There are dangers to babies who are born vaginally when they are in the breech position. Doing the procedure this way could lead, in some cases, to a birth injury or to other complications. Despite that, new reports have been indicating that vaginal birth is still being used in quite a lot of cases for breech babies.
For the sake of fairness, it has been shown that the numbers are down from what they were a decade and a half ago. At that time, a study indicated that a c-section would be safer for a breech baby, and more people are using this method today than they were then.
However, when the numbers from 2007 were examined, it was found that about 40 percent of the births that focus around a breech baby were still done vaginally, as this was often picked by the mothers.
The problem with the breech position is that the baby is basically facing the wrong direction. It is safest for a baby to come out with the head leading the way, as the head is larger than the rest of the body in most cases. After it emerges, the shoulders will follow with relative ease.
If the baby is flipped so that the feet lead the way, however, the child’s head could then get stuck when it tries to emerge last. If it does, there is a high risk of injury to that child.
Mothers who have children who have suffered from a birth injury should know what options they were given and what steps were taken to protect their child, especially if they believe that the fault may lie with the doctor who did the delivery.
Source: Huffington Post, “Many Breech Babies Still Born Vaginally, Despite High Risks” Kathryn Doyle, Aug. 11, 2014
