Can induced labor be used for malpositioned fetuses?

Pregnancy is a very difficult thing, and expectant mothers are most likely to experience various symptoms during pregnancy. Among them, an abnormal fetal position is what doctors and family members least want to see. Fetal position mainly refers to the position of the fetus in the mother's body. If the fetal position is not correct, birth will be very difficult. In the worst case, it may even result in fetal death in the mother's body. So, can induced labor be used if the fetus is in an abnormal position?

If the fetus is in an incorrect position, induced labor can be performed, but if the pregnant mother wants the child, the baby can be born, but the method of caesarean section will be used. This is because the fetal position is not fixed before 20 weeks of pregnancy. After the 28th week of pregnancy, the fetus' weight increases sharply and the amniotic fluid decreases relatively. The fetus cannot move freely in the uterus and its body position becomes relatively fixed. However, the body position has no effect on the child's development. It's just that vaginal delivery is more dangerous during childbirth, so the child can still be born through caesarean section.

Correction of malposition of the fetus

1. Correction with knee-chest position exercise. The expectant mother should empty her bladder, loosen her belt, lie on a hard bed, support herself with her knees on the bed, her hips raised high, her thighs perpendicular to the bed, and her chest as close to the bed as possible. Do it once in the morning and once in the evening every day, each time for 15 minutes, for 1 week, and then go to the hospital for a follow-up check.

2. The doctor performs rotation on the expectant mother. If the fetus still has not turned at 32-34 weeks of pregnancy, the doctor will consider performing an external fetal rotation for the expectant mother to turn the fetus over so that the expectant mother can give birth smoothly. When performing artificial external fetal rotation, drugs to relax the uterus are usually given, and the success rate is about 60% when performed by experienced physicians. However, external fetal rotation is not recommended for expectant mothers who had a caesarean section during their previous delivery.

In addition, external rotation is only suitable when the amount of amniotic fluid is moderate, the fetus's back is preferably on both sides, the mother's weight is moderate, and the fetus's buttocks do not enter the deep pelvis. It should be noted that external fetal rotation has certain risks. During the operation, umbilical cord entanglement or placental abruption may occur.

3. Acupuncture. There are successful precedents of acupuncture treatment for malposition of fetus in my country. Use acupuncture at the Zhiyin acupoint to treat malposition of the fetus, once a day, 15-20 minutes each time, 5 times as a course of treatment, suitable for pregnant women diagnosed with breech, transverse, and oblique positions by gynecological examination