Ventouse

[UglySister]

What´s the problem or risk associated with a ventouse? I had one and gather from one of the hot threads that they are not ideal...

cos you usueally need a dirty great episiotomy?

cos they can bruise the babies head?

dd1 had one and it was pretty horrible but no lasting effects (other than making me hate hospitals and clamour for a home birth for dd3 )

Thanks. A-ha, so that may be why I needn´t an episiotomy..? Well, that is smg I´m pleased to know for next time round, though there really was no choice at hte time I think. Is it because the baby makes such a sudden exit?

Psychobabble, the hot thread is on the home page..

Also, baby more likely to suffer from jandice, so better not go for early discharge when offered and allow vit K ninjection rather than drops because bruising

sorry, meant jaundice

I had to have ventouse with DD which resulted in her having a cone head for a few weeks, ended up taking her to a cranial oestopathist (sp?) ho sorted her out after 2-3 sessions. This was after 28 hours of labour including 2 hours of pushing so she was well and truely wedged in there. She also had jaundice, I don't know if this was a result of the ventouse but we ended up admitted back into hospital for 2 days for DD to go under the UV lamps.

even though I had an elective CS, DS still needed a 'strong' ventouse to be dragged out. He had a huge haematoma on the back of his head and jaundice that thankfully didn't interefere with feeding or need extra blood tests etc. I opted for oral VitK, but he ended up only having one dose as the nurses forgot to give him more.

I had ventouse as my DD was posterieor and very stuck. I thougth that ventouse was favourable to forceps (although she did have to be delivered by forceps in the end).

The ventouse left a massive wound on her head which resulted in us going back into hospital for 2 weeks when she was 4 days old. The wound did not heal, and she has just last week had to have plastic surgery on her scalp aged 9 months. The forceps on the other hand left only tiny bruises on her face which went after 24 hours.

I know that our experience is unusual, but still, serious injury is a risk of the ventouse that I was not aware of.

Also, have been told since that ventouse is favoured over forceps as it is less damaging for the mother, but MORE risky for the baby.

As for episiotomy, tearing etc - don't even go there.......hidieous!!!!

I had a ventouse delivery with ds. He was well and truely stuck, and I don't recall any discussion or consultation with me or dp about it - it was just going to be done.

I had the episotomy which tbh I preferred to tearing AND it meant that I didn't feel ANY of the pain of the actual delivery - none of that awful tearing either.

But ds did have an awful cone head which I didn't realise until the next day when we bathed him and took off his little hat.
But he wasn't jaundiced at all.

ds was a ventouse delivery. For me it was much preferable to a section. I did have an episiotomy (healed absolutely brilliantly though, I was never in more than mild discomfort from it - and no pain during either, due to fab epidural) and ds did end up jaundiced, but it didn't really leave a visible mark.

DD1 was a rather grim ventouse birth. But then she'd been a rather grim labour.

DD2 was a much less grim home birth

I had a ventouse with dd1. but, as i have often said, if the consultant had walked in the room with a rusty saw and offered to cut me open there and then without anaesthetic I'd have begged him to get on with it. ventouse seemed quite mild in comparison.

My baby had 4 pulls with the ventouse and then 1 pull with forceps. Horrifically bruised all over his head (from ventouse) and face (from forceps). He then had jaundice for 6 weeks, and spent the 1st 10 days having phototherapy. I also found the pulls excruciatingly painful (no epidural), so much so I blacked out for over an hour after I gave birth.

Had a big episiotomy which was left unstitched and was extremely painful. It has taken me 15 months to heal internally and externally. I would have preferred a c-section.

I understand the ventouse can cause haematomas on the baby's head.

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!! Ds came out with a cone head. He started to cry and spent the next 5 months crying!! No joke. He only slept around 6 - 8 hours per day . Saw various paediatricians who said I just had a crying baby who didn't need much sleep! Like I needed someone qualified to tell me that!! Was described by a HV as "the most irrtable, restless baby" she had ever seen. I was ready to run away, when a GP suggested cranial osteopathy. I was very sceptical. But, after two treatments, he settled right down and slept through the night. Osteopath actually told us during his 2nd visit that we would see a dramatic difference in his sleeping after that treatment - and she was right!! She said traumatic birth(particularly ventouse and forceps) can cause problems like Ds had. Has slept through the night ever since - in fact he's a fantastic sleeper. I'd rather be sectioned than put another baby through that. (I won't even begin to tell you the damage the ventouse did to me - that's another story!)

Hi
I had an awful experience with the ventouse. I dont remember being asked what i wanted but i suppose he had to come out pretty soon as he was distressed, i was knackered after being in slow labour for months(!). He also exited with his cord wrapped round his neck twice and one arm by his head like superman!!!! I fel like the doctor was doing a tug of war! My sons head was absolutley awful afterwards and we have many problems with him sleeping.

