Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

Normally the babies move into the birth position a few weeks prior to birth.

If this doesn’t happen the parents will have to think about breech baby birth defects. In this case the buttocks and the feet will be delivered first instead of the head.

Kinds of birth defects of a breech baby

Basically there are three main kinds of breech. If the baby gets born with the buttocks first with the legs besides his head, it is known as a ‘frank breech’. If the buttock comes out first and the legs are crossed, it’s a ‘complete breech’ and if the legs come out first, the situation is called ‘footling breech’.

Things to know about the breech baby’s birth defects

The doctors are able to tell you about the position of the baby during the third trimester. In this case there are precautions taken. The baby might be delivered by C-section or through vaginal birth. In case of vaginal birth the baby should be at full term and he should be healthy.

When thinking about breech baby birth defects it is good to know that the doctors will closely monitor the baby and they will make sure that the mother’s cervix widens as it should. In some cases there is a forceps used to guide the baby. C-section is performed when the baby gets born prematurely.

Information about possible birth defects of breech babies

The abnormalities present at childbirth are called birth defects. The high mortality in case of the newborns is caused by birth defects that in turn are caused by breech birth. In the moment when the mother’s water breaks, the baby might not get enough oxygen since the umbilical cord gets pressed by the position.

Autism as one of the breech baby birth defects

This is a brain disorder that influences the communicative and social patterns of a baby. According to researches, if a baby gets born in a position of this kind, there are chances of cord compression and cord prolapse and in both cases the oxygen supply of the baby is compromised. The lack of oxygen leads to brain damage.

Down syndrome

When considering the birth defects of the breech babies you should know that normally the babies have 46 chromosomes that they get from their parents. In this case the baby has 47 chromosomes. Because there is an extra chromosome, the development of the baby will be affected.

The sad truth about this one of the breech baby birth defects is that the defects can’t be prevented. At the moment there isn’t any conclusive data suggesting that it is directly linked to breech birth. However the studies suggest that the breech babies have higher chances of being affected.

Chromosomes

You should also know that breech birth is also linked to problems with the structure or the level of chromosomes.

Although thinking about the breech baby birth defects is quite scary, most probably you don’t have to think about them.