loss of being able to have a natural labor. I know that once you have a C-Section they want you to continue that method for the rest of your labors. Comment below and let me know if you have had success with turning a breech baby.