Breech birth

Breech Birth is an issue very close to my heart. My first son Joshua was born via breech extraction in 1989 (you'll find a link to his birth story below). For me his birth was not a positive experience, not because Joshua was breech, but because I was not given the opportunity to make informed decisions about my care and I was not listened to or respected during labour or while giving birth. This had a profound impact on me as a mother and a woman (and it was this experience that set me on my path to becoming a midwife). What I would like to present to you here is research based information on breech birth - so you can make an informed decision about being pregnant with a breech baby and birthing a breech baby. Breech birth does not necessarily mean a caesarean birth. After reading as much as you can, discuss the risks and benefits of giving birth to a breech birth with your midwife or doctor. 

Jane Palmer

Web resources on breech babies and breech birth

• Lisa Barrett's website has lots of resources on breech babies-breech birth
  • Breech a variation of normal - this has great photographs of a breech birth
  • Breech birth - includes a breech birth video
  • Frank breech video
  • And the good news is .... breech
  • Everything is just breechy
• If your baby is breech - article by Andrea Robertson
• Breech choices - breech birth - article by Dr Sarah Buckley
• Coalition for breech - a website dedicated to filling the gap in the informed choice discussion by offering women the evidence-based information and the vital support they need to make their own decisions
• Vaginal breech birth - a birth story by Jess Kent
• Normal breech birth - an article by The Campaign for Normal Birth by Royal College of Midwives (UK)
• Spinning Babies  - a great resource on breech pregnancy, choices and birth
• Jame's breech birth story - by Sophie S
• C-section not the best option for breech birth - article by Carla Wintersgill for the Globe and Mail. Published, Jun. 17, 2009
• Upright positioning in breech births - article by Dr Andrew Bisits

Term Breech Trial

The Term Breech Trial , an internationally conducted randomised controlled trial, concluded that caesarean section was the preferred birth option, but this study has been heavily criticised because it has given conflicting results. In places where vaginal breech births are a common occurrence, there were good results for vaginal breech births. In those hospitals where breech babies were born almost always born caesarean , babies born as a vaginal breech during the trial had poorer outcomes when compared to caesarean birth. It has been suggested by independent reviewers of this trial that where the caregiver has not gained or retained skill of assisting at vaginal breech birth a caesarean birth is preferable to a vaginal birth. You can see the abstract of the trial at The Lancet

Term Breech Trial Links

• Maggie Banks Term Breech Trial Commentary
• Term breech trial deeply flawed
• Five years to the term breech trial: The rise and fall of a randomized controlled trial.

Articles and Stories on www.pregnancy.com.au