Qualitative assessment of women's experiences with ECV.

UNLABELLED: For women with unsuccessful ECV, discussions about their mode of delivery should include the benefits and risks of a planned caesarean or vaginal breech birth. However, most obstetric units continue to offer only planned caesarean births when ECVs are unsuccessful despite the proven safety of vaginal breech births in selected patients. Such unit policies can be at variance with a woman's desire and preference for vaginal birth. Thus, a conflict situation arises that could have varying medical, emotional and cultural implications.

AIM: To provide a consumer perspective on ECV from women who had an unsuccessful procedure.

METHODOLOGY: A qualitative study involving focus group discussions with women who had unsuccessful ECV at secondary obstetric facility in Melbourne, Australia.

RESULTS

Emergent themes from the focus group discussions were related to emotions associated with the inevitability of a caesarean section for breech, consequences of an unsuccessful ECV and the various activities undertaken by women to induce spontaneous version.

CONCLUSION

A medicalized approach to ECV fell short of women's expectations of care. There is a need to develop strategies that will help women deal with any conflicts occasioned by an unsuccessful ECV.