At 32 weeks pregnant, they say it’s ideal that baby is head down, getting in that proper position for the birth canal. That was not the case in either of my pregnancies, yet, at 40 weeks, both babies were positioned perfectly and I had two completely natural childbirths. So, if your’e still in the 30-something week of pregnancy, and your baby isn’t yet head down, don’t panic. There’s still time, and things you can do to help your baby get there. This is my experience.
First and foremost though, please don’t take this as medical advise – this is strictly my personal experience, and the things that I did in my given situations. Every body and every pregnancy is different, so you should consult with your healthcare provider to discuss your situation.
First pregnancy
I had been doing all of reading before every appointment to know exactly what I should expect. At my 32 week appointment, I was going for what was supposed to be my final routine ultrasound. The one to make sure everything looked good, take measurements, and check the position. According to the pregnancy app on my phone, at this stage the baby should have been head down, so it’s what I was expecting. The app also told me that at this week, the baby weighed approximately 4 pounds, so again, it’s what I was expecting.
Well, the ultrasound experience didn’t go as expected. First, the ultrasound tech told me the baby was in a really weird position. I said, “So, not head down?” “No, not head down,” she said in a quiet manner. The way she said it made me nervous, as if it were a bad position for the baby to be in, but I’d later find out that it’s not uncommon. My daughter was in an oblique lie, which means she was laying sort of across my belly but tilted downward, like a clock hand pointed at 4:30.
So, I was already feeling bummed that the baby wasn’t head down, but then when doing the measurements, the tech told me I had a really big baby. Yikes – just what I wanted to hear next. She told me the baby was a little over 6 pounds already, AT JUST 32 WEEKS. That was 2 pounds over what I was expecting to hear, and with 8 weeks left to go, I thought, this baby’s going to weigh over 10 pounds! That was pretty much my biggest fear at that point, and I was ready to cry.
Before getting up from the ultrasound table, the tech told me, “Well, on the bight side, with the baby not being head down, they might give you a c-section… then you won’t have to push out such a big baby.” Yeah, right, because that’s just what I wanted. I’ll never forget that comment.
Right after the ultrasound, we had our the appointment with the doctor. He came in the room, asked how I was doing, and I pretty much melted into tears. I told him, well, I just learned the baby is huge, and not head-down, so I’m just freaking out, but everything’s fiiiiiine.
He told me there was still time for the baby to turn, and gave me a few pointers to try to help. He advised me to do bicycle kicks while laying on my side (the side the baby’s head was on), do cat-cow yoga poses, and told me I could look into acupuncture or chiropractic care if I was comfortable with it. He also told me, if she still wasn’t head down at 38 weeks, they could physically try to turn her, which was required to be done in a hospital and wasn’t an ideal way of doing it, but a possible way. I was going to try everything I could before going that route. He scheduled me for another ultrasound at 36 weeks to re-check the position.
So, after sulking for the rest of that day, I got busy. Busy researching, and doing all the things.
What I did to help baby turn head down:
I did bicycle kicks in bed every night, lying on my side (the same side the baby’s head was on).
I did lots of cat-cow yoga poses throughout each day.
I visited a chiropractor who specializes in helping pregnant women and was specially trained in the Webster technique (once to twice a week).
I did each of these things over the next four weeks and went for another ultrasound at 36 weeks. Baby girl was head-down, and I was ecstatic. What a relief. At 40 weeks + 2 days, my daughter was born naturally. You can read her birth story here.
Second Pregnancy
Flash forward to a little over a year. I was 32 weeks pregnant with my son, and went for my ultrasound. Again, this was supposed to be the final ultrasound of my pregnancy.
It literally felt like deja vu… except this time we had a baby there with us in a stroller. My son was in the exact same position that my daughter was in. Not yet head-down, but in an oblique lie. Even his estimated weight was the same as my daughter’s at 32 weeks. It didn’t bother me this time though. I just thought, ok, here we go again, I’ve got some work to do.
Once again, after the ultrasound, I had the appointment with a doctor. She was a newer doctor and seemed a little more concerned than I did, and mentioned the possibility of needing a c-section. I told her I wasn’t really concerned about that yet because my daughter was in the exact same position that week of my pregnancy with her. She said, “Oh, ok, do whatever you did with her then,” and scheduled me for another ultrasound at 36 weeks to check again.
Right after that appointment, I scheduled my chiropractor visits. I did nightly bicycle kicks and daily cat-cow yoga poses for the next four weeks.
At my 36 week ultrasound, it was confirmed that baby boy was head down. Again, another awesome relief. At 40 weeks + 1 day, he was born naturally. You can read his birth story here.
The bicycle kicks and the cat-cow poses certainly may have helped, but I also really believe the chiropractor visits helped save the situation. The chiropractor I visited specializes in pregnancy, and she made me feel very comfortable and confident that everything would be fine and the baby(s) would turn. These were the first times that I had ever been to a chiropractor, and I loved the experience. I do kind of wish I went sooner in both of my pregnancies, just to help with lower back and hip pain, but regardless, I made it towards the ends, and everything worked out great.
A source of good information that you might find useful is spinningbabies.com. I thought was a good resource for reading up on baby positioning, and it got me hopeful in the weeks that I was going through it.
Good luck to you Mamas!
Want some more pregnancy posts? Check these out:
DAILY RITUALS FOR A HEALTHY PREGNANCY & DELIVERY
WHAT I PACKED IN MY HOSPITAL BAG: WHAT I USED & WHAT I DIDN’T