Breech delivery in very preterm and very low birthweight infants in The Netherlands

To study the relation between various perinatal factors and the sequelae of very preterm birth, applying logistic regression analysis.

In a nationwide collaborative study in the Netherlands, perinatal and follow up data were collected on 899 liveborn singleton nonmalformed infants with gestational age less than 32 weeks or birthweight less than 1500 g born in 1983.

Neonatal mortality rate and total handicap rates (minor and major) in surviving children at two years and five years of age.

Comparing breech with vertex presentation, the odds ratio for neonatal mortality (adjusted for duration of pregnancy, birthweight, maternal hypertension and prolonged rupture of membranes) is 1.6 (P < 0.05). Comparing abdominal versus vaginal delivery, the odds ratio indicates equal risks. When breech and vertex presentation are analysed separately it appears that breech presenting infants have a significantly lower mortality risk when born by caesarean section compared with vaginal delivery. However, comparing abdominal versus vaginal delivery in breech presentation, the odds ratio for handicap at five years (0.9) is not significantly different from 1.

The data presented suggest a reduced neonatal mortality rate in breech presenting infants born by caesarean section but because of the observational design of the study the statistical analysis described only identifies a possible trend and cannot prove the issue.