To Your Health

Acupuncture Puts Breech Babies in the Right Position

Throughout most of pregnancy, a woman's uterus has enough space to allow the fetus to move comfortably and change position. By the 36th week of pregnancy, most fetuses turn into head-down, or "vertex" position, which is the normal and safest position for birth. In about 4 percent of all pregnancies, however, the baby does not move to the vertex position. This results in a breech presentation, in which the baby's feet, legs or buttocks - rather than the head - are the first to come out during delivery. Breech deliveries may lead to more complications during childbirth than normal deliveries, and often require a cesarean section to be performed, adding thousands of dollars in medical costs and increasing the risk of harm to the mother.

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