Hello, and I hope I can help you today.
If your baby is in the head up position at term, it is not recommended that you deliver vaginally, because there is risk to the baby of
birth injury. So if you reach your due date with your baby in the head up position, your obstetrician will likely recommend cesarean section.
However, there is a possibility that the baby could turn around on its own. Ways to help this to happen is to do what you can to let your belly hang to give the baby a chance to rollover. Going on your hands and knees and arching your back high into the air, like an angry cat, for 10 minutes every day, can sometimes help the baby to turn around naturally.
However, the best way to help the baby to turn around is for your obstetrician or midwife to perform a procedure called a version. In the US, versions, which literally are done by the doctor pushing the baby into a somersault is performed under
ultrasound guidance in a hospital setting. It works about 50% of the time and can give a woman a chance at a normal
vaginal delivery.
Regarding the cord around the baby's neck, 15% of normally delivered infants have an
umbilical cord around their neck. So the presence of the cord around the neck now does not mean that there will be any problems with labor and delivery if the baby is able to get into the right position.
If you are considering having a version, I suggest that you speak to your delivering provider about it soon, as the success rates of version decrease significantly after 37 weeks.
I hope that I was able to adequately answer your question today, and this information was helpful.
Best wishes for the rest of the
pregnancy and delivery,
Dr. Brown