Prognosis for term breech presentations in Africa (Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso)

to describe the mode of delivery and the fetal prognosis for breech presentations in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. this prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study covered the entire year 2013 and included patients from the city's three principal maternity units. The sample included 184 women who gave birth at term to fetuses in breech presentation and a control group of 368 women with infants in cephalic presentation. Data were collected with standardized case report forms. The analysis was conducted with Epi-Info 3.5.1 software. We used the Chi-square test to compare percentages and the Chi-square test for trend to study the variation in frequencies. Differences were considered significant when P ≤ 0.05. during the study period, the prevalence of breech presentation at term was 1.74%. In the breech group, 55.5% of the women had vaginal deliveries versus 92% in the cephalic group (P = 0.04). The comparative analysis of fetal and neonatal morbidity in the two groups found greater morbidity in the breech group, marked by complications including uterine rupture (P = 0.0045), cord prolapse (P = 0.02), dynamic dystocia (P = 0.001), fetal distress (P = 0.0001), postpartum hemorrhage (P = 0.003), and perinatal death (P = 0.006). vaginal delivery remains the most frequent mode of delivery for breech presentations in Bobo Dioulasso, and perinatal morbidity and mortality are relatively high. Improvement of hospital protocols and staff training for breech deliveries should help to improve this situation.