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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

forceps birth gone wrong- in the news

37 replies

foreverastudent · 29/09/2010 14:04

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-11435419

A baby has been left blinded by a botched forceps birth. The most alarming thing about this story for me was that the mother never even consented to the forceps.

OP posts:
Marylou242 · 29/09/2010 14:46

This is absolutely appalling, that poor little baby.

If forceps are banned in some countries they should be banned everywhere. They are not safe and I hate to think what the babies must go through when they are used.

Fortunately I had a straightforward birth but if I have any more and they talk about forceps there's absolutely no way I'd agree to them.

me23 · 29/09/2010 14:56

poor baby that is terrible, but where does it say the mother never consented to the forceps?

FoxyRevenger · 29/09/2010 15:04

Oh god, such a shame, and such a lovely little boy. But, I hope, these stories make the news because they are SO rare. I imagine that the vast vast vast majority of forceps deliveries are just fine (as was mine).

kailie · 29/09/2010 16:49

I've got a beautiful 12 week old DD - who is only with me now as I had a forceps delivery.

From personal experience, I know that when your baby's umbilical cord gets wrapped around her neck and her heart rate crashes and you come dangerously close to losing her....you sign ANYTHING to try and save your baby.

I wanted a midwife led natural birth.I did not expect to end up in surgery after a VERY long labour. I'm eternally grateful to the team at the John Radcliffe for delivering my little girl safely.

In totoal agreement with Foxy - it has probably made the news because it is (thankfully) very rare. I think most forceps deliveries in the UK have happy endings. Mine did!

muslimah28 · 29/09/2010 17:58

shocking. Really sad. My forceps was horrible too,but i guess everyone has their own story. But i didnt know theyre banned in some countries-that must show that in general over all cases there are heightened risks with them? I would be really interested in knowing of the evidence on this.

Its true that there is nothin in the article about lack of consent tho. Ime you have to sign consent for eth-even when you're quite plainly ASKING them to do whatever it is and you just want them to get on with it...

lal123 · 29/09/2010 18:13

Some of the other links refer to lack of consent - she was asked to sign a consent form after delivery in the operating theatre...Sad

thisisyesterday · 29/09/2010 18:17

bear in mind that sometimes they HAVE to act and get the baby out.
there isn't always time to get a signature. maybe whoever was with her gave verbal consent??

it's awful... but who knows what hte outcome would be if they hadn't used the forceps?

lal123 · 29/09/2010 18:20

They tried using a ventouse 8 times - when guidelines say only 3. The hospital have admitted they made mistakes - so folk can stop making excuses for them

lal123 · 29/09/2010 18:22

sorry - 7 times. See for more info

gateacre1 · 29/09/2010 18:40

my colleagues lost a baby during a botched forceps delivery, so im not a fan at all

I also had a bab experience too with them
according to my notes I gave consent for them to use forceps ( I do not recall this- they said verbal consent gained - my mum and partner both in room said I wasnt asked either) they did not explain the risks to me or baby they ventouse failed after 3 attempts so they did moved on to forceps and attempted 3 times
and I ended up with lifetime damage to my lady bits
The feeling I got was thats its cheaper to attempt forceps than do a c section ( just my feeling from my experience- not saying that this applies to every case)

SoLongAsItsHealthy · 29/09/2010 19:16

Ok, the wrong decision was made in this particular case. It is the hospital and the surgical team involved who are at fault here not the procedure itself.

The vast, vast majority of forceps deliveries turn out absolutely fine and in the best interest of mother and baby. And it's not fair for you to be so alarmist about a perfectly routine procedure that safely delivers thousands of babies in the UK every year.

Many, many Mumsnetters have had babies this way and it's not nice for them to read you disparaging the way their baby was born and suggesting it is some barbaric act that should be outlawed.

For some, it saved their baby's life.

A bad doctor wielding forceps is still a bad doctor when wielding the ventouse or the surgical knife I'm afraid.

FoxyRevenger · 30/09/2010 08:58

SoLong good post Smile

notyummy · 30/09/2010 09:01

This story was in the DM - can I urge you all NOT to read it, as it has some truely horrifying details of the delivery that left me in tears.

DD was born by forceps. So was I, actually.

I think they have their place. But there are undoubtedly risks attached, and in this case the hospital was clearly at fault....however there are equally times when doctors make errors during CS so please don't think that abandoning forceps for a CS every time is the answer.

