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Routine Tests Not Sensitive Enough to Detect Breech Births.
22/Sep/2006: A new Australian study has suggested that the routine check up by expectant mothers in late pregnancy may not be sensitive enough to detect abnormal fetal positions such as breech. Breech presentation is where the fetus is presented with the feet or buttocks first instead of the head.
The position of the fetus is normally diagnosed by the obstetrician feeling the mother’s abdomen but in late pregnancy the diagnosis may not be that accurate.
It is of extreme importance that the position of the fetus is normal which is head down (also known as cephalic presentation) in order to allow for a normal vaginal birth.
A non cephalic presentation could raise complications and in certain cases even fatality to mother or child.
In a recent study, a group consisting of 1,633 pregnant women at 35 – 37 week’s gestation period was put through clinical exam to assess the fetal position followed by an ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis.
The study reported that 70% of the fetus was in breech presentations. This percentage indicates that a clinical exam of 1000 pregnant women would identify 101 breech presentations when in actual fact only 56 would be accurate and 24 pregnant women would be misdiagnosed.
These findings are expected to be published by the British Medical Journal in the Aug. 5 edition.
If the fetal position is not correctly diagnosed as breech at the time of labor, then an emergency Caesarean would be performed. Dr. Charles J. Lockwood, chairman of Yale University School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences is of the view that ultrasound should be conducted in late pregnancy to determine the fetal position.
The results of the ultrasound would be able to determine if a caesarean is necessary and a well planned caesarean is much safer than an emergency caesarean.
Women who do not wish to have caesarean can now opt for an ECV to be done. An ECV is a procedure where the fetus is turned to a head first position through the mother’s belly. This procedure is best performed in the 35- 37 week’s gestation period.
Copyright Clipp.org
Further reading
http://www.parentingatoz.com/healthy-pregnancy-index.htm
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