About 4% of babies are in breech positions at term. Of course nowadays the normal course of events is surgery. Is this safe? Realistic? Warranted? Not according to evidence, no.
“Attending births is like growing roses. You have to marvel at the ones that just open up and bloom at the first kiss of the sun, but you wouldn’t dream of pulling open the petals of the tightly closed buds, and forcing them to blossom to your time line. ” -Gloria Lemay
Lisa Barrett’s blog entry on breech. Lisa is an independent midwife in South Australia.
http://www.homebirth.net.au/2008/03/breech-variation-of-normal.html
A video of a breech birth.
http://www.homebirth.net.au/2010/01/frank-breech-video.html
Birthing a baby by the breech at home.
Beech B. AIMS Journal, Vol 14, No 2, 2002, p4-5
Coroner’s inquiry into a breech delivery.
Beech B. AIMS Journal, Vol 14, No 2 2002 p19-20
Breech Presentation – Caesarean operation versus normal birth
Lowdon G. AIMS Journal, Vol 10, No 3, 1998, p1-4
Natural, Active Breech Birth.
Lowdon G. AIMS Journal, Vol 10, No 3, 1998, p5
Keep Your Hands off the Breech.
Cronk M. AIMS Journal, Vol 10, No 3 1998, p6-8
Why are some babies breech?
Lowdon G. AIMS Journal, Vol 10, No 3, 1998, p8-9.
Turning Point for the Breech?
Thomas P. AIMS Journal, Vol 10, No 3, 1998, p12-13
Breech on Gentle Birth archives
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/breech.html – overview
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/breechcl.html – turning
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/breechtn.html – turning
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/breechrf.html – studies
Book review on breech babies.
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/reviews/breech.asp
Ina May Gaskin on catching surprise breech babies!
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/3surprisebreeches.asp
Homeopathy to turn babies in utero.
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/turnbaby.asp
A great site on moving breech babies.
http://www.spinningbabies.com
A Natural Breech Birth – hospital
http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBMarApr01p47.html
More than you could ever hope for from the UK midwives (I love these women!)
http://www.radmid.demon.co.uk/breech.htm
About 500 birth stories with clear descriptions.
http://www.breechbabies.com/breech%20_stories.htm
Lovely story! Home breech lotus birth! (Quick, call RANZCOG and tell them one got away!!)
http://www.birthwell.com.au/birth_stories_priya.html
Footling Breech: A Midwife’s Own Birth Story – by Veronica Wagner
In this memoir a midwife reflects on the story of her birth as a footling breech in Germany during World War II, and the homebirths that she has attended in her life. She touches on both themes, remembering not only breech births, but the role that animals have played in many births she has been involved with.
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/FootlingBreech.asp
http://www.home4birth.com/pregnancy/Breech/index.html
Breech birth is not inherently dangerous if medical intervention is avoided and if the mother is allowed to instinctively choose her birth position and give birth at her own pace. It really disturbs me to not see this attitude represented at all among most people. Every suggestion made, every time you touch a woman during pregnancy, labor, and birth, every time you hint that something about her baby, her pregnancy, her labor, or her birth is not exactly as it should be, is an intervention that could lead to complications.
http://www.birthinternational.com/articles/andrea13.html
Most breech babies will turn naturally before labour. You will probably be referred to an obstetrician as these days few midwives will undertake a breech birth, even though in the past most midwives considered this within their scope of practice. There are still some midwives who are happy to assist with this variation of a normal birth, so it may be worthwhile asking around in your local community to see if you can find a willing midwife.
http://www.aims.org.uk/Journal/Vol10No3/breechCSvsNormal.htm
There are widespread fears surrounding vaginal delivery of the breech presentation and a lack of information generally available on safe vaginal delivery of a breech. There is also a lack of honesty about the risks of caesarean section and sparse knowledge of the post-caesarean difficulties many mothers encounter. These factors, together with the prevailing myths and beliefs that caesareans guarantee healthy babies, more often than not leave the woman with no option but to blindly accept the decisions made for her by her obstetrician.