Upright footling vaginal breech birth

This video shows an upright footling* breech birth. This was the mother's 2nd baby. Baby was 37w + 2d and weighed 8 lb 10 oz (3900 g). Labor lasted a total of 3.5 hours. 1 & 5 minute Apgars were 9 & 9.

*Although the ultrasound technician labeled the baby as footling, the woman's care providers did not think the baby was a true footling (i.e., one or both hips extended).

More likely, the baby was a complete breech (hips & knees flexed) with feet below the level of the buttocks. In Canada, such a presentation is not considered a footling breech [1]. Frequently these presentations drop one or both feet during labor. In Norway, this is called a "dropped foot breech" (fremfall av fot) and distinguished from a true "standing" footling, which is almost impossible with a term baby [2].

www.breechwithoutborders.org

1. Kotaska A, Menticoglou S, Gagnon R; Maternal Fetal Medicine Committee. Vaginal delivery of breech presentation. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2009 Jun;31(6):557-566.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19646324

2. Albrechtsen S, Dalaker K. [Breech presentation--classification and nomenclature]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1994 Jun 20;114(16):1845-6. [Article in Norwegian]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8079304