Breech baby or breech birth is the condition when baby is in a bottom-down position, inside the womb. In normal births, a baby settles down into a head-down position, in the pelvis of mother, around the eighth month of pregnancy. However, in case of breech birth, this does not happen and baby remains in the bottom-down position. Usually, a method known as external cephalic version (ECV) is used to manually turn the baby into a head down position. However, there may be cases when the baby refuses to budge or rotates back into a breech position. In such a case, baby is delivered in the breech position only.
Causes of Breech Baby
- Premature delivery
- Multiple (or multi-fetal) pregnancy, such as twins, triplets or more
- Excessive amounts of amniotic fluid
- Fetal anomalies, like hydrocephaly, anencephaly and other congenital abnormalities
- Uterine abnormalities
Categories
Frank Breech
In this case, baby's bottom comes first. The legs are flexed at the hip and extended at the knees, with feet near the ears.
Complete Breech
Hips and knees are flexed in such a way that the baby is in a cross-legged position and his/her feet are beside the bottom.
Footling Breech
In such a case, one or both feet of the baby come first. His/her bottom is at a higher position. This is relatively common with premature fetuses.
Kneeling Breech
One of the very rare conditions, it has the baby in a kneeling position. One or both legs are extended at the hips and flexed at the knees.
