Gentle Methods to PREVENT & TURN a Breech Baby

Gentle Methods to PREVENT & TURN a Breech Baby

Interview with Dr. Daoshing Ni and Dr. Jessica Chen, by Allie Chee

 Just the word “breech” can strike fear in pregnant women—and rightfully so.

 In the U.S. hospital environment, a breech presentation would “almost certainly mean a cesarean section, considered major abdominal surgery that generally leads to longer hospital stays, longer recovery and, like all surgery, the risk of complications[1]”—and loss of any hope of a natural childbirth experience.

In the case of home birth with a midwife, some midwives will deliver breech babies and some won’t. World-acclaimed midwife, birth educator and activist Ina May Gaskin said in one of her lectures, “At first, we brought breech pregnancies to the hospital, but we found after a while that we could deliver them here just fine. Footling breeches, which are thought to be the most difficult, in our experience, they often just slid right out.”[2]

However, today more than 90% of breech babies are born by Caesarean [2]. A woman will be hard-pressed to find a provider who will happily encourage a vaginal birth with a breech presentation and she will likely find herself in the OR on her big day.

But for any woman wanting to avoid that scenario—great news!

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers an extremely gentle, painless procedure with a high success rate for turning breech babies.  Further, TCM offers suggestions and ideas for how to avoid a breech presentation in the first place.

To find out more, I interviewed two doctors considered top in the field:

Prenatal Glucose Test: Is it Necessary?

Do I need to take the glucose tolerance test?

•50 grams of glucose •tap water •artificial flavor

 

 That's not what you'd expect to find on a “recommended” list for pregnant mothers, but those are the ingredients of the drink a pregnant woman must consume if she follows doctors orders for glucose tolerance screening.

Women who are discerning with the things they consume during pregnancy--or at any time in their life--are not likely going to drink the glucose test beverage without, at least, asking: “Is this really necessary?”

When pregnant,

The Secret to Calm & Confidence in Childbirth

 

The Secret to 

CALM & CONFIDENCE  in Childbirth

With Excerpts from New Mother

 

Throughout my thirties I watched not one or two, but almost all my friends enthusiastically enter the hospital in labor, having claimed for nine months that they would have a natural birth. Yet they came out two (or ten) days later having been induced, forced to labor on their back, drugged, cut, and observed by countless strangers. Their babies had been taken from them immediately after birth and they were having problems nursing.

I wondered what had gone on behind the doors of the L&D that all of them were checking out with dramatically altered birth stories.

In my third trimester I attended an all-day birthing class at a store for new moms and babies. The women in attendance were from around the world, highly educated in their fields of work, and well to do with all conveniences of life available to them.

And yet... here are some things I heard during class:

AFTER MISCARRIAGE

 

AFTER MISCARRIAGE

Postpartum Care for Mothers Experiencing Loss

By Allie Chee

People in the US are rediscovering the mind/body benefits of a 30-40 day postpartum recovery period for new moms during which they rest, are cared for, eat special foods for rejuvenation, and are supported by family and postpartum care providers. This, of course, leaves mom better able to care for and bond with her new baby, and to return to her old strength, if not even an increased vitality—quickly!

In China the term for this time is called “sitting moon” (zuo yuezi in Mandarin—one month being “one moon”), but cultures throughout Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Far East have similar practices, each with their own special techniques and care providers. This postpartum care is not considered something only for

NO FEAR of BREECH - The New Mother Cover Story

NO FEAR of BREECH

 The New Mother book cover is based on the image of a woman approximately 32 weeks pregnant—me. When working on design ideas for the cover, the production team asked me to send a photo of myself pregnant, and that ended up being the inspiration for the cover.

But that’s not where the inspiration stopped.  In other words, it’s not a literal image.

New Mother Cover Design

We don’t see an umbilical cord; there’s no placenta in sight; and the baby, rather than in the ideal position for birth, is “cradled” in the mother’s arm and looking straight at the reader—smiling!

If the baby had been presented exactly as she was positioned at the time, she would have been head-down, nestled in the pelvic girdle, and the reader would have a lovely view of her back and bum, or maybe her curled legs and feet. That could be important for a medical journal, but the artist had an intention with her cover design.  She wanted the baby to interact with the reader—to say: I’m a participant, aware and involved.

I loved the idea and the image, and the idea that the baby was “breech” never crossed my mind.  After a reader contacted me saying

CONCEIVING AFTER MISCARRIAGE: When to Try Again & Increasing Ability to Carry Full Term

CONCEIVING

AFTER  MISCARRIAGE

In Part 1 of this article, AFTER MISCARRIAGE: Postpartum Care for Mothers Experiencing Loss, we discussed the care a woman should receive in the first several weeks after a preterm loss (or stillbirth) to help her through the grieving process, to assure her return to vitality, and—according to the precepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine—to increase her chance of a successful pregnancy the next time she conceives.

Here in Part 2, we’ll address the question: When should we try to conceive again? It would be nice if there were one, but the answer is that there is no one answer.  Conceiving life is a sacred event, and there is no single fact or consideration that can offer a single best answer for everyone.

However, since there are biological and emotional ramifications of pregnancy and loss, there are factors we should consider when deciding when it’s best to try to conceive again.

The western medical industry essentially considers one factor when making recommendations: What is the statistical likelihood of carrying the next pregnancy full-term when conception happened x amount of time after a miscarriage?” 

That is indeed the ultimate question in any woman’s mind. However, the western medical industry offers studies with tremendously conflicting results to answer that question.

For example,

Natural Childbirth Exercies - Review

 

Natural Childbirth Exercises

If we want any performance or undertaking to turn out the way we envision, training and study are a must—even with natural childbirth. 

The good news is: the more we study and train, the more we can release concerns, look forward with joy, and entrust the outcome to the Divine!

With that in mind, check out this fantastic book by Rhondda Hartman, mother to 5, grandmother to 9, & trainer to 14,000+ pregnant women…

WHERE SHOULD MY BABY SLEEP?

WHERE SHOULD MY BABY SLEEP?

Co-sleeping, nursing, and weaning à la Good Nights

New parents have a lot of questions. Some of the most basic are the most controversial:

• For how many months (or years) should I nurse my baby?
• When should I wean my baby and how?
• Where should my baby sleep?

When people ask new moms...

How Can You Stand Staying At Home?

I’m often asked that question.  It implies that staying home, raising our children, is less desirable, fun or respectable than working in an office.

Personally, I can’t imagine any joy greater than staying home with my baby, cooking for her and my family all day, and being her best friend and teacher.  That’s not what we’re all called to do, nor what we’d want at every phase of life. Maybe that’s why some women feel it’s less desirable than working in an office.

To be fair, I understand what is driving the question...