Breech births ‘not a problem’ in Drogheda, says director

A clinical director at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda has defended the rate of breech births at the facility following the release of an audit instigated after the death of a baby in 2013.

An HSE internal audit leaked yesterday revealed that 21 breech births went undiagnosed before the mother entered labour at the Drogheda hospital between May 2012 and June 2014.

Of those, 13 diagnoses were not made until an advanced stage of labour, and one baby died following an undiagnosed breech in 2013.

A breech birth occurs when a baby is delivered feet first as opposed to the normal head first position.

Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, Dr Alan Finan said the hospital remains below the national average for breech cases, and said the presentation of the audit's findings was inaccurate.

“The total 21 cases represent about nine and a half per cent of the total breech births in the hospital which statistically, to the best of our knowledge, is better than the acceptable average rate of breech diagnosis in labour... which is around 20 to 25 per cent,” he said.

“Of those 21 cases, 13 of them were cases where women who presented were already in labour, and the breeches were recognised immediately on presentation. The presentation of these statistics to suggest that 20 of 21 cases of diagnosis of breach presentation in labour were delayed is inaccurate and it’s not balanced,” he added.

He said the HSE audit conducted at Our Lady of Lourdes was the first of its kind to be conducted at the hospital.

“It’s not a particular problem for us, it’s something we need to continue monitoring but our performance in this area is very good.

“The chances of you being in breech position at delivery are small, the chances of you being diagnosed in labour as being in breech and issues being created by that are tiny, and the figures in Drogheda are very much on a bar and possibly below the common incidence,” he said.

The director said that of the 21 cases noted in the HSE audit, which was instituted last July, approximately 50 per cent happened before the death in 2013 and the other half occurred after.

Of 7,667 babies delivered in Drogheda over the period of the audit, 221 were delivered in breech position.

The 2013 death came after a coroner returned a verdict of medical misadventure in the separate case of baby Shane McArdle, who died less than 24 hours after being delivered in a breech position at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital eight years ago.