Baby’s starting position at birth
Each baby lands in their position before birth, usually by 36 weeks gestation. What difference does their position make? Birth is easiest when your baby is head down on your left side. Most babies land here, as their heads are the heaviest part, and mom’s liver and stomach create a soft nest of internal organs. Baby’s next best position is head down on the right. Other positions are setups for longer and more difficult births.
Why would baby’s land in difficult positions? When muscles and fascia create restrictions surrounding the uterus, your baby just rolls into the most open space inside mom. 
Poor positions may be the result of fascia and muscles that are very tight, or very lax, or imbalanced side to side or front to back.
Some babies will turn on their own in birth. Midwives and OBs can perform external version in pregnancy or at birth, but this is very painful for many moms, and often done in the last week. External versions to roll a baby around don’t always work. Since these options wait until the last days as birth approaches, they present a greater risk of not helping baby into a better position. Women risk having a Caesarian surgery to extract baby.
Even if baby moves during the version, they don’t always stay in position when rotated prenatally. Why wouldn’t an external version by a trained medical personal work? Three conditions can limit the effectiveness of an external version. A mother could have habitual myofascial restriction or bone misalignment. Or the baby may have a cord wrap or short cord. If it’s a cord issue, this may be identified with ultrasound. With a short or wrapped cord, we must leave it to the baby to make his/her best choice about how to come into the light.
But much more commonly, restrictions of the muscles and fascia in and around the hips create pelvic misalignments, as well as restrictions in the pelvic diaphragm through which the baby must pass. Twists in the uterus from falls, whiplash or trauma can hold the cervix tightly closed.
Families committed to prenatal preparation can have their best shot at birth with the most ease possible.
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