Forceps vs Ventouse

[gettingrealnow]

I had a forceps delivery last time and am unkeen to repeat that....

Please can you share how a ventouse delivery was for you (just in case I might need "help").

Thanks!

DS1 was in distress, so he was ventouse'd out.
I'd done labour on 2 paracetamol.
Episomity done with just the local they gave me (I'd didn't realise they'd even done it til afterwards). Ventouse was OK - it was pretty small (and he was pretty close to being out, which may have helped - mw was encouraging me to get him out before the Dr arrived). He had a mark on his head about the size of a fairy cake bottom.
I didn't demand gas and air til they were stitching me up. Everything was done in the delivery room.

Glad DS2 didn't need help (infact he was nearly an unplanned freebirth), but I'd do it again in a heartbeat if he'd been in trouble.

Anything else you want to know?

There's a lot you can do to reduce the likelihood of your next dc needing 'help' in the first place. No guarantees but you can increase your odds significantly.

I would second Starlight. My first was a typical cascade of intervention for a long slow first labour. I ended up on synoticnon and with a pretty heavy duty epidural. That, pretty inevitably, resulted in forceps. I don't even know if I was pushing when I was told to, let alone whether it was doing anything. And DD1 was OP.

DD2 was a very active homebirth. Same sort of start to labour, but then progressed suddenly to delivery. I was worried about pushing, never having done it, but she shot out in a few pushes, and in one go (ie. no head, then body on next contraction). For various reasons I wasn't being observed on crowning, so this could possibly have been avoided, but the point is my body was actually damn good at the last bit when left to its own devices!

I know that is a bit off topic, and there might be a reason you are particularly asking about assisted deliveries, so I apologise if this isn't helpful. But if you are keen to avoid forceps next time, my first recommendation would be about labour positions, locations and interventions.

DS was born by ventouse and I found it pretty traumatic - I wouldn't want another one like that. I think that was partly down to my hospital's policy of compulsory episiotomy for ventouse deliveries (they don't all do that - a good friend had her DC at another hospital by ventouse without one), which was something I really wanted to avoid. I was whisked into surgery and surrounded by people, which was absolutely my worst nightmare, after almost 2 days of labour.

Unfortunately my episiotomy wasn't stitched properly and I had to go back into hospital a week after DS was born to be re-stitched. I had a week of agony before that, but all was fine afterwards thankfully. DS had a very sore looking cone shaped head - the back half was very bruised, and he cried a lot in the first few days which I believe was at least partly down to pain (he settled down and became a wonderful sleeping baby after about 3-4 days). No longstanding after effects as far as I'm aware though (he's 19mo).

Neither. I am against the use of both as I feel that the risks in worst case scenarios can be quite disastrous. From intracranial haemorrhage, erb's palsy brain damage, to spinal cord injuries and facial nerve palsy for the baby, I find the risks quite horrifying. Even for myself, I would never want to have an intervention that increases my chances of severe perineal tearing, incontinence, anal sphincter damage, pelvic organ prolapse, and sexual dysfunction.

I can't imagine anything more horrifying than needing forceps or ventouse.
I'd sooner slit my own abdomen open and yank the little one out myself without pain relief. (Yes, I know I sound a bit crazy )

OP, I know my previous answer wasn't very helpful. I apologise!

From what I know, there is no way of avoiding ventouse entirely. However, my SIL (who is an obstetric consultant) insists that it is possible to avoid forceps entirely provided you are willing to consent to a c section or ventouse instead.
Obviously different consultants will have different preferences and different opinions, but IMO you can have a blanket ban on forceps. Don't let them fob you off by saying that the baby is too low for a CS- when forceps fail (as they often do), they perform a CS regardless of baby's position. My SIL has always maintained that unless the head is out, it is NEVER too late for a CS.

Of course this is assuming you would be happy enough to opt for a CS in place of forceps. It depends entirely on your individual priorities.

It is also worth knowing that there are different sorts of forceps, and some people feel comfortable consenting to some sorts and not others.

Well I had both with dc1 - tbh, at that stage, you just go with whatever they can do to get the baby out. There were no problems arising from either intervention, but the positive was a fine healthy baby and a mother that was still alive and well.
However, by dcs2 + you don't have the same muscles that you had before dc1, so, in my case, both dcs 2 and 3 shot out in no time at all without any need for any assistance whatsoever. You may well not need either.

I had a ventouse (kiwi) with DD. I had a local for the episiotomy but no other pain relief (even though I was induced and DD was back to back.... ouch!). When they checked the ventouse was positioned right was pretty painful as was crowning, but both were over in seconds. I did have a tear and some other damage and my stitches came undone, but healed up ok in the end.
To sum up, no lasting effects and one perfect daughter so I can't complain :)
Good luck.