Breech delivery: a critical evaluation of the mode of delivery and outcome of labor.

This is a retrospective study of 213 term, singleton, uncomplicated pregnancies presenting as breech. Thirty-two percent had elective cesarean section and 61% of those selected for vaginal delivery actually did so. Events in labor and fetal outcome suggest that vaginal delivery of a breech infant, after careful feto-maternal assessment, continuous fetal monitoring, adequate progress in labor and delivery by an experienced "midwife", provides comparable fetal outcome to delivery by elective cesarean section.