Baby Breech

A fascinating use of Chinese Medicine in pregnancy is its role in turning a fetus that is presenting breech, i.e., feet first. The technique is most effective between the 28th and 34th week, up to 36 weeks of pregnancy. The optimal time for effectiveness is 32-34 weeks. Past the 36th week there is usually not enough room for the fetus to turn around.

The treatment uses the herb mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) called "moxa' in Chinese. Moxibustion is the burning of the herb moxa and the application of the generated heat to certain acupoints. For turning the fetus we primarily use the point Zhiyin (Bladder 67) located on the outside corner of the nail on the little toe.

Using a Moxa stick, a tight roll of powdered herb that resembles a large cigar, an acupuncturist holds the smoldering, non-toxic stick a half inch away from the Zhiyin (UB 67) point on the foot. The procedure is repeated on the opposite foot and continued for 15-20 minutes, alternating between the right and left foot.

A Japanese study published in 2000 confirmed that stimulation of acupuncture points is effective in correcting breech positioning. By studying 357 women with breech presentation they found that the moxibustion treatment group had a correction rate of 92.48 percent compared to the control group which had a spontaneous correction rate of 73.66 percent. *