Why is breech position bad

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Use of this site is subject to our terms of use and privacy policy. Registry Builder New. Medically Reviewed by Sarah Obican, M. Medical Review Policy All What to Expect content that addresses health or safety is medically reviewed by a team of vetted health professionals. Getty Images. The road out only leads one way — but sometimes a baby's headed in the wrong direction. Back to Top. In This Article.

Continue Reading Below. Recommended Reading. Footling breech. One leg or both legs are stretched out below the buttocks. The leg or legs are in place to come out first during delivery. What causes breech position? Most of the time, there is no clear reason why the baby did not turn head-down.

How is a breech position diagnosed? How is breech position treated? How is a breech baby delivered safely? External cephalic version. Obstetrics and Gynecology , 95 2 : 1—7.

Cunningham FG, et al. Breech presentation and delivery. In Williams Obstetrics , 23rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists , reaffirmed Mode of term singleton breech delivery. Obstetrics and Gynecology , — Other Works Consulted Kish K Malpresentation and cord prolapse. However, this study is underpowered to calculate uncommon adverse neonatal outcomes.

And not reporting the death and serious harms to babies right up there obviously with the other findings — including in the abstract — is misleading and manipulative. Yes, the numbers in the study are too small for the mortality and serious neonatal morbidity rates to mean a lot.

But that would also be true for outcomes that they did report clearly and prominently. Without a very close reading, though, you get the impression that it worked out well for all 50 full term, non-twin babies who were born after starting labor with out-of-hospital birth still planned.

Yet, there was 1 death and 4 serious adverse outcomes reported in the text. Low risk home birth can be less than 1 out of a thousand, or not a great deal more. This paper and accompanying journal blog post fall into several traps that fuel breech births at home. I recommend reading this instead. The selection of evidence extends to the data on breech births at home.

The authors cite only 4 studies. I added a list of those, and a further 10 studies I could find, below this post. And the temptation to shift responsibility for bad outcomes to the hospitals where women and babies were transferred. Allocating responsibility requires independent audit, for a start. Yet, even if the problem lay hospital-side, the safety of out-of-hospital birth is predicated on hospitals being able to bail people out. When is a cesarean delivery used with a breech presentation?

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