Question

Fun Fact #9 : What is a breech delivery and why is it important?

Answer 1

Most of the time when a baby is born, their heads are angled down towards the birth canal. In a breech presentation, the baby's butt is angled down instead.

There are three kinds of breech presentations :

1. The frank breech position where both hips are flexed and both knees are extended so that the feet are adjacent to the fetal head. This is the majority of breech presentations
2. The complete breech position where both hips and both knees are flexed.
3. The incomplete breech position where one or both hips are not completely flexed. This is the second most common kind of breech presentation.

Why is it important to determine whether a baby is in a breech position? Prolonged umbilical cord compression and delivery-related trauma are greater concerns during a breech birth. The umbilical cord is the only supply of oxygen to the baby so if it's compressed, the baby is affected!

When you have a mother with a breech presentation, you have a couple options. You can try external cephalic version which is rotating the fetus by manipulating the mom's abdomen. If that fails, you can do a c-section. You can also try to deliver the baby vaginally but it's not recommended. Sometimes it's unavoidable.