Vaginal Deliveries as Safe as C-Sections for Most Preterm Births

If the babies were in breech, however, most deliveries were by planned C-section. The researchers pointed out that only 27.6 percent of vaginal births attempted in these cases were successful.

For babies born at a gestation of 28 to almost 32 weeks, vaginal births and C-sections had the same neonatal death rate as long as the baby was head first. For breech babies, neonatal mortality was 6 percent for vaginal deliveries compared to 1.5 percent for C-sections.

"The detailed information in our study -- not available in birth certificate data -- enabled us to account for the effect of attempted route of delivery and indications for delivery on neonatal mortality," Reddy concluded. "This information has direct clinical applications and is crucial for counseling families about the benefits and risks of attempting vaginal delivery in this situation."

SOURCE: Elsevier, news release, Aug. 6, 2012

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Published: August 2012