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Complications and Management of Breech Presentation

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Advances in Perinatal Medicine

Abstract

The increased risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality associated with vaginal delivery of the fetus in breech presentation has attracted the attention of obstetricians and midwives for centuries. From the Dark Ages to well into the nineteenth century, the perinatal morbidity and mortality from birth anoxia, injuries, and congenital malformations instilled in the superstitious and the uneducated the belief that breech presentation was an evil omen.1 Primitive African tribes believed that breech presentation foretold the death of the child’s parents,2 while noble attendants to the crowned heads of Europe whispered in birthing rooms that “children brought forth by their feet are cursed—they are born as monsters, crippled in mind and body, and destined to bring misfortune into the world. It would be better if they were not born.”3

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., 20007, USA

    Joseph V. Collea

  2. Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Columbia Hospital for Woman, Washington, D.C., 20037, USA

    Joseph V. Collea

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  1. Joseph V. Collea
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Aubrey Milunsky MB.B.Ch., M.R.C.P., D.C.H.  & Emanuel A. Friedman M.D.  & 

  2. Computational Mechanics Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Aubrey Milunsky MB.B.Ch., M.R.C.P., D.C.H.

  3. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Aubrey Milunsky MB.B.Ch., M.R.C.P., D.C.H.

  4. Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Emanuel A. Friedman M.D.

  5. University of California, San Diego, USA

    Louis Gluck M.D.

  6. School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA

    Louis Gluck M.D.

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© 1981 Aubrey Milunsky, Emanuel A. Friedman, and Louis Gluck

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Collea, J.V. (1981). Complications and Management of Breech Presentation. In: Milunsky, A., Friedman, E.A., Gluck, L. (eds) Advances in Perinatal Medicine. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4451-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4451-4_3

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