The preterm breech delivery in Zaria, northern Nigeria.

The preterm breech occurred in 31.21% of singleton breech presentations in a prospective study at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, Nigeria. The uncorrected perinatal mortality of 670.5 per 1000 deliveries was 1.7 times that for term breech presentations. Failure to book for antenatal care (50.94%), admission of cases in the second stage of labor (21.84%) and intrauterine fetal death on admission (38.64%) were associated factors of the high perinatal mortality. The mortality was extremely high in the very low birthweight fetus (less than 1500 g) delivered vaginally. Moreover, the cesarean section rate was associated with a 2.4 times higher perinatal morbidity and mortality rates than vaginal delivery.