Acupuncture and Moxibustion have been used for thousands of years to turn breech babies

		Sign up for our Email Newsletter
		Call (212) 894.0767 to schedule an appointment. Easily access up-to-date health info & news. Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

The treatments are safe to both mother and child. Needles are never placed in the abdomen but may be placed on your arms, legs, hands or feet. We have the highest success rates when our patients come in ASAP after breech diagnosis. We recommend treatments twice weekly for at least three weeks.

Moxibustion for correction of breech presentation: a randomized controlled trial.
Cardini F, Weixin H JAMA 1998 Nov 11;280(18):1580-4

CONTEXT: Traditional Chinese medicine uses moxibustion (burning herbs to stimulate acupuncture points) of acupoint BL 67 (Zhiyin, located beside the outer corner of the fifth toenail), to promote version of fetuses in breech presentation. Its effect may be through increasing fetal activity. However, no randomized controlled trial has evaluated the efficacy of this therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of moxibustion on acupoint BL 67 to increase fetal activity and correct breech presentation.

DESIGN: Randomized, controlled, open clinical trial.

SETTING: Outpatient departments of the Women's Hospital of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, and Jiujiang Women's and Children's Hospital in the People's Republic of China.

PATIENTS: Primigravidas in the 33rd week of gestation with normal pregnancy and an ultrasound diagnosis of breech presentation.

INTERVENTIONS: The 130 subjects randomized to the intervention group received stimulation of acupoint BL 67 by moxa (Artemisia vulgaris) rolls for 7 days, with treatment for an additional 7 days if the fetus persisted in the breech presentation. The 130 subjects randomized to the control group received routine care but no interventions for breech presentation. Subjects with persistent breech presentation after 2 weeks of treatment could undergo external cephalic version anytime between 35 weeks' gestation and delivery.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fetal movements counted by the mother during 1 hour each day for 1 week; number of cephalic presentations during the 35th week and at delivery.

RESULTS: The intervention group experienced a mean of 48.45 fetal movements vs 35.35 in the control group (Plessthan.001; 95% confidence interval [CI] for difference, 10.56-15.60). During the 35th week of gestation, 98 (75.4%) of 130 fetuses in the intervention group were cephalic vs 62 (47.7%) of 130 fetuses in the control group (Plessthan.001; relative risk [RR], 1.58; 95% CI, 1.29-1.94). Despite the fact that 24 subjects in the control group and 1 subject in the intervention group underwent external cephalic version, 98 (75.4%) of the 130 fetuses in the intervention group were cephalic at birth vs 81 (62.3%) of the 130 fetuses in the control group ( P = .02; RR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.02-1.43).

CONCLUSION: Among primigravidas with breech presentation during the 33rd week of gestation, moxibustion for 1 to 2 weeks increased fetal activity during the treatment period and cephalic presentation after the treatment period and at delivery.

- - - - -

Acupuncture conversion of fetal breech presentation.
Habek D, Cerkez Habek J, Jagust M.Clinical Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinical Hospital Osijek, Osijek, Croatia.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the value of acupuncture (AP) in the conversion of fetal breech presentation into vertex presentation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A randomized prospective controlled clinical study included 67 pregnant women with fetal breech presentation: 34 women with singleton pregnancies treated with manual AP (urinary bladder 67, Zhiyin) and a control group which included 33 women with singleton pregnancies without AP treatment. The AP treatment lasted 30 min a day, and was conducted during and after 34 weeks of pregnancy with simultaneous cardiotocography. RESULTS: The success rate of the AP correction of fetal breech presentation is 76.4% (26 women), and spontaneous conversion without AP in vertex presentation is observed in 15 women (45.4%; p0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: We believe that AP correction of fetal malpresentation is a relatively simple, efficacious and inexpensive method associated with a lower percentage of operatively completed deliveries, which definitely reflects in improved parameters of vital and perinatal statistics.

- - - - -

Acupuncture plus moxibustion to resolve breech presentation: a randomized controlled study. Neri I, Airola G, Contu G, Allais G, Facchinetti F, Benedetto C., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Modena-Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.

OBJECTIVE: In many Western countries breech presentation is an indication for elective Cesarean section. In order to correct fetal presentation, the stimulation of the acupuncture point BL67 by moxibustion, acupuncture or both has been proposed. Since no studies had previously been carried out on Western populations, pregnant Italian women at 33-35 weeks gestational age carrying a fetus in breech presentation were enrolled in a randomized, controlled trial involving an active BL67 point stimulation and an observation group.

METHODS: A total of 240 women at 33-35 weeks of gestation carrying a fetus in breech presentation were randomized to receive active treatment (acupuncture plus moxibustion) or to be assigned to the observation group. Bilateral acupuncture plus moxibustion was applied at the BL67 acupuncture point (Zhiyin). The primary outcome of the study was fetal presentation at delivery.

RESULTS: Fourteen cases dropped out. The final analysis was thus made on 226 cases, 114 randomized to observation and 112 to acupuncture plus moxibustion. At delivery, the proportion of cephalic version was lower in the observation group (36.7%) than in the active-treatment group (53.6 %) (p = 0.01). Hence, the proportion of Cesarean sections indicated for breech presentation was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the observation group (52.3% vs. 66.7%, p = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture plus moxibustion is more effective than observation in revolving fetuses in breech presentation. Such a method appears to be a valid option for women willing to experience a natural birth.

Read What People are Saying About Aiyana Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs:

"Juliette is a terrific instructor! Her seminars are packed full of well-researched information on weight loss and her presentation style is fun and interactive. Juliette is a joy to work with in all of the planning stages as well! She has been instrumental in publicizing and helping to fill the classes. Truly a remarkable woman."
- JoAnn