Different Birth Positions and Encouraging Baby To Turn

Articles on Homebirth

The articles below are offered by Homebirth Queensland to provide some general information about homebirth, and are particularly suited for those considering homebirth as a birthing option for the first time.

• There’s No Place Like Home – Why Women Want to Birth at Home by Jodi Cleghorn
• Giving Birth at Home by Sarah Buckley MD

Scroll down for articles and Information on:

• Breech Birth
• Turning Baby

Breech Birth

Around 3-4% of babies are breech, or bottom down, at term. Many babies can be turned with simple treatments, such as maternal positions and acupuncture, and doctors or midwives can perform External Cephalic Version (ECV) to turn the baby. Breech vaginal delivery is more complex – but not necessarily more difficult – than that of a head-down baby, and an experienced and confident carer is recommended. Caesarean delivery is often performed routinely, but the final decision must rest with the mother.

See Maggie Bank’s book ‘Breech Birth,

Natural Breech Birth

Around 3-4% of babies are breech, or bottom down, at term. Many babies can be turned with simple treatments, such as maternal positions and acupuncture, and doctors or midwives can perform External Cephalic Version (ECV) to turn the baby. Breech vaginal delivery is more complex – but not necessarily more difficult – than that of a head-down baby, and an experienced and confident carer is recommended. Caesarean delivery is often performed routinely, but the final decision must rest with the mother.

See also:

• Coalition for Breech Birth
• Heads Up! All About Breech Babies
• The Breech Delivery at Home
• Birthing Way: A Footling Breech Birth

and Maggie Bank’s book ‘Breech Birth, Woman-Wise’

Encouraging baby to turn

– Down to Birth and Dr. Sarah Buckley Optimal Foetal Positioning (OFP)

The position and movement of a mother can influence the way in which her baby lies in the womb, making birth either easier or harder on mother and baby. Difficult labours can be the result of a malpresented baby, such as a baby lying in the posterior position.

Learn to tell the position that your baby is lying in – your midwife can help you do this The best way to keep a baby lying in the optimal anterior position (their back to your tummy) is to spend lots of time kneeling or sitting upright, or on hands and knees. Always make sure when you sit on a chair that your knees are lower than your pelvis.

See also 

• Optimal Foetal Positioning by Jean Sutton and Pauline Scott
• Spinning Babies website for an excellent resource on reading babies position, information and exercises.

and Pauline Scott and Jean Sutton’s book ‘Sit Up and Take Notice: Positioning for a Better Birth’.