Effect of acupressure at the BL67 spot on the spontaneous rotation of fetus with breech presentation: A randomized controlled trial

Background: Breech is a common fetal presentation in preterm pregnancies. This study aimed to investigate the effect of acupressure at the BL67 point on the spontaneous rotation of fetus with breech presentation.

Methods: An unblind, two-armed randomized controlled trial was carried out from September 2017 to April 2020. Research participants were 138 pregnant women at 32 to 35 weeks of gestational age that had fetal breech presentation confirmed by ultrasound. They were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups (n=69 in each group). The intervention group received acupressure at the BL67 point on both feet for 10 minutes daily and for two consecutive weeks. The control group received routine care. Demographic and midwifery data questionnaires were used for data collection.

Results: The spontaneous rotation of fetus with breech presentation into cephalic was observed in the majority of participants in the intervention group (82.6%) compared to the control group (17.4%) (p<0.001). Statistically significant differences in the fetal presentation at delivery was observed between the groups (84.1% cephalic vs. 18.8% breech, p<0.001). Regarding the type of delivery, cesarean section was reported mostly (85.5%) in the control group compared to the intervention group (21.7%) (p<0.001). However, the first- and fifth-minute Apgar scores of newborns had no statistically significant differences between the groups (p=0.773).

Conclusion: It is suggested to incorporate acupressure at the BL67 point into the care process for pregnant women to help with the reduction of the rate of cesarean section and avoid its related complications.