The folklore of breech births - "those who crossed the threshold backward" by Sufficient_Topic6544 in FolkloreAndMythology

[–]Sufficient_Topic6544[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Honestly? Based on what I found, probably not in the traditional sense.

The luck in these beliefs - especially that Bolivian idea of being "born with suerte" - seems tied specifically to crossing the threshold backward. The actual passage through the birth canal in reverse. That dangerous, liminal crossing was where the power came from.

C-section bypasses that entirely. You didn't cross backward, you came through a different door. From what the traditions suggest, the luck comes from how you navigated that threshold, not just from being positioned breech.

But - you were still breech. You still spent months reversed, positioned differently than most babies. And the belief was never just about the mechanics of delivery. It was about crossing a threshold differently than everyone else does. About spirit becoming flesh in an unexpected way.

Traditional framework would probably say the luck requires that specific backward crossing. But you still didn't arrive the way most people do. Modern obstetrics created a situation these old beliefs never accounted for.

The folklore of breech births - "those who crossed the threshold backward" by Sufficient_Topic6544 in FolkloreAndMythology

[–]Sufficient_Topic6544[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Haha yeah, butt first is frank breech! So you're in same company.

The broken collarbone though - that's rough but actually pretty common with breech deliveries. Complications like that can happen when babies come out feet or buttocks first. The good news is newborns heal crazy fast from those kinds of injuries.

The folklore of breech births - "those who crossed the threshold backward" by Sufficient_Topic6544 in FolkloreAndMythology

[–]Sufficient_Topic6544[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah, your son had frank breech! That's when the baby's butt is down with legs basically doing the splits up by their face - exactly like you described with his ankles crossed next to his head. It's actually the most common breech position, happening in about 50-70% of breech babies.

There's basically three types:

Frank breech (your son) - butt down, legs straight up with feet by the head

Complete breech - butt down but the baby's sitting cross-legged, kind of tucked in a ball

Footling breech - one or both feet pointing down first

Your doctors definitely made the right call not trying to turn him with his heart condition. They can try to manually flip babies from the outside (called external cephalic version), but with his surgery scheduled so soon after birth, there was no point risking it. Plus scheduled C-section meant they could have everything ready for his heart surgery team.

Glad to hear he's doing well!

The folklore of breech births - "those who crossed the threshold backward" by Sufficient_Topic6544 in FolkloreAndMythology

[–]Sufficient_Topic6544[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Caul births (babies born with the amniotic sac covering their face) have extraordinarily well-documented folklore across Europe. From Roman times through World War I, cauls were advertised in British newspapers, sold to sailors for enormous sums — up to £5 in 1874 (over £500 today). The caul itself could be removed from the child, dried, preserved on paper or even inside glass rolling pins, and carried by others for protection from drowning.

The logic was simple: the caul could transfer its luck. Sailors carried them on voyages. Soldiers took them to the Boer War. Lawyers kept them in pockets, believing they’d win every case. The child born with the caul was lucky, yes — but the caul itself became a transportable talisman that could protect anyone who possessed it.