April 2, 1999 – Breech presentation has always been a fear during childbirth. The Chinese traditionally use moxibustion (the use of a stick of mugwort that burns like incense) to heat the Bladder-67 point, located on the outer side of the little toe. This point has the effect of stimulating the movements of a fetus presenting by breech and causing it to present by the head. However, there had never been a randomized study confirming the effectiveness of this practice.
The study was carried out at the Jiangxi Province Women’s Hospital in Nanchang and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Jiu Jiang, among 260 women who have never had children and who have a fetus presenting by the seat at the 33rd week of gestation. They were divided into two equal groups, one of which received daily moxibustion treatment for 7 days, with an additional 7 days extension if the fetus remained in its original position. The control group received only routine care. After the 35th week and until childbirth, fetuses still breech-presenting could be subjected to external inversion.
The results of the treatment were measured by the number of fetal movements counted by the mother for 1 hour per day for 7 days and by the number of normal presentations at the 35th week of pregnancy.
The results showed that there were 48 fetal movements per hour in the intervention group, compared to 35 in the control group, and that after two weeks of treatment, 75% of the presentations were normal in the treated group compared to 47% in the control group. Although 24 subjects in the control group and 1 in the treated group were externally rolled over, at birth, 75.4% of babies in the treated group presented through the head, compared to 62.3 % in the control group. The researchers conclude that moxibustion between the 33rd and 35th week of pregnancy does increase fetal movement and head presentations at birth.
HealthPassport.net
Cardini F, Weixin H. Moxibustion for correction of breech presentation: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 1998; 280: 1580-1584.
