Epidural analgesia, fetal monitoring and the condition of the baby at birth with breech presentation.

Between December 1970 and March 1973, 138 patients with a singleton fetus presenting by the breech after 36 weeks of pregnancy were deemed suitable for vaginal delivery under epidural analgesia; 130 were delivered vaginally, 10 of them by breech extraction. There was one stillbirth and no neonatal deaths. Epidural analgesia for vaginal breech delivery seemed beneficial. In 65 cases it was possible to compare the umbilical vein pH with the Apgar score at one minute. In 35 patients a continuous recording of the fetal heart rate was used to predict the Apgar score at one minute and the results are discussed.