Last month I wrote about how acupuncture and moxibustion can help turn a breech baby and this week one of our lovely patients, Monika, used this method with great success. I like it when our Yinova patients write on this blog, so I asked if she would mind sharing her experience. Below you’ll find what she wrote.
“I did not have the easiest time getting pregnant, so when I finally did and felt like I was in the clear, I was scared and frustrated when I found out via sonogram that my baby was in breech position five weeks before his due date. My doctor immediately scheduled an external cephalic version, whereby the doctor manually turns the baby, essentially “kneading” him into the right position with her hands. It may sound simple, but risks include having to have an emergency C-section if the baby goes into distress, twisting of the umbilical cord which could slow or cut circulation to the fetus, premature rupture of the amniotic sac, and, in my case, special issues concerning Rh sensitization. Especially bothersome to me was my doctor’s plan to give me an epidural for the procedure–something I don’t even want during my labor.
I had seen Jill months earlier in order to help me with other fertility issues, and after I got pregnant, she had told me that acupuncture and moxibustion could help right breech babies. I had a week and a half before my scheduled external version, so I went right back to Jill, who performed acupuncture and moxibustion in the office, and had my husband hold the moxa stick to my toes for home treatments. In all, I had only two office visits and five home treatments over the course of five days. My baby seemed to slowly “warm-up” to the treatments, and by days four and five he was jumping around in my belly like a little jumping bean. (You could see him rolling around from the outside.) By day five he had flipped himself over, as confirmed by a follow-up sonogram the following day.
I cannot even express my relief over not having to have the external version and worrying about whatever other possible outcomes might have resulted from the baby being breech. Surprising to me was the success rate of one procedure over the other: external version–at best an “uncomfortable” medical procedure–has a success rate of about 50-65%, whereas moxibustion has a 69-85% success rate and is not evasive or painful at all, and in fact made me feel like I was bonding with my baby even before he is born, playing music for him during the moxa sessions, getting to know his movements and joking around with him about our crazy situation.
Jill and the other practitioners at the Yinova Center not only have an incredible knowledge of the moxibustion protocol but also genuinely care about their patients. I really felt like this highly skilled team took my concerns seriously and were as committed to my hopes of a drug- and intervention-free pregnancy as I was. I highly recommend seeking help at the Yinova Center if you find yourself faced with a breech child. ”
Monika
