New Page 0

Hypnosis and Breech Babies

By Giuditta Tornetta from her book "Painless Childbirth"

"Hypnotherapy may help pregnant women turn their breech baby around to the normal head-first, or vertex, position. A researcher at the University of Vermont, Burlington, used hypnosis with one hundred pregnant women whose fetuses were in the breech (feet-first) position between the thirty-seventh and fortieth week of gestation.

The intervention group received hypnosis with suggestions for general relaxation and release of fear and anxiety. While under hypnosis, the women were also asked why their baby was in the breech position.

The study, which appeared in the Archives of Family Medicine, reported that 81 percent of the fetuses in the hypnosis group moved to the vertex position, compared with 48 percent of the control group. Not surprisingly, hypnosis was most effective for the women motivated to use the technique."

Natural Health Magazine, November-December 1995

When treating a breach pregnancy in my hypnotherapy practice, the mommy-to-be often discovers she has low self-esteem, fear of pain, fear of failure, the need to please others more then herself, and interestingly enough, fear of success. Do we deserve to have what we desire? Do we deserve to ask God to fulfill our dreams? Are we important enough for God to pay attention to our needs in His busy schedule?

In our journey of self-discovery I suggest we look at our relationship with the Divine from a different prospective. As a parent will you not do the best you can to give your child all he needs, all he wants? Would you go out of your way to make her happy? Wouldn't it be your good pleasure to see her dreams fulfilled? Then why do you think God is any different?

Whatever you decide to call your Creator: God, the Universe, Perfect Love, Mother Nature - isn't He/She in essence your Father/Mother? Why would He act any differently then you would toward His child? How many miracles do you think She is capable of bestowing upon her child?

If God's power is infinite, and God's love is unconditional there are really no limits to the miracles we can welcome in our lives. I was born a lotto baby, my mom won the national lottery before I was even conceived, shouldn't that be enough in a life time? Obviously not, for every day, and every time I ask and feel I deserve a miracle God is ready and willing to fulfill it. Am I special? Certainly not. The greatest gift I can give my Higher Power is the gift of gratitude, and of self-care. After all She has given me the supreme gift of life, it is my responsibility to take care of that gift to the best of my abilities.

At times, we fear success more then we fear failure. After all, most of us are familiar with failure. It is not that unnatural to endure failure or to foresee it. But, what of success? Do we know it as well? Do we even deserve it? Are we worthy of it? Can it really be possible for us?

You deserve to be great, for your greatness does not belong to you alone. Your greatness is here to serve others. You deserve to have the birthing experience you crave because it is not just your birth but it is your child's most significant moment in life.

When you ask and pray for a natural childbirth remember you are not jus asking for yourself but also for your child. In fact ask your child how he prefers to be born, if he could have anything he wanted. Yes, anything at all. Imagine, step by step, what that labor will be like; look around and see who will be there, how it will proceed and how the baby will emerge. Feel the baby in your arms, see her, smell her, hear him coo…smile at him. Have him participate in all your decisions, make him feel safe, wanted, cherished and important right now. From peri and prenatal psychology we are learning that babies can and will accrue memories while in the womb. It is thought that babies feel and embrace mom's, and at times dad's emotions. If fear, and low self-esteem is what you feel most of the time, so will they. If you trust in your God given ability to birth, and feel you deserve God's love for you and your child so will they.

Of course neither fear nor self-esteem can simply one disappear and the other materialize overnight. It is important to work on both with a professional. Consider going to a hypnotherapist, or a psychotherapist to find out what, if anything, stands in the way of a natural experience. Find out your unborn child's fears of a vaginal birth and discuss with him your misgivings. Reassure him that you are ready for it, that you trust in your innate ability to give birth, but do so only after you truly believe it yourself. We cannot fool children, especially in the womb. A professional not may help turn a breach, but can also help you embrace and make peace with whatever the outcome.

Of course at times there are physical reasons for the child to be breeched. It could be a short umbilical cord, or perhaps a cord wrapped tightly around the baby's neck. Yet if you do believe in miracles, and you have heard of all those who have cured themselves from far more disastrous situations, then you know that God's ways are infinite.

Here are some other suggestions to turn your baby around:

Laying on your back on a board or using pillows so that your head is about 40 degrees lower than her feet. Try putting an ironing board on the couch and lie on it backward (head down). Be careful not to hurt yourself, make sure there are plenty of pillows around you, and someone to help you too!

Play music, preferably with headphones, placing them low down on your uterus.

Shine a very bright light low down on your uterus, or even between your legs.

Have someone (preferably the father) talk loudly but soothingly to the baby, low on the belly, close to the skin, telling the baby to turn around, to come towards the voice.

If all else fails, how about external version? This is where the mother is given drugs to relax her uterus, and then the doctor uses his hands externally to turn the baby around. This, of course, has its pros and cons, which should be weighed. It also can be painful for the mother (but not as much pain as she'll have after a c-section!) Doctors usually don’t like to perform this too early in case you go into labor during the manipulation; they want to make sure baby is full term or close to it. Midwives usually are very good and gentle and can really do miracles with this one.

Chiropractors use a technique called Webster's technique. if you go to www.icpa4kids.com and do a search for chiropractors entering your zip code, you will get a list of chiropractors some are noted as trained in the Webster technique.

Have you ever heard of elephant walking? It has worked well for some of my clients who carry breech near term. Elephant walking is walking on hands and feet instead of knees. As soon as you try it, you will see why it would work! It's very difficult to do, but it definitely helps loosen the baby up and out of the pelvic ring. Some people feel the baby turn as soon as they start doing it.

Other methods that have worked:

	Have the mother walk on her hands in a swimming pool.
	Homeopathic Pulsatilla in 200C potency or higher. Have the mother take one dose every 3 days while doing tilt exercises. (Check with your Homeopathic doctor)
	Stimulation of the acupuncture point bladder 67 (located on the little toe at the outer corner of the nailbed). Be aware acupuncture can start labor, make sure you work with someone very knowledgeable with pregnancy.
	Pelvic rocking and exercises to strengthen muscle tone.
	Drink plenty of fluids.
	Stimulation of Acupuncture Point Bladder 67- To stimulate the acupuncture point bladder 67, place one grain of rice on the outside of the mom's baby toe and tape it there. She should just leave it there for as long as she can or until she knows that the baby has turned.

Call us for a reference for acupuncture and/or chiropractic services in the Los Angeles area, or to set up an appointment for hypnosis.

No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Joy In Birthing is a registered trademark of Joy In Birthing, Inc. under the United States patent and trademark office.