Progesterone and pH levels in breech deliveries at term

Umbilical cord vein and artery blood samples were taken at birth from 26 cases of breech presentation delivered vaginally or by caesarean section. All babies were full term and there were no congenital abnormalities. The blood samples were analysed for pH level and progesterone concentration. The cord artery pH was found to correlate strongly with the cord vein progesterone concentration. The cord vein progesterone correlated strongly with the cord artery concentration, showing fetal abstraction of progesterone.