Breech delivery - what influences on the mother's choice?

Objective. To investigate factors influencing the mother's choice of delivery mode when vaginal breech delivery is considered possible and safe. Design. Retrospective study. Setting. University Hospital. Population. Singleton, term pregnancies with breech presentation were included, n = 390. Methods. Information was collected from patient records from January 2006 to December 2010. A questionnaire was sent to those 293 women in whom vaginal breech delivery was considered possible and safe. Main outcome measures. Patient characteristics by choice of delivery mode. Results. Women who were selected for vaginal breech delivery (n = 187) were younger, more often nulliparous and gave birth to smaller babies. Women who requested a cesarean section (n = 112) became more worried when the breech presentation was diagnosed. They had a more negative initial view on breech presentation, more often took additional advice from nonprofessionals and trusted them more. Women who requested cesarean section reported a positive birth experience more frequently than women who were selected for vaginal delivery, whether ending as vaginal or emergency cesarean delivery. Women in both groups searched web-based information about breech delivery. We found no differences between the sources of information used. Conclusions. Younger, nulliparous women with smaller babies trusted and listened more to professional advice and were more prone to choose vaginal delivery. Women who requested a cesarean section were more worried and had a more negative initial view on breech presentation. Both groups sought web-based information equally.