Even in our world of modern medicine and relatively safe pregnancies, there is always the potential for an unsafe birth procedure.
One of the most common complications which can arise during the actual act of child birth is the breech birth, which occurs when the child enters the birth canal in a breech presentation: feet- or buttocks-first, rather than head first as is the usual angle.
The birth canal is shaped so that the baby can efficiently exit in the head-first presentation, where the head crests normally and allows the child to leave the canal safely.
A breech presentation complicates matters, because the fetus is not shaped well to exit that way: the legs are likely to get caught on exit, complicating the birth and risking the life of both the mother and the child.
What Causes a Breech? There are several factors that increase the likelihood of this presentation developing, namely:

• Multiple fetuses in the womb at the same time, i.
  e.
  twins and triplets, etc.
  
• An abnormal level of amniotic fluid, the bodily fluid in pregnant women which protects and nourishes the fetus.
  
• Deformities which affect the shape of the fetus, such as hydrocephaly (an abnormally large, fluid-filled head), anencephaly (a dangerous condition in which the fetus is missing much of the brain and scalp), and other birth defects.
  
• Abnormalities which affect the shape of the uterus.
  
• Past Cesarean(C-) section births.
  

Types of Breech Births Breech births can usually be broken down into four major types:

• Frank.
  In this form, the baby's posterior comes out first, with the legs flexed and the feet bent up towards the head.
  As many as 70% of breech births are in this position.
  
• Complete.
  In this position, the fetus' knees are flexed so that it appears to be sitting cross-legged in the birth canal, with the feet facing downwards.
  
• Footling.
  In this form, one or both of the feet come out first.
  Although this is fairly rare in regular pregnancies, it is more common in premature births.
  
• Kneeling.
  The rarest of the forms, the kneeling position is exactly what it sounds like: the baby is in a kneeling position in the birth canal,with the legs bent at the knees.
  

Risks