Turning a Breech Baby with Moxibustion Therapy
In Chinese medicine, we use a heat therapy called moxibustion, or moxa, to heat specific acupuncture points. This therapy involves burning a stick of herbs composed of mugwort and holding the smoldering stick above the skin to warm certain meridians or acupoints.
The acupuncture point UB 67 on the Urinary Bladder channel is the primary point used because it is the most dynamic point to activate the uterus. This point is located on the tip of the pinky toe, near the lower outside corner of the toenail. Traditionally, the primary function of acupoint UB 67 is to turn malpositioned babies.
According to TCM theory, moxa has a tonifying and warming effect which promotes movement and activity. The nature of heat is also rising. This warming and raising effect is utilised to encourage the baby to become more active and lift its bottom up in order to gain adequate momentum to summersault into the head down position.
Moxa on acupoint UB 67 is extremely successful in rotating breech babies. In fact, a landmark study published in JAMA in 1998 demonstrated that moxibustion on UB 67 rotated breech babies to normal cephalic position by birth in 75% of the cases.