Is vaginal breech delivery associated with higher risk for perinatal death and cerebral palsy compared with vaginal cephalic birth? Registry-based cohort study in Norway.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

This paper aims to study if vaginal breech delivery is associated with increased risk for neonatal mortality (NNM) or cerebral palsy (CP) in Norway where vaginal delivery accounts for 1/3 of all breech deliveries.

Design

Cohort study using information from the national Medical BirthRegister and Cerebral Palsy Register.

Setting

Births in Norway 1999-2009.

Participants

520 047 term-born singletons without congenital malformations.

Main outcome measures

NNM, CP and a composite outcome of these and death during birth.

Results

Compared with cephalic births, breech births had substantially increased risk for NNM but not for CP. Vaginal delivery was planned for 7917 of 16 700 fetuses in breech, while 5561 actually delivered vaginally. Among the

SUBMITTER: Bjellmo S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5566597 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature