Shoulder dystocia

Breast milk is the best possible nutrition for your baby. Close contact with your baby – skin-to-skin bonding – not just in the first few hours of life, is the first step towards successful breastfeeding.

Once the baby’s head has emerged but before the perineum, labour may rarely come to a standstill. The shoulders becoming wedged temporarily prevents the birth from continuing. This is a situation that cannot be reliably predicted; it is urgent and dangerous in terms of the potential development of hypoxia (foetal distress due to lack of oxygen) or possible injury to the neck and upper arm during manoeuvres to deliver the shoulders. The risk of dystocia increases with the baby’s weight and in cases where the mother has diabetes.