Forceps Delivery Injuries

Many women have uneventful pregnancies, which progress to uncomplicated labour and safe delivery of their child. However, sometimes, a woman’s labour is prolonged or fails to progress to delivery. Some women may experience contractions for several days without progress. Some circumstances require the obstetric team to terminate the labour and deliver the baby via a Caesarean section to avoid injury to both mother and child.  

Sadly, there are times when the necessity of a Caesarean section is not recognised, and labour is allowed to continue. At some point during the labour, it becomes apparent that the baby’s head is failing to descend the birth canal as expected. The obstetric team might find themselves in a position where the baby must be expeditiously delivered to avoid compromise and injury, but a Caesarean section is no longer an option given the progress of the labour at that stage. Internal maneuvers or rotations of the baby in the birth canal are sometimes attempted to position the baby to facilitate descent down the birth canal and delivery. In addition to those maneuvers, instruments are utilised to facilitate the delivery of the baby’s head. Many women do not suffer injury due to forceps and many babies are successfully delivered with the aid of forceps.

There can be no dispute that an instrumental delivery is sometimes necessary and can save a baby’s life and prevent the baby’s compromise by avoiding delivery delays. However, forceps must be appropriately used and correctly applied to prevent injury to mother and child. Otherwise, women can sustain serious and possibly permanent birth canal and pelvic injuries, requiring long-term medical and surgical treatment. Such injuries could be life-changing for those women, and some women could lose a significant volume of blood, which could be life-threatening. Babies could also suffer serious injuries due to lacerations caused by forceps or other injuries caused by inappropriate forceps placement. Some babies may even sustain significant injuries due to excessive pressure and force in using forceps that could cause bleeding or injury to a baby’s skull.