Should forceps be avoided?

thatgirlsam

kindofagilr wrote: »

Hmmm this isnt good, I am due my baby today, really hope he comes no bother

aww try not to worry , you will be fine

msb5262

When I was expecting my first baby, I asked a GP who was one of the other pregnant mums in our group whether ventouse or forceps was preferable.
She replied that most consultant obstetricians would be more skilled in one or the other and that if it were her baby, she'd want the obstetrician to choose whichever they felt most confident to use.
I did feel nervous about the possibility of having either forceps or ventouse but decided to put my faith in the midwives and in what I'd learned about best positions for labour. In the event, I had a normal delivery even after a very long labour.
It's easy - especially when you're expecting your first baby - to get very stressed about things you read or hear about. If possible, just make sure you're doing everything you can to promote the normal progress of labour and be clear that you want a normal delivery. Then if things aren't going to plan, talk to the midwives and let them advise you - they are very keen indeed for you to have a healthy baby with the minimum interventions necessary.
Good luck to all the pregnant mums on this thread...most people find giving birth less frightening than they think!
MsB

turbo

There are five different types of forceps(at least that is what I was told when my son was delivered). The Kielland ones are the ones used to turn the baby and these are the ones mentioned in the Daily Mail article. Other forceps such as Phillips just help the baby out. I had Kiellands forceps and two other kinds when my son was delivered and there wasn't a consultant present. Please try not too worry too much and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and the birth of your baby. I had a C Section with my first baby so have experienced both these types of delivery.


Turbo

tandraig

I remember a couple of births on the ward when i had my first child and both of them convinced me that NO way would i ever consent to forceps or ventuese. the forceps baby looked like its head had been run over and the ventuese baby had this huge red bubble like bump on top of its head - and the midwives were saying oh dont worry its normal!

msb5262

On the other hand, what is the alternative? Midwives don't go down the forceps or ventouse route without good reason! Babies do occasionally get stuck and I'm afraid in the days before forceps/ventouse, they wouldn't survive or would sustain brain damage due to oxygen starvation.
Intervention is the last thing anyone would want, but sometimes it is essential. I think we forget that sometimes.
MsB

merlin68

Having had 4 c- sections, all with complicatios I would opt for forceps.
1st section, massive hospital acquired infection in wound.
2nd ok.
3rd haemotoma and heamorage after.
4th lung infection and wound failing to close.
I have also had to have 2 scar adhesion seperations since.
Plus I can't have any more.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Don't trust the Daily Mail with anything - they publish cancer cures and baby matters on a weekly basis just to get people to buy the paper.

Well, FTW, I had a 'nice, calm, safe' elective section with my eldest. The epidural wore off half way through, so I could feel it hurting. When I started telling them, someone forced my head down and turned on gas and air. DD was pulled out by one ankle, causing quite considerable damage to the inner layers of my belly. The stitch was superglued half in, half out, so when it was time to come out, the midwife spent 25 minutes tugging at me until giving up with a kiss of the teeth. Half an hour later, I jumped down from the high bed they'd put me on to feed DD and the middle section burst open.

It was impossible to BF normally, I had to tuck her under my arm like an American football player going for the touchline. It took a week for my milk to come in and I was under constant pressure from the midwives to give formula, as nobody with sections BFs (and the BF counsellor only worked 3 days per week). But if I couldn't give birth naturally, I thought the least I could do was keep trying. It worked for 8 months...

OK, DD had a perfectly shaped head rather than the cone headed normal births, but she also went on to have jaundice quite badly and spent time in phototherapy. We were in hospital for a week.

The scar still continually hurt until 6 years later when I was carrying DD2. I felt about 40 really painful popping feelings in the scar area as my bump grew. I went to the hospital (a different one) and was told that the section had resulted in a huge number of adhesions, none of which were affecting the womb's integrity, fortunately, but were going to cause me pain until every last one snapped.

Because of the number of adhesions possibly interfering with healthy scar formation on a subsequent section, they suggested that I went for a closely monitored VBAC rather than elective section. Which sounded good to me.

Cue one 9lb 4oz baby, an urge to push just a bit too soon and she just failed to complete the 180, and got wedged just out of the cervix. The ventouse popped off twice, the registrar stopped and asked me 'this baby needs to be out now. Section or forceps?'

'[gasp] what'squickerforthebaby?'

'forceps'

'Do it'.

About 90 seconds later, after a bit of grunting and tugging on his part, I had a giant, grumpy, red DD2 hefted onto my belly, a forcep shaped bruise over her eye but she was with me and fine.

The following morning, I was up, showering, looking after DD2 and perfectly happy. I only stayed the night because I was starving and DD2 had arrived just in time for tea! (Her Dad was one of those who CBA to cook or buy a takeaway for any reason - had I gone home, I would have gone hungry)

Had I had another section, the time taken to get ready, plus the consequences of another operation - and the fact that I would have found it so much harder to look after the DDs - would have made the experience far less of a positive experience.

clairehi

This story is unbelievably painful, but I think in answer to the OPs question its not forceps that were the problem here, but a trainee/inexperienced doctor being left in charge of a situation like this by a consultant who left to see another patient.

I had a forceps delivery with DS1 - I was induced and the labour was very painful and prolonged and then ground to a halt.
the whole thing was badly mismanaged by midwife - he was finally delivered 4 hours after I started pushing.. its a long story, he is a healthy 10 year old now thank god.

snugglepet20

My first baby was stuck sideways and after 2 hours of pushing he was going nowhere! The surgeon was trying to take me for a caesarean but said he would try the rotational forceps first if I wanted and it worked - baby out in minutes.

I had to have an episiotomy snip but that is small compared to having your entire abdomen sliced open. I really believe caesareans should be an absolute last resort and not touted as an easy option by so many doctors and midwives. You are having a big surgery with a risk of serious complications, possible infections etc and a much longer recovery time than a vaginal delivery with considerable pain and permanent scarring of the uterus which can affect other pregnancies and unless it is needed to save yours or your baby's life it is a high risk to take.

tandraig

I was fortunate in that i gave birth normally (with my first the horror story came later so i wont share that here). but she certainly wasnt 'coneheaded' she was beautiful. a couple of the babies on the ward werent so lucky. and on this ward we wandered round ohhh and ahhhing over the other babies. the baby delivered by forceps had these terrible marks on her face and her head was sort of squashed. the ventuese baby - oh god - i had nightmares, i remember her as if it was yesterday. it looked like she was wearing one of those old rubber swimming caps. I swore then, no way was any baby of mine being delivered by forceps or ventuese. I then read up on the methods. wont post results on here - but it only seems to be doctors who approve of these methods. caesarian to me is fine - healthy mother and child who doesnt have his/her head messed with!
If you are worried about labour and delivery - then read up on medical interventions and decide yourself.
but - women have been having babies for many thousands of years - more successfully than the current medical profession would have you believe.