Assisted labour

[Freya83]

Hi, my first child was born with the aid of forceps. My partner recently read the horrible story about the internal decapitation of the little girl born with the use of forceps. We weren't spoken to about the use of them during my labour, it was a big rush and we went ahead with the safety of baby and me in mind. What are people's views on assisted Labour, how to prevent it and what questions to ask? (Next baby due in May and slightly anxious!) Thanks

As far as I know you can't prevent the need for assisted labour, though staying active may help your chances, but if necessary there's often a choice of CS. Though sometimes if the baby is up too high for a ventouse but already too low down for a CS to be easy, forceps may be the best option (CS also not being risk-free, but then no birth is, especially if it's at a point when forceps are being considered). So I'd ask about how to avoid forceps and whether you could decide to have a CS if you reach a point where forceps might be considered.

I had two ventouse deliveries (first not expected to work but they tried just so we'd tried everything to avoid a CS. Everyone told me no-one has a ventouse twice, but after long slow labour again with SPD, consultant asked what happened last time, mentioned there was a spare theatre next door and it was 10pm and they could just get the baby out, so we did it) - fantastic result in both cases, I recovered very quickly, and it probably saved ds's life and a lot of pain for me with dd. Hope your next birth goes well.

Thanks for your response. I hadn't really thought about it until recently, it was obviously necessary otherwise they wouldn't have done it but the lack of explanation and suddeness worried me. Great idea about discussing cs, will definitely speak to my midwife about it. I think the lack of control is the frightening part!

I was also told a second forceps delivery was very unlikely but ended up having two! The second one was much less damaging than the first one though and recovered much quicker. I had put on my birth plan absolutely no forceps and discussed it with them but when the safety of me and the baby was at risk I could not do anything else than give my consent. They said csection would be very risky for both of us as baby too low and that they would do it only as last resorse. In the end I am happy I avoided csection as I recovered very quickly from forceps.

I would really recommend that you try hypnobirthing, although it won't necessarily reduce the risk of assisted delivery it's great for making you feel relaxed about the birth, I had a forceps delivery first time and hypnobirthing really helped me feel calm in the run up to the birth and to relax during it. Much more positive experience.

Oh and the hypnobirthing 100% helped with the feelings of lack of control for me. I had felt very much like my first birth happened to me, whereas the second one was something I did, if that makes sense. Of course it is mostly down to luck and baby's position but there's certainly no harm in working on positive thinking.