TheFallenMadonna · 30/09/2010 09:14

There are risks attached to having babies. I was a forceps delivery, as was my DS. Although I won't say it was the best experience (understatement), and I think DH is scarred for life, we are both here. Would the alternative be an emercency CS? Is that better in terms of risk?

bluecardi · 30/09/2010 09:18

How terrible - why are doctors like this in work.

MollysChambers · 30/09/2010 09:29

My daughter was a forceps delivery. Not pleasant at all but personally, though I wasn't given the option, I would not have wanted a c section instead. C sections can go wrong too. Giving birth is a risky business for both mother and baby. Thankfully we live in a country where the risk has been reduced to such a low level that awful stories like this make the news - precisely because they are so rare.

prettybird · 30/09/2010 09:37

Ds was mid cavity forceps. I was told 'cos he was still quite high up that ventouse was not possible. I was happy with the treatment I got.

I was so exhausted I was falling aslpeep and vaguely aware that I snoring during contractions Shock

If the hospital was "at fault" it was the midwife (ironically, a community midwife doing one of her compulosry sessions in the hopsital to ensure that she attended enough births) who, with hindsight, was making me push during transition. But if it's your first, you don't know any better :(

I was happy with the doctor who then decided I needed forceps.

TuttiFrutti · 30/09/2010 12:42

Have forceps really been banned in some countries? Where?

I was born by forceps delivery, and like the vast majority was absolutely fine. I also know of a few babies (and mothers) damaged by them. I suppose it's a question of statistics and comparing them to alternatives.

It is not always a straight choice between forceps or emergency cs, because if the baby is too low in the birth canal, sometimes a cs cannot be performed easily.

prettybird · 30/09/2010 14:22

I would much rather have had forceps than a caesarian.

Not sure, even if I'd wanted an ECS that that would have been an option as ds was already part way down the birth canal. As it is, I am just glad that the docotr was prepared to use forceps and ds was born alive and healthy.

My big fear was a caesarian becasue it is a major operation. Thnakfully, that was avoided.

That is not to take away from the tragedy of the case in the OP: however, the operative word there is misuse of forceps.

mosschops30 · 30/09/2010 14:27

Ive had a bothes c section which has left me with ooodles of problems. And am now suing the hospital for medical negligence.
solongs post is spot on, its bad surgical staff that cause these disasters not the procedures themselves

mosschops30 · 30/09/2010 14:28

botched

LoveBeingInvitedToTheVIPSale · 30/09/2010 14:43

Terrible story.

I know that in my case I was told that they would use the forceps if the ventose didnt work. Scared the shit out of me tbh.

buttonmoon78 · 30/09/2010 15:05

SoLongAsItsHealthy speaks perfect sense. Everything to do with childbirth has associated risks and to highlight them on a site like this in an alarmist way is IMHO irresponsible. Discussing them is one thing, causing panic is quite another.

I know plenty of people for whom it has worked fine - marks fade and bruises heal.

notyummy · 30/09/2010 16:09

This thread has made me do some more research (on the internet, which I know can be dangerous..!) on forceps deliveries. There wasn't actually a mention of banning, but several sites did say that they were v rarely used in the US due to fear of litigation, however when they are used they are more effective than ventouse. Interestingly most sites went into detail into the amount of analgesia needed for correct practice - and made me realise why my experience (with no pain relief!!) was quite quite such an stomach churning one....

breatheslowly · 30/09/2010 17:30

I am extremely sorry for to hear of this - for the baby and the family.

I had a forceps delivery 3 weeks ago - DD had the cord twice round her neck and was getting distressed at each contraction without making progress. I am extremely grateful for the forceps delivery as she arrived without a mark on her and an Apgar of 9. I don't believe that CS or ventouse would have been options given that she was a mid cavity forceps (too high for ventouse and too low for CS). Forceps save babies like my DD every day. They are somewhat brutal and have left me requiring further surgery, but I will heal in a way that a baby starved of oxygen at birth won't.

Did I consent to the use of forceps? I imagine so in some form, but consent during birth is quite different from consent to non-emergency treatment (I remember the anaethestist asking me a series of questions about allergies at one point including "is this your husband" to check whether I was just answering "no" to every question). At some point we have to trust the health care professionals treating us to make the right decision and to know when there aren't any options.

The main thing I noted from my DD's birth is that the delivery unit that I gave birth in was really over stretched and I imagine that this is the case in units all over the country.