Introducing external cephalic version to clinical practice

A service offering external cephalic version to all women with breech prese ntations 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 clini cal outcomes over the first three years; 116 external cephalic versions (EC V) 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 f etal bradycardia following ECV, both of which returned to normal with a sub sequent normal neonatal outcome. Pre- and post-ECV Kleihauer levels were co llected with no increase in levels as a result of the ECV ECV is a procedur e that can, and should, be provided as part of a public hospital service.