Will doing an inversion turn a head down baby breech?

Q: “I have been doing several things to get my baby flipped. I am now 32.5 weeks pregnant. At my 32 week appointment my doctor said the baby is breech. Since then I have started seeing a Chiro for the webster technique, and have been doing moxibustion. My problem is that this baby moves ALL THE TIME. They are big movements ALL THE TIME. So, I never really know if it has flipped or not. I am just not good at being able to tell. If I begin trying the inversion will I risk undoing a head-down positional flip that might have already taken place?”

A: “I can’t say it isn’t possible. But it is likely to help you turn your breech and isn’t likely to flip a head down baby if you do the short form of the inversion.
You are right on time with your attempts to help the baby head down and I expect you to be successful. The movement you feel can be two forms, One, the limbs. Two, less likely, the whole body. It isn’t that likely that the baby is going breech to head down to breech to head down to breech. Add transverse in there for each turn.

There are two ways to do the inversion:
One is for 10-20 minutes in the breech tilt or Open Knee Chest.
The other form of inversion is in the inversion as shown on the movie in my blog, You hold the inversion for about 1-2 minutes. Then you crawl forward and kneel before you stand up.
This second inversion style is less likely to flip a baby who is head down into a breech. You do it once a day to first stretch and then, in standing again, relax your lower uterine ligaments/cervical ligaments so they come out of a twist. Then the baby can turn head down more likely. Chiropractors can help in addition with the sacrum, pubic bone alignment and your neck to increase the chance of a head down baby. The Webster is important, too.

For a mom with a suspected breech baby at 35-40 weeks, there is less chance of accidentally flipping a head down baby to breech. I did hear of it happening once with a mom who had 2 children and was in her third pregnancy. She did the Open Knee Chest position (to rotate a posterior baby) for 20-30 minutes. I didn’t talk to her, but heard about it. I wonder how much amniotic fluid she had, but we can guess that her womb was more relaxed than the average first time mom. The longer use of an inversion position, such as Open Knee Chest or the Breech Tilt is good for when either the hips or the head are dropped into the pelvis (engaged).

I wouldn’t think that at 33 weeks your baby is engaged yet. I hope not. So a short term inversion may be the better choice. Ask your midwife or doctor if there is any reason not to do an inversion in your case. Please let me know how these techniques work for you.” -Gail Tully