Can chiropractors flip breech babies?
with Dr. Whitney Haase
You may have heard from your OB/GYN, midwife, or friend that chiropractors can help flip breech babies... but is it true?
Well, yes and no.
A lot of it depends on the reason why the baby is breech in the first place.
Most babies will be breech at some point during pregnancy, but it’s almost never an issue until the end of pregnancy. A major reason babies have trouble flipping to the vertex (head down) position before birth is that there isn’t enough room to turn.
Some reasons this can happen are:
The mother has an irregularly shaped uterus
There is a problem with the placenta, umbilical cord, or amniotic fluid level
There are twins or multiple babies
OR
The mother has restricted pelvic joints and tight muscles
We’re going to focus on the last option — the mother has abdominal and pelvic joint and muscle restrictions.
A pregnant woman’s belly and pelvis should be able to stretch and grow (thanks relaxin!) to make room for her growing baby. As anyone who has been pregnant before knows, pregnancy tends to be a major stressor on the body. As a reaction to the increased biomechanical stress, sometimes women end up developing and holding too much tension in their abdominal and pelvic muscles. This can result in spinal and pelvic joints aren’t able to move as much as they should.
Short and tight muscles and restricted joints limit both mom’s mobility AND how much room baby has to move around.
So what can chiropractors do?
Although as chiropractors, we don't "treat" breech babies, there is so much we can do to help improve mom's pelvic biomechanics and decrease muscle tension.
The amazing thing is that when we address these problems in the mother, babies will often flip!
We have helped many expecting mothers in our chiropractic office, and babies can sometimes turn head down as quickly as later during the day of mom’s first visit. So cool!
Webster Chiropractic Technique
If a mom is concerned about a breech baby, her care in our office may include:
Webster technique (chiropractic adjusting)
Diaphragm release
Round ligament release
Pelvic muscle release (this can be performed both externally and internally)
Lots of belly breathing
Acupuncture & dry needling
Other exercise recommendations
If you are expecting and want to help your baby get into the best position possible, here are some other things you can do at home:
Stop slumping on the couch. This is a generally terrible position for anyone, but especially during pregnancy. It puts a lot of stress on the pelvic joints, and it also encourages the baby to rest on mom’s sacrum (one of the lowest parts of her spine). Belly on top of back = less room for baby.
Hang out in the table top position or in child’s pose. These positions can create a lot more space for baby because mom’s belly can drop away from her spine. More room for baby, and more comfortable for mom! This is also a great position for general back pain relief for the mother.
Deep squats. Deep squats can help encourage pelvic floor and abdominal muscle relaxation. Be sure to take a nice wide stance to make room for your belly, and focus on breathing into your back and crease of your hip at the bottom of the squat.
In the table top position, the mother’s belly is able to drop away from her spine. This can help give the baby more room and decrease tension on mom’s back.
Child’s pose (or the low bear position) is another great position for opening up the belly and pelvis and giving baby more room to move around.