52: Breech Baby & External Cephalic Version

Your baby starts out with a lot of room to move around in the beginning of your pregnancy, and as they get bigger they have less room to move around. Ideally before birth your little one is positioned head-down, facing your back, with their chin tucked to their chest and the back of their head ready to enter your pelvis. Most babies settle into this position within weeks 32-36. In some cases a baby is not head down and is bottom first rather than head first, and this is referred to as breech. There is a procedure called an external cephalic version that may be able to assist your baby turn in the right position, so they are head down, before you go into labor. This episode is going to go into some causes of breech babies, what the complications of a breech vaginal birth can be, and all of the pros, cons, and research on the ECV procedure.