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Our Miracle of Sadie Ivey
Dr. Don Parkerson, Jr.
After 41 ½ weeks, we finally got to meet our
daughter, Sadie. But, what you may find
interesting was what took place at 34 weeks.
This is Sadie’s story.
First of all, I use the term miracle not because our
child required some miraculous medical intervention or delivery room
theatrics. I say miracle because every
newborn has their own collection of miracles that must occur over a 9-month
period for them to be born into this world.
Your Baby is Breech!
During one of our routine prenatal appointments, when
Julie was 34 weeks, our midwife said she thought our baby might be situated in
a breech position. A sonogram 5 days
later confirmed that Baby Sadie was indeed breech, which translates into
non-baby talk as butt-down & head-up.
The medical options for breech babies are pretty
simple:
1.
Wait and hope
that the baby turns on its own.
2.
Schedule a
C-section because, in their view, it’s not worth the risk to try a breech
delivery anymore.
3.
Perform an
“External Version” which means that certain pregnancy-care specialists sedate
the mom and try to physically force the baby to move into a head-down position.
None of these options particularly inspired us with
confidence. In our scientific reasoning,
Julie and I knew that there had to be a concrete reason as to why our baby was
breech in the first place, thus waiting for Sadie to turn on her own wasn’t going
to happen unless a true miracle of God occurred.
Secondly,
the idea of a scheduled C-section was not the route we were looking for. For personal and health reasons, Julie and I
viewed a C-section only as a last option.
Nonetheless, a C-section was tentatively scheduled for April 14, three
days before our due date.
And thirdly, the External Version procedure is not
without its risk. While applying the
force required to turn a breech baby, the baby could be injured, the cord could
wrap around her neck, the mother’s water could break, and any number of other
complications could occur. Again, not a
reasonable option.
The Webster Breech Turning Technique
Dr. Larry Webster was a chiropractor who discovered that
all mothers carrying breech babies seemed to have something in common – a
certain type of sacral misalignment combined with a tightened pelvic
ligament. Webster then reasoned that
breech babies are situated in that position not because of a developmental
error, but because the mother’s pelvic cavity is restricting them from getting
in their proper position. Therefore, if
the mother’s sacral-pelvic region were corrected, the baby would innately know
to turn into a head-down position.
A couple of decades later, many chiropractors now
specialize in this Webster Breech Turning Technique. We found one such chiropractor in Dr. Heather
Whittle in Kennesaw. (For more info on
Dr. Whittle, Click Here.)
Dr. Whittle performed the Webster technique on Julie
at 35 weeks, which eliminated the pelvic “constraint” that was holding our
little Sadie in the breech position.
Within days, a sonogram verified that Sadie had in fact moved into a
head-down position.
Hallelujah!
Cancel the C-section!
To Induce or Not to Induce
Once Sadie was positioned for proper vaginal
delivery, we waited peacefully for her arrival.
As her due date of April 17 came and went, the
conversations with our midwives changed from turning a breech baby to the
possibility of inducing labor with the drug Pitocin.
It may surprise you, but my pharmacist wife had even
stronger objections to induced labor than this radical chiropractor. “God’s way is the best way” is her motto and
that rang true throughout that extra 9 days of waiting.
Around
For further information on this topic, you may contact Dr. Parkerson at
770.952.5353, by email at Parkerson@humberparkerson.com,
or visit our clinic on the web at www.HumberParkerson.com.
The Highest Level is the monthly e-mail newsletter of the
© Humber Parkerson
Clinic 2006
May 2006 issue of The Highest Level
