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Breech Presentation and Acupuncture Treatment
Types of breech presentations
(a) Complete or full breech (5-10%) – This involves flexion of the fetus legs. It looks like the fetus is sitting in a tailor fashion. The buttocks and feet appear at the vaginal opening almost simultaneously.
(b) Incomplete breech (10-30%) – The fetus feet or knees will appear first. His feet are labeled single or double footing, depending on whether 1 or 2 feet appear first.
(c) Frank and single breech (50-70%) – The fetus thighs are flexed on his abdomen. His legs are against his trunk and feet are in his face (foot-in-mouth posture). This is the most common and easiest breech presentation to deliver.
What causes a breech presentation?
The causes of breech presentations are not fully known, however, a breech birth is more common when:
· Pregnancies are insubsequent.
· There are multiple pregnancies.
· When there is history of premature delivery
· When the uterus has too much or too little amniotic fluid
· In an abnormal shaped uterus or a uterus with abnormal growths, such as fibroids.
· For women with placenta previa
: Placenta previa is an obstetric complication in which the placenta is attached to the uterine wall close to or covering the cervix. It can some times occur in the latter part of the first trimester, but usually during the second or third. It is a leading cause of antepartum haemorrhage (vaginal bleeding). It affects approximately 0.5% of all labours.
How is a breech presentation diagnosed?
A few weeks prior to the due date, the health care provider may place his/her hands on the mother’s lower abdomen to locate the baby’s head, back, and buttocks. If they think the baby is in a breech position, an ultrasound may be used to confirm. Special x-rays can also determine the baby’s position and measure the pelvis to determine if a vaginal delivery of a breech baby may be attempted.
Can a breech presentation mean something is wrong?
Most breech babies are born healthy. However, they do have a higher risk for certain problems than babies born head first. Birth defects are slightly more common in breech babies. A birth defect may be the reason they have not moved into the right position before birth.
Can a breech presentation be changed?
The best time to try to turn a breech baby is between 32-37 weeks of pregnancy. There are many different types of methods to use and all have different levels of success. Talk with your health care provider about which options they feel would be best for you to try.
Breech presentation occurs in 3-4% of all deliveries. The percentage of breech deliveries decreases with advancing gestational age from 25% of births prior to 28 weeks’ gestation to 7% of births at 32 weeks’ gestation to 1-3% of births at term.
Predisposing factors for breech presentation include prematurity, uterine malformations or fibroids, polyhydramnios, placenta previa, and fetal abnormalities (eg, CNS malformations, neck masses, aneuploidy), and multiple gestations. Fetal abnormalities are observed in 17% of preterm breech deliveries and in 9% of term breech deliveries.
Perinatal mortality is increased 2 to 4-fold with breech presentation, regardless of the mode of delivery. Deaths are most often associated with malformations, prematurity, and intrauterine fetal demise.
How helpful is acupuncture treatment for Breech Presentation?
Sometimes as delivery progresses, the fetus moves into the proper delivery position without any assistance. In most cases however, once a fetus is in breech position, a breech delivery ensues. If you do not choose to take action prior to your due date, a C-section is probable. Should you wish to have a natural birth, it is advisable to consider acupuncture in advance. The successful rate for breech presentation by acupuncture is overall 70-90%. Transverse presentation has the highest success rate; Complete the second and Incomplete the lowest respectively. A multipara is generally more successful than first delivery. Acupuncture treatment for Breech presentation is most effective around the 7th month and tends to decline after the 8th month. In general 7sessions of UB67, Zhiyin moxibustion are effective.
Although clinically, direct moxa is more effective than indirect moxa, indirect moxa is preferred due to possibility of pain and skin burn. Additional acupuncture or electro-acupuncture increases the efficacy. In general, “7-10 sessions” of acupuncture is recommended.
Common Questions & Concerns
Can I have acupuncture during pregnancy?
There is a misconception that acupuncture is not advised for pregnant women. Therefore, during pregnancy, women endure symptoms such as lower back pain, foot pain, morning sickness, common cold, Bell’s palsy and much more, believing that they simply must suffer. Pregnant women in fact, may have a variety of symptoms that can be lessened and/or remedied by acupuncture. I advise pregnant patients to call and see which acupuncture/other treatments are viable for their own particular symptoms. There are ways to make a pregnancy progress far smoother than one might expect naturally.
However, there was the book, Fu Ren Lian Fang Da Quan – Complete Collection of Fine Formulas for Women by Chen Zi Ming AD 1237 which first advised; you should be cautious in treating pregnant women by acupuncture. Wupo claimed that if you give acupuncture to pregnant women without caution, the fetus inside would be shocked. *Correct Transmission of Medicine by Yu Tuan in 1515.
