PubMed1997
In the past 20 years, breech presentation obstetrics has been characterised mainly by the work of Kubli (1975): "The safest and most simple way to prevent the foetal obstetric risk of breech presentation is the systematic Caesarean section." In the past, this resulted in judicial decisions in which due to vaginal delivery a child has been damaged and the doctor has been reproached for not performing a Caesarean section. In the report of the "Standardkommission BEL" (1983) as well as in the Guidelines for the Management of Breech Delivery (FIGO 1993), subtile criteria of decision were demanded for the vaginal delivery method. To an increasing extent clinics lack the necessary training for vaginal-operative delivery for breech presentation, followed by economic obligations and, as a result, in 1994 the frequency of Caesarean sections in cases of breech presentation was 86.9% in Bavaria. Investigations should be made as to whether it is actually necessary, for the benefit of the child, to subject a mother of a breech baby to such high-risk operations. From 1988 to 1995, 1116 breech babies were born in the Gynaecological Clinic Nürnberg, Dept. of Obstetrics. The case history of 650 children with a period of gestation > 32 weeks of pregnancy were evaluated: parity, period of gestation, method of delivery, condition after Caesarean section, premature rupture of the foetal membranes, position of legs, weight of child, Apgar score, umbilical artery pH, base excess in umbilical artery mval/l, transfer ratio to paediatric clinic, reason of transfer to paediatric clinic, rate and duration of intubation, cranial sonogram and electroencephalogram.