ABSTRACT
To assess the role of external cephalic version (ECV) in late pregnancy. A prospective randomized controlled trial of external cephalic version after 37 weeks gestation. All women, in whom routine ultrasound examination during the 37th week of pregnancy had shown a single breech presentation were eligible for recruitment. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar. 60 women with breech presentation at term were recruited after satisfying eligibility criteria. There were 30 women in study group and 30 in the control group. Intervention - ECV was attempted in study group in dorsal position with left lateral tilt over a maximum period of 5 minutes. Main outcome measures - Success rate in terms of presentation during labour, need for caesarean section and various variables related to foetal outcome.ECV was successful in 24 out of 30 patients (80%). Breech presentation at delivery occurred in 93.3% of the control group and in 20% of the ECV group. The caesarean section rates were 73.3% and 20% respectively. There were no troublesome complications from the procedure.