Are Midwifery Students Adequately Prepared for Vaginal Breech Birth in Clinical Practice?

While the value of the clinical skills and expertise required to enable safe vaginal breech birth remains high, midwives who possess these skills are becoming scarce. Additionally, for many midwifery students, vaginal breech birth is becoming somewhat of an elusive event, rarely experienced in clinical practice when completing their training. Not so long ago, this was a standard competency taught to and held by obstetricians and midwives alike, but for those in developed nations working within robust healthcare systems, the frequency of planned vaginal breech birth is on a downward trend, and this is reflected in midwifery educational curriculums.