"Heads Up!" Study on Breech Pregnancy and Birth

Most women in NW Arkansas are not aware that if their baby is breech, they do have options. However, the key to avoiding an elective (or mandated) cesarean is early awareness. Does your care provider ever palpate (or feel) your belly to determine the position of a baby? (Hint, most OB's don't do this anymore.) Does she recommend positioning exercises you can do to help the baby turn heads down? If she doesn't you may not find out that your baby is breech until it's too late, and the baby is too big to turn with these exercises. An external version is also an option, but this can be painful, requires medication to relax the uterus, and is only successful about half of the time. I've had several clients who ended up with elective cesareans.

If you have experienced a breech pregnancy and/or birth (vaginal or cesarean), please take a moment to fill out this new survey "Heads Up! Study on Breech Pregnancy and Birth." Breech research is often aimed towards health care providers and tends to focus on health outcomes for mom and baby. Their research explores women’s experiences and feelings about carrying a breech baby; their decision-making process when discovering that their baby was breech; their care providers' recommendations and protocols for breech birth; and the birth options
available to them, from vaginal breech birth to elective cesarean section. The results will be presented at the International Breech Conference in Ottawa, Canada.

Who can participate:

All North American women who have had breech pregnancies or births are invited participate in an essay-response survey, which takes approximately 15-30 minutes to complete. They are interested in participants who had breech
pregnancies (breech babies who turned head-down before birth). They would also like to hear from women who have given birth to breech babies, whether vaginally or by cesarean section; with midwives, physicians, or unassisted; at home, in a birth center or in a hospital. They welcome input from both singleton and multiple (twin, triplet, etc) breech pregnancies and births.

How to Participate:

To take the survey, please visit the Breech Pregnancy and Birth Survey.

About the Researchers:

Dr. Rixa Freeze has a PhD in American Studies and focuses on childbirth and maternity care. She blogs at Stand and Deliver.

Julie Searcy is a PhD candidate at Indiana University with interest in the cultural discourse around birth.

Questions:

Please contact the researchers at breechbirth.study@gmail.com.