[Shoulder dystocia; a retrospective study].

A retrospective study was made of the incidence in The Netherlands in 1987 of shoulder dystocia in women delivered vaginally of a child with cephalic presentation and a birth weight of 2,500 g or more. Patient data were obtained from the LVR (Landelijke Verloskundige Registratie, National Obstetric Registration). Shoulder dystocia, coded in the LVR form as 'problems with the shoulders', was reported for 844 out of 54,820 parturitions (1.5%). Study of files of the St. Joseph Hospital, Eindhoven, for the period 1983-1987 revealed a frequency of shoulder dystocia of 1.5% (56 out of 3,642 births), in good agreement with the nationwide incidence. The concordance between the LVR code 'problems with the shoulders' and shoulder dystocia as mentioned in the childbirth reports of our hospital was 94%. It is pointed out that familiarization with the manipulations for shoulder dystocia is desirable, and that these should be carried out in a fixed sequence.