For example, during the first month, the liver meridian nurtures the fetus. Do not place the needles on the points along the liver meridian. Although this sounds very conceptual, it gives the practitioners the idea of how to choose the acupuncture points according to each different month of 10 months of pregnancy.
These doctors promoted acupuncture for pregnant women only when needed, and to proceed cautiously in each case.
Many doctors succeeding them presented contraindicated acupuncture points for a pregnant woman; ST25, REN6, 7, 9,10, 11,12 in the abdomenal region and LI4, SP6, UB67, UB60 which are to remove the blood stasis and invigorate blood. These were said to be able to cause miscarriage or premature birth.
All the points for treatment on pregnant women are mainly located away from the abdomen and around arms, lower legs, hands, feet and ears.
For what symptoms can acupuncture be used during pregnancy?
Morning sickness
Bell’s Palsy (trigeminal neuralgia)
Breech Presentation
Lower Back Pain
Common Cold
If you want to know more about our treatment for breech baby or the other conditions during pregnancy, call us at 310-401-3347
Acupuncture and Reproductive Health
Current statistics state that one in five couples over the age of 30 have difficulty conceiving after one year of trying. Many of these couples are turning to acupuncture and Oriental medicine for a safe, effective and natural solution to have a healthy baby.
Fertility treatments were first recorded by Zhang Zhong Jing, a famous physician from the Han Dynasty, in his discussion of diseases in women in the Jin Gui Yao Lue or Essentials of the Golden Cabinet.
How Acupuncture Can Enhance Fertility
According to the principles of Oriental medicine, a person’s health is determined by the quality of Qi, the vital life energy, and blood circulating through the body. When Qi and blood are circulating properly, the body is properly nourished and functioning optimally which, in turn, enhances fertility.
Researchers have confirmed its benefit in the following areas:
1. Regulate menstrual cycle.
2. Improve sperm count and motility.
3. Reduce stress and anxiety associated with infertility.
4. Normalize hormone and endocrine systems.
5. Improve blood flow in the uterus.
6. Decrease chance of miscarriage.
7. Increase the chance of pregnancy for women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Fertility treatments vary from person to person, but are usually scheduled for at least three consecutive cycles (twelve weeks). Treatments can include acupuncture, customized herbal therapy, stress reduction and dietary counseling. Treatments work alone but are an excellent addition to any Western intervention.
Please call for more information and schedule a consultation.
Acupuncture Increases IVF Success by 65%
Women undergoing IVF were 65 percent more likely to become pregnant when they combined the procedure with acupuncture, a recent study has shown.
Acupuncture was delivered either just before or just after embryo transfer – a step in the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF) whereby one or several embryos are placed into the uterus.
The research was carried out by scientists from the University of Maryland in the United States and the VU University of Amsterdam in Holland.
It is thought that acupuncture stimulates the neurotransmitters that trigger the production of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone, which controls the menstrual cycle and a woman’s ovulation.
Acupuncture is also thought to stimulate blood flow to the uterus and boost the production of endogenous opioids, inducing the body to relax.
Source: British Medical Journal, February 2008
Acupuncture Improves Sperm Quality
A study published in the July 2005 issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility found that acupuncture helped infertile men by apparently helping improve sperm quality in their semen.
In the research project, 28 men received acupuncture in addition to traditional infertility treatments, while another 12 men received only the traditional treatments. All of the men were diagnosed with infertility of unknown origin.
Acupuncture was associated with fewer structural defects in the sperm of men who received it, although it had no effect on other abnormalities, such as sperm immaturity or premature death.
Source: Fertility and Sterility, July 2005
Foods for Fertility
According to Oriental medicine, the energy of the Kidney system is important for reproduction and fertility enhancement often starts with the Kidneys. A good example of a food that nourishes the Kidneys and promotes fertility is black beans.
Health Benefits of Black Beans
From an Eastern perspective, black beans are warming in nature. They are thought to tonify the Kidney Qi and nourish Yin and Blood.
From a Western perspective, black beans are an excellent source of protein, folate, iron and fiber and are rich in antioxidants.
Loaded with Antioxidants
Research published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry indicates that black beans are as rich in antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins as grapes and cranberries, fruits long considered antioxidant superstars.
When researchers analyzed different types of beans, they found that, the darker the bean’s seed coat, the higher its level of antioxidant activity. Gram for gram, black beans were found to have the most antioxidant activity, followed in descending order by red, brown, yellow, and white beans.
Overall, the level of antioxidants found in black beans in this study is approximately 10 times that found in an equivalent amount of oranges, and comparable to that found in an equivalent amount of grapes or cranberries.
Source: Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, November 2003
Previous studies have shown a link between acupuncture and improved sperm production and motility.