Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2026
External Cephalic Version: Is it an Effective and Safe Procedure?
Published on: June 6, 2020
Safety and efficacy of external cephalic version for women with a previous cesarean delivery
Hen Y Sela1, Tomer Fiegenberg, Assaf Ben-Meir
1Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein-Kerem, P.O. Box 12000, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. henys@hadassah.org.il
Objective:
To evaluate the success and morbidity rates for attempted external cephalic version (ECV) in patients with one previous cesarean delivery (CD) and a breech-presenting fetus at term.
Study Design:
This is a retrospective study of outcomes of ECV at our institution for all women with one previous CD and a breech-presenting fetus at term between January 1997 and June 2005. A literature review was also performed as a Medline search (1966-2006).
Results:
ECV was attempted for 42 women with a breech-presenting fetus and previous CD. The success rate of ECV was 74.0%, and 84% of women with successful ECV delivered vaginally. All fetal and maternal outcomes were favorable. Only four Medline reports met our inclusion criteria, representing a total of 124 patients and a mean ECV success rate of 76.6%. Thus we assessed 166 cases of attempted ECV and find an average ECV success rate of 76.5% and favorable fetal and maternal outcomes.
Conclusions:
Women with a breech-presenting fetus at term and previous CD, who desire a trial of labor, should be counseled regarding the accumulating evidence about the efficacy and apparently safety of this procedure and may be offered an ECV attempt.
