Breech normal delivery: what to know

The decision depends on the baby's exact position, growth, head and neck position, placental location, your health, and how labour progresses. A planned caesarean may be advised when these features make vaginal birth less suitable.

Breech means the baby's bottom or feet are positioned to enter the birth canal before the head. Frank, complete, and footling breech positions are different; a footling position can make a planned vaginal birth unsuitable. An ultrasound and maternity assessment help define the position and identify other factors that affect the birth plan.

During a planned vaginal breech birth, the baby's heartbeat is monitored continuously. The team watches the baby's descent and the progress of labour closely because a caesarean may become necessary if the heartbeat is concerning or labour does not advance safely.

Discuss whether turning the baby from the outside, called external cephalic version, is appropriate before labour. If the baby remains breech, compare planned vaginal birth with planned caesarean in the context of your pregnancy, preferences, and the hospital's available expertise.

Choose a hospital where clinicians trained in vaginal breech birth, fetal monitoring, newborn care, anaesthesia, and emergency caesarean delivery are available. Ask whom to contact if labour begins before the planned date, and follow your maternity unit's instructions rather than travelling to a setting without obstetric support.

Call your maternity unit immediately if contractions start, your waters break, you have vaginal bleeding, or your baby moves less than usual. With a breech baby, a loop of umbilical cord can sometimes pass below the baby after the waters break and needs emergency care.

If you can feel or see the cord, call emergency services, do not touch or push it back, and follow the call handler's positioning instructions while waiting for help. Severe constant abdominal pain, heavy bleeding, faintness, or an urge to push also requires immediate emergency assessment.

Ask which type of breech position your baby is in, whether external cephalic version is suitable, and which findings support or rule out a vaginal birth. Clarify who on the team has breech-birth experience, how the baby will be monitored, what would prompt a caesarean, and what pain-relief options are available.