Breech Vaginal Delivery
Breech presentation occurs in 3% to 4% of singleton term pregnancies and in a higher percentage of preterm births.[1],[2] Vaginal delivery of the breech fetus was common until 2000 when the Term Breech Trial was published. That trial demonstrated significantly improved perinatal and neonatal outcomes among singleton breech infants delivered by planned cesarean delivery compared with outcomes of those delivered vaginally.[3] Since then, the trend in the United States has been to deliver term singleton breech fetuses by cesarean delivery.[4] To reduce cesarean exposure, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has encouraged providers to offer external cephalic version to convert appropriately selected fetuses to a vertex presentation.[4],[5] Furthermore, with subsequent studies reporting favorable outcomes for breech vaginal delivery in select patients, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists more recently proposed that “planned vaginal delivery of a term singleton breech fetus may be reasonable under hospital-specific protocol guidelines for eligibility and labor management,” with documentation of a detailed informed consent of the associated risks.[4] To that end, and because there will always be precipitous breech deliveries, as well as vaginal breech delivery of the second twin, OB/GYN hospitalists should learn and maintain the skill of performing vaginal breech delivery.
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Ob/Gyn Hospitalists' Core Competencies

