Complications

Complications with Breech Births

When an ultrasound or test reveals that your baby is in a breech position, it can lead to complications during your labor and delivery processes, including that your umbilical cord prolapses or falls through into your vagina with serious consequences. When this can cause the baby to suffer from interruption in blood supply due to cord compression, the baby can die.

In breech presentation, the compression of the cord by the baby's head as it passes through your birth canal can also lead to a degree of brain damage and the need to resuscitate the baby, or the premature death of the baby from asphyxiation. There are several complications like this associated to breech births with a normal vaginal delivery.

When a breech baby is expected, most doctors prefer to play it safe and perform a Cesarean section. However, there is an increasing tendency to try first the vaginal delivery and go with the Cesarean only if it is absolute needed to avoid harm to the mother or her baby. Although you can express your own thoughts on concerning the decision, this attempt will depend on your particular case.

The risks and complications of a vaginal delivery in all breech births arise from the baby's head, which is the last part of the newborn to emerge, and it may be rather hard to do it through the birth canal. Some obstetrician may use forceps to guide the baby's head out of the birth canal.

Another potential complication is cord prolapse; this is when the umbilical cord of your baby can be squeezed as the baby moves down to the birth canal, slowing the supply of oxygen and blood. If the baby is in breech presentation and premature, the doctor will recommend a cesarean delivery instead of vaginal to try to avoid further complications, particularly when there are signs that the baby may be in distress.

Electronic fetal monitoring may help to determine how safe it is trying vaginal delivery of babies in breech presentation. It is more likely successful if your baby is not in a complete breech position, if you have already had a vaginal delivery before and your baby is not too big, and if your health care provider is experienced and comfortable helping with a vaginal delivery in the breech position.

Babies who have suffered a complication after vaginal delivery in breech position may develop other newborn complications, including blindness, retrolental fibroplasia, erythroblastosis fetalis, Rh disease, or the woman may suffer from puerperal fever, which is an infection of the mother's genital tract following labor and delivery.