Previous cesarean section increases the risk for breech presentation at term pregnancy

The aim of the present study was to estimate the risk for breech presentation in women with singleton pregnancies at-term who had had at least one previous cesarean section (CS) versus at least one previous vaginal delivery.

Out of 4269 singleton pregnancies during the study period, 2008 met the inclusion criteria. The history, the number of previous CSs, as well as maternal age, parity, birth weight, gestational age, neonatal sex and placenta previa were used to estimate the risk for breech at term.

The overall incidence of breech presentation was 3.2%, while 20% of the women had a history of at least one previous CS. The rate of breech presentation at term in singleton pregnancies after CS increased two-fold (5.3%) when compared to those with at least one previous vaginal delivery (2.6%), (p = 0.01) [OR 2.08 (95% CI, 1.23-3.52)], while the number of the previous CSs did not correlate with breech presentation (p = NS) [OR 0.86 (95% CI, 0.31-2.4)].

According to the present study, women with a history of at least one cesarean delivery have an increased risk for breech presentation in the subsequent singleton pregnancy at-term.