Tecniche di rivolgimento del podalico : le conoscenze delle donne coinvolte

Background The breech presentation of the fetus inside the uterus is a situation in which the lower extremity of the fetus’s body is pointed downwards, and it occurs in 3-4% of pregnancies. If the breech presentation persists until the end of the pregnancy, the most indicated delivery procedure is the cesarean section. However, there are different methods and techniques to promote the cephalic version of the breech, that can be employed in different periods of the pregnancy to avoid the cesarean section procedure with the objective of a natural delivery. Aim The objective of this study is to primarily determine the amount of knowledge of women regarding the techniques that promote an inversion of the breech presentation and secondarily to pinpoint the sources of information of these women. Methods This research took place from July to August 2018 and consisted in the distribution of anonymous questionnaires to women who accessed the ward “Gravidanza a termine” of the foundation “IRCCS Cá Granda” of the clinic “Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano”. The participants of this study were 20 women who still presented a breech fetus at term of pregnancy. Results 16 over 20 women knew at least one method for the cephalic version of a breech presentation. Half of these women, 8 over 16, came by this knowledge navigating the internet for personal interest. 6 women received information regarding these techniques through a trusted doctor, 1 woman through a trusted midwife and 1 woman through friends/family members. Furthermore, all women who participated showed interest in knowing more information regarding the existing techniques of cephalic version. Conslusions From the results of this research it emerges that the knowledge of women regarding the methods and techniques of a cephalic version is weak and lacks in-depth information; it is also clear that the main source of information of these women is not a midwife or a doctor, but more often the Internet itself. In conclusion, the solution to increase the knowledge of women regarding the existing techniques, could be to enable the midwife to provide information to women at the right time and with suitable material