There has been a lot of talk in Canada about breech babies being automatically delivered via cesarean section as they are currently in Canada and The United States, when a new study shows breech vaginal delivery to be a better option in most cases. A new article published goes into detail about why this should change.
“Physicians should no longer automatically opt to perform a cesarean section in the case of a breech birth, according to new guidelines by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.”
Unfortunately the problem in Canada as well as The United States is a serious shortage of providers that are trained or even educated in breech birth because of the long thoughts of serious risks that came along with vaginal breech birth. Now that studies have shown breech vaginal birth can be safely done, there are no providers who will attend or know how to attend these kind of births. Sadly I do not see a change in this anytime soon. Across the state of Connecticut, I am not personally aware of any providers who will allow or attend a vaginal breech delivery currently as I have had mothers contact me in search of such providers to avoid cesarean delivery. While there are methods to help position the baby into the ideal birthing position, not in all cases is this successful.
“Breech presentations occur in 3-4 per cent of pregnant women who reach term. That translates to approximately 11,000 to 14,500 breech deliveries a year in Canada.”
While these are not numbers for The United States, our numbers closely echo that of Canada. If ACOG would follow SOGC and change their guidelines on breech birth, it would help to lower the already incredibly high cesarean section rates in our country.
“Vaginal birth is the preferred method of having a baby because a C-section in itself has complications.”
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Comment by Tweets that mention Cesarean Section Not Best Option for Breech - Pregnancy, Parenthood & Playtime - Connecticut News -- Topsy.com — January 15th, 2010 @ 5:35 pm
It’s a terribly sad situation—birth professionals who cannot safely catch 4% of babies. That’s roughly how many babies are breech at term. My husband is a pilot. He asks, “What if I refused to land the airplane 4% of the time?!? I could just tell all my passengers to grab a parachute and jump if I didn’t know how to land the plane when that situation popped up.” I think that’s what OBs are asking women to do–jump.
Comment by Michelle — July 7th, 2010 @ 10:50 pm