It is difficult to have an unbiased view of this if you've been through it.

Assisted deliveries tend to come at the end of long, tiring labours, and are accompanied by concerns about the baby being in distress, so it is unlikely that peple are going to have a rosy view of them.

My ds was delivered by forceps after a failed ventouse and it was all rather traumatic. But he was born safely, his head went back to normal pretty soon, and I am grateful we live in the age of modern obstetrics, because there was no way he was coming out without a yank!

Reading some of your storis I'm really glad I came off so lightly with my ventouse.
It wasn't the most traumatic thing about the birth for me - that was telling everyone for about an hour that the heart traces were looking dodgy and no-one believing me, then the doc walking in and the first thing he said being 'those traces don't look good'. I panicked and needed an oxygen mask. When ds came out he was a deep shade of purple and was whisked away immediately - but amazingly scored 10 on his APGAR. Hence I'm very grateful for the ventouse - it saved ds from worse distress and me from an emergency section.

aren't childbirth stories very scary!!!

it was the least noteworthy thing about ds2's birth - I must have been really off my head I suppose! I hardly even noticed tbh and it wasn't remotely upsetting. ds2 was a very whingey baby though and I think he probably needed cranial osteopathy

DS was a ventouse delivery because he was well and truly stuck. I had no problems whatsoever and nor did he, no cone head or jaundice, nothing. So not all ventouse stories are bad. He was born in Denmark, do you think they do things differently there?

ds was a ventouse delivery. He was OP, lomg labour and in distress , so had to come out quickly in the end , but better that than an emergency c-section, especially since I was still only on G and A . However he did have a bit of a swelling on his bonce for a few days and got jaundiced so was a sleepy poor feeder to begin with, and I didn't get as much support in hospital to breastfeed him as I now realise I should have had. The episiotomy stitching was a botch job (SHO, 3.30am job) and the OB/ Gyn did another at dd's birth as he thought 1st would tear and neatened it all up .

I ended up having a ventouse, as ds was beginning to show signs of distress, even though he was nearly out. So it was just one quick pull, and out he popped. I didn't feel a thing (also due to fab epidural, which was kindly topped up by midwife, just before he emerged) and in fact was laughing and cracking jokes with the Dr and midwife as he was born. Also had no tearing/episiotomy. He did have a slight bump on his head for a few days, but it soon disappeared, and he seems to have turned out a reasonably well adjusted sort of chap.

I had a failed ventouse delivery with my DS.

The whole experience was horrendous but the actual ventouse was not too bad.

I had an epidural and so couldn't feel a thing, I remember I had to have my legs in stirrups but I actually remember thinking it was quite comfortable...

The consultant tried 3 times to get DS out but he wasn't coming and was well and truly stuck. By then DS was in distress and had to be delivered quickly but as the consultant had decided to do the Ventouse on Delivery Suite there was a big delay getting me into theatre and our son was very poorly when he was born. Plus they were in such a hurry to get going they didn't top up my epidural and so I felt them operate and had to be put under a GA so I missed the entire birth. Probably just as well as DS was lifeless when he came out and had to be resucitated, but for the excellent care in the NICU we nearly lost him.

I am not deliberatley trying to scare people but would say to anyone to make sure that before the consultant tries the ventouse you are in theatre and fully prepped ready in case they need to do an emerg csec as time is vital if the ventouse fails. We were far too trusting that the staff knew what they were doing. After the event the consultant was actually suspended ad we received an official apology from the hospital, they admitted to us that the consultant had not followed the correct procedure for a VD.

Thankfully DS had no long term effects at all, he is a bright and healthy happy 2 year old. Despite a very horrible and scary first birth experience (which I think scarred my husband more than me!) We are ttc again - and I think I will be going for an elective csec after my last experience.

I has a ventouse delivery with DS. I didn't have an episiotomy though, did have stirrups, grim, painful, medieval but everyone was great. The consultant even apologised afterwards. DS had a huge hematoma on the back of his head and was very uncomfortable for the first few days of his life. He had some calopl the very first night.

Had ventouse with DS. He was well and truely stuck. He had a lumpy head for a while and was a bit tender there during b/feeds. (wouldn't anyone be?) but generally he was fine. Didn't need cranial osthopathy(sp? sorry!) He has always been a happy kid, but did have a headache for his first few days of life. He had to be resusitated too, but that's more common than the books let on. That didn't have anything to do with ventouse and he'd have been in a much worse state if he hadn't been dragged into this world!

Plan B: if we didn't get him out in three pushes(plus ventouse) was a GA for me and not experiencing his birth.
I'm pg with number two and I'll take any options going to get my little one into the world as safely as poss.