Breech birth

For the brainwave abnormality, see breach effect.
Breech birth
Drawing of a frank breech from 1754 by William Smellie
SpecialtyObstetrics, midwifery

A breech birth is when a baby is born bottom first instead of head first, as is normal.[1] Around 3–5% of pregnant women at term (37–40 weeks pregnant) have a breech baby.[2] Due to their higher than average rate of possible complications for the baby, breech births are generally considered higher risk.[3] Breech births also occur in many other mammals such as dogs and horses, see veterinary obstetrics.

Most babies in the breech position are delivered via caesarean section because it is seen as safer than being born vaginally.[2] Doctors and midwives in the developing world often lack many of the skills required to safely assist women giving birth to a breech baby vaginally.[2] Also, delivering all breech babies by caesarean section in developing countries is difficult to implement as there are not always resources available to provide this service.[4]

  1. ^ "Breech birth: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia". medlineplus.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  2. ^ a b c Hofmeyr, GJ; Hannah, M; Lawrie, TA (21 July 2015). "Planned caesarean section for term breech delivery". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 7 (7): CD000166. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000166.pub2. PMC 6505736. PMID 26196961.
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