Breech delivery and mental handicap.

Recent studies with strict management protocols for selection of cases for trial of vaginal delivery for full-term breech presentations show no significant differences in outcome brought about by the birth route. This is in clear contrast to some of the older studies which indicated considerable risk for the vaginally born breech infant. Prospective follow-up studies and carefully matched controlled studies with sophisticated neurological evaluations indicate that breech infants, regardless of mode of delivery, will score slightly less favourably than infants born in vertex presentation. This difference seems to reflect prenatal factors rather than birth injuries.