When the baby's feet or buttocks stick out first, doctors call it a breech presentation. Having this happen at term has serious repercussions for the birth. There is an increased risk of perinatal mortality and morbidity with breech births because of complications like birth asphyxia/trauma, premature birth, and an uptick in congenital malformations. Twenty percent of babies are breech by 28 weeks. Most of these babies return to a normal presentation independently, and only 3% are breech at full term. Breech presentations appear to be a rare occurrence.
