Once Treatment Successfully Corrected a Pregnant Malposition by the Crouch Lying Following the Moxibustion Immediately

I. INTRODUCTION

Both methods of the crouch lying and the moxibustion for correcting pregnant malposition are influential and popular in the Chinese traditional medicine (CTM). However, they are usually described as two separated methods in books , even the same as it goes on so far .

This essay reported a way of combining the two methods into one process as a successful case.

II. CASE REPORT

It was in spring of 1970, the couple of Jianmin Jiang (JM) worked as meteorologists and lived in the Wulumuqi city in the Northwest of China, when Yuyong Jiang (YY) was a fetus, but in a malposition – breech position, her head was opposite in an upper position. This made JM's couple very anxious. As you well known, it is usually in danger to be treated a caesarean section during the childbirth process, as in the Western medicine. Thus, JM looked round if there is a possibility to avoid them from any caesarean section via the CTM. Unfortunately, he could not find any suitable doctor to do it on those days because of living in a place far from hospital.

One Sunday, JM visited a book store of 'Xinhua Shudian' and happened to see a book titled \<Hand Book for 'Barefoot' Doctors> [1], he glanced at the book's content, then was surprised to find the page, on which the text of correcting pregnant malposition appears. He start to read carefully, it was written (Fig. 1) as followings:

[Precautions]

1. When a breech position of malposition is diagnosed (Fig. 1, left), after seven months of the pregnancy, the gravida may take a face downward as a crouch lying with loosening her waistband, i.e. relies on her kneels and cephalothorax to exert herself body (as shown in the right 14-26 of Fig. 1) for 15 minutes to help the fetus invert naturally. To perform twice per day.

【诊断要点】

(一)子宫轮廓仍保持椭圆形。

(二)宫底部可摸到圆硬,并有浮动感的胎头。

(三)子宫下段摸到较软、大而不规则,无浮动感的臀部。

(四)胎心在脐上一侧听到。

△【预防】

(一)妊娠7个月后发现臀位,可让孕妇做胸膝卧式,帮助胎体自然倒转,每日二次,每次15分钟,做时要放松裤带(见图14-26)。

图 14-26 胸膝卧式 △(二)艾灸至阴穴(小脚趾甲处下方)。每日一次,每次15分钟。做时最好平卧,裤带放松。

Figure 1: The page that JM read and marked in 1970 after YY came out to the world usually (Copied From [1], p480) 2. Take a moxibustion on the pair of acupoints named 'Zhiyin xue', i.e. the 'BL67' in the CTM . The pair of 'Zhiyin xue' locate at the outsides of the little tiptoes (Fig. 2,) . To perform a moxibustion for 15 minutes per day.

Fig. 2: The red point is the Zhiyin xue (From [5])

JM considered over that we have to do it following these instructions by our self as an experiment any way. Perhaps, we may try to combine the two methods above mentioned onto one process to add more confidence. Under this consideration, JM bought a pair of Chinese mugwort sticks, and waited till the date of the pregnancy in full seven months. The couple tried to treat in an afternoon as following steps:

The fetus's mother, the gravida, loosed her waistband after a micturition, then she lied facing upward on bed with her crus and foots drooping down along the side of the bed. JM set a fire to the pair of Chinese mugwort sticks, handed the pair of fired sticks in each hand, put them around 30 cm below the gravida's left and right little tiptoes, where the 'Zhiyin xue' locate in, let the gravida feel warm on her pair of little tiptoes, kept for about 10 minutes, so that the gravida felt warming enough, then, JM moved very slowly the two fired mugwort sticks in his hands from lower to upper to close the gravida's little tiptoes, till she felt a little hot being uncomfortable at her little tiptoes. That was over to finish the treatment of method (2) firstly. Followed by performing the method (1).

YY's mother immediately changed to lie facing downward with a kneeling, so that let her breech higher than her cephalothorax alike as shown in

Figure 1: 14-26. Just kept for a few minutes, she said that a voice of "gudu" was suddenly sounded, and felt that the fetus acted an inverse in her abdomen. Thus, we reached a victory in the case of combining moxibustion and crouch lying in the CTM!

"The malposition was successfully corrected!" the diagnostician said on the next day. The whole family was very delighted upon this once treatment!

On her birthday, YY came out to the world usually! She graduated from the Beijing University of Chinese medicine in 1993, and received her PhD after then. This is a lucky story in our lifetime indeed.

As we found now that above report might be, perhaps, somewhat an improvement or difference from that described in the quoted books and being introduced online nowadays . It is just the reason why we attempt to submit this report here. Perhaps, this case report might help someone, such as a pregnant lady who suffers from the malposition, or a doctor who curs the malposition pregnancy more effectively, so that the gravida can be prevented from a caesarean section, which is usually treated in the Western medicine.

III. SUMMARY MARK

This case report might suggest three necessary treatment steps: 1 The moxibustion is treated synchronously to the pair of acupoints, the 'Zhiyin xue' first; 2 Treating to warm the pair of acupoints enhancing slowly till start to feel a little hot being uncomfortable; 3 The gravida immediately change to a crouch lying, so that her breech higher than her cephalothorax for minutes to wait for the correction of pregnant malposition. These are somewhat different from the instruction in the quoted books [1-3] and online webs [6].

This is just one case with a surprised success. It is needed to be verified by more cases studies. Perhaps, such as needing to give more times than once treatment sometime, or, being suitable to cur parts of the pregnant malposition in practices.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work is supported jointly by the Capital's Funds for health care improvements and researches (No. 2020-2-2172); and the Opening Foundation of the Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Chinese Academy of Sciences (KLDD-2020-015).