So why is my baby choosing to be breech?

This blog is a part of a thriving network serving to re-normalise safe breech birth. Here's  a link to a facebook group, Coalition for Breech Birth. If you are reading as a mama with a baby who's head is in your ribs then blessings to you, beautiful woman, you will navigate this moment beautifully in the way that is right for you. There are lots of other posts on following your inner guidance alongside the information available to work out what will be best for you. I've experienced it with two of my pregnancies, no.1 and no.3 babies which is how this blog was initiated.

In this moment, I am hosting a head-down baby who is in her last few days or weeks in utero. My purely physical understanding of this is that her head is a different shape to my breechies heads (intuitively judged by looking at the 20 week scan images) and that this is the way she will best find her way through my pelvis.

If I look deeper at mental, emotional and spiritual reasons why a babe might choose head down, I would share the following. It may be helpful if you are wondering: Just why is my baby choosing breech presentation?

With a head-down baby, I sense a moving away from each other - that through her birth (just like my previous head-downer no.2 baby) she begins straight away this separation and launching into life. I'm an attachment mama, so I don't mean I will be treating her any differently to the rest of my babies!! I'm a bed-sharer, baby-wearer, on-demand breastfeeder, snuggler mama. But what I'm describing is perhaps more about the kind of personality my baby has -- she is ready to go, to dive head first into the world, to make her mark, she will have less need of me as she grows.

In comparison, my breechies (as talked about in Holding on to the mother's heart strings) are more walking by my side. We have similar issues that we work through as we grow. I feel that we are tied, joined, perhaps through our journey that was navigating the health system for a safe vaginal birth. Feet ready to go, landing on the earth with two feet, able to look me in the eyes straight away, moving together through life.

My osteopath pointed out a way that I hold my womb (right hand down low as though shielding from period pain) that may well hinder a baby turning if it was trying to. I am resting my hands on the top of the bump now -- and also taking her advice I move my hands in a clockwise motion around the bump.

I loved this prompt that we as mothers can be physically involved in the baby's choice. For me, they have chosen the best way to come for them and I have been facilitator for their choice. So in this pregnancy, these hand gestures were appropriate and baby happily took up the opportunity to turn head-down -- whereas for my breechies, any techniques like that would perhaps not have 'worked' and I may have felt useless and a failure at not being able to get them to turn but that actually, they were just right being breech. They glided out of me with the elegance of dancers, both of them.

Clearly there's no answer as to why, yet I wanted to offer some of my reflections on this as I'm in the position to compare the two presentations! Who knows, this baby may be an elusive breech like no.3 was (undiagnosed despite 5 different midwives palpating him towards the end of the pregnancy!) -- and I may indeed me surprised to find myself holding a bottom during second stage labour!!

May your journey be full of opportunities to notice the gifts being offered to you - may you know when the advice is heartfelt and true for you, and when you can simply blink, look away and say 'well that's not relevant for me right now'. You are the master of your experience divine woman.

Come on baby - do us a favour and turn round!!

So why do some babies choose this way?

I found myself whispering to my gorgeous breechies in the womb, please love, its a lot more understood the head down approach. It means we can use the water and have chilled out midwives. Please love just do a flip now.

But they knew the way they wanted to come and I visualised most crucially that we would have appropriate care givers with us, skilled midwives in both cases though neither touched my baby as it was being born - Hands Off the Breech! In both cases my main care giver was my doula as she held me emotionally and wholly in her positive regard, confidence and perfectly chosen words at key points.

My niece also presented breech so perhaps my sister and I had that-shaped uteri. This same niece alongside my two breechies have a particular shaped head, wider forehead and big, like mine. The two cousins who presented head down had much smaller heads.

A year ago I was blessed with the experience of listening to Mary Cronk, a very skilled midwife who has specialised in normal breech births throughout her long career (there have been very few midwives who have been able to sustain this skill since the blanket move towards cesarean - Mary was one who has bridged the generation or two that lost the knowledge - those of us heralding the reskilling process are warmed by the greater number of women able to experience safe normal breech births). She shared that sometimes a breech presentation is indicating that something is wrong with baby. However, you can tell that all is well, that the baby is uncompromised, if labour continues progressing. If baby descends and progress is made each contraction then all is likely to be well.

There is loads more information about the nitty gritty here www.breechbirth.org.uk


So everyone who wants to should get to give this a go in my view. There's nothing like the feeling of bicycling legs half way out of you! Quite cute. Or in my son's case simply cradling his bum while the rest waited to born.

Who knows why?!

Its just the way some of them choose to come :)