Attitudes among Toronto obstetricians towards vaginal breech delivery

The recent SOGC guidelines allow for selective vaginal delivery of breech presentations, following an eight-year period during which vaginal breech delivery was discouraged based on the results of the Term Breech Trial (TBT). We sought to determine the effect of publication of this guideline on the acceptance of vaginal breech delivery by obstetricians and to correlate obstetricians' attitudes with actual practice.

A survey was sent to all obstetricians practising in five teaching hospitals in Toronto exploring their attitudes towards, and comfort with, vaginal breech delivery in various clinical situations. We correlated these with their graduation year in relation to the publication of the TBT. We also reviewed the obstetrical database of the largest teaching hospital in Toronto to see if these attitudes correlated with actual practice.

The vaginal breech delivery rate, which was declining prior to publication of the TBT, plummeted after it. Our survey found that most practitioners (50% to 80%) would be willing to provide vaginal breech delivery in defined conditions, with more experienced obstetricians being more comfortable with offering vaginal breech delivery. However, despite these attitudes, the vaginal breech delivery rate during the period surveyed was only 3% (6/195).

In the eight years between publication of the TBT and the new guidelines, very few vaginal breech deliveries were performed. Our survey indicates that most obstetricians have accepted the new guidelines; however, it seems that actual practice is lagging behind. The recent SOGC guidelines seem to have changed attitudes, but without changes in training and practical support, it seems unlikely that the trend for very few vaginal breech deliveries to be performed will be reversed.