The main concern for babies lying frequently in a transverse position, or in an oblique lie, is that if the waters break, the cord can prolapse down into the woman's birth canal. A cord prolapse is when a loop of the umbilical cord (attached to the baby at one end and the placenta at the other) falls past the baby, through an open cervix and into the woman's vagina. This can be life threatening for the baby, as the umbilical cord can become compressed by the baby's body pinching it against the woman's bony pelvis, restricting the blood and oxygen flow to the baby. When a cord prolapse does happen, time is of the essence to deliver the baby as soon as possible, usually by an emergency Caesarean operation. You may wish to read more about this in
cord prolapse.
Some caregivers advocate doing a routine Caesarean, 'just in case' this happens. Others try and turn the baby, called an 'external version', (a similar procedure to when a caregiver tries to change a baby from a
breech position, to a head down position, but usually much easier if the baby is very mobile). This is only possible if there are no obvious complications, such as placenta previa. Often turning a baby is unsuccessful, because they are constantly changing position, rarely staying head down.
Another technique is trying an external version when the woman is in early labour. Often the contractions are able to push the head (or bottom) down into the pelvis, and 'keep' the baby in that position until the birth. If the baby can be turned easily into a head down position, the waters may be broken by the caregiver, to remove some of the fluid that helps the baby change position frequently. This is also one way to induce the labour, and in this circumstance may still put you at a slight risk of the cord prolapsing, if the baby's head is high and
unengaged in the pelvis.
Babies who continue to present shoulder first, will need to be born by Caesarean.