Usual exam can miss potential breech births

Yeah, no kidding...

Usual exam can miss potential breech births

THURSDAY, Aug. 3 (HealthDay News) — The usual examination that doctors perform to determine the position of a baby in a mother's womb in late pregnancy
isn't sensitive enough and misses breech and other abnormal fetal positions, a new Australian study suggests.

Knowing the position of a baby in the womb is important, because if the fetus isn't in the normal head-down position — called cephalic presentation—vaginal delivery may be difficult or impossible. A non-cephalic presentation discovered after the start of labor can increase complications and even result in the death of mother or child.

Just for the record, I am far from obese (the article notes this increases the difficulty of determining fetal presentation)...but my midwife did not notice my transverse.

I agree with this recommendation:

One expert thinks that ultrasound should be done in late pregnancy to
accurately determine the infant's position in the womb.

In light of this, I hope these late ultrasounds become standard.