Introducing external cephalic version to clinical practice.
A service offering external cephalic version to all women with breech presentations at 36-38 weeks' gestation was introduced at St George Hospital in July 1997. This paper describes how this service was established and reports the clinical outcomes over the first three years; 116 external cephalic versions (ECV) were attempted on 114 women and success was achieved in 58 women (51%). Of the 58 women, 43 (74%) subsequently had vaginal deliveries. There were no fetal deaths, immediate Caesarean sections, or placental abruptions as a result of the ECV procedure. There were two (2%) episodes of transient fetal bradycardia following ECV, both of which returned to normal with a subsequent normal neonatal outcome. Pre- and post-ECV Kleihauer levels were collected with no increase in levels as a result of the ECV ECV is a procedure that can, and should, be provided as part of a public hospital service.
Karantanis
E
E
Department of Women's Health, St George Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Alcock
D
D
Phelan
L K
LK
Homer
C S
CS
Davis
G K
GK
D000328:Adult; D001946:Breech Presentation; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006801:Humans; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000592:standards; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000592:standards; D014710:Version, Fetal / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*