C section or Kielland's forceps?

[lunalovegood84]

I gave birth 3 weeks ago - the brief version of the story is 14 days overdue, induction of labour, got to fully dilated easily. Baby was back to back, high up in my pelvis and moving down only slowly. I was in established first stage labour for 20 hours, the last few in excruciating pain.

I was told by the registrar that I would need baby rotated and assisted to deliver using Kielland’s rotational forceps, the most ”extreme" type of forceps. I refused consent and insisted on a c section, which went well and recovery has been straightforward.

I've been mulling it over since, whether I made the right decision or not. I had read about Kielland's forceps, but I hadn't made up my mind in advance about the level of intervention I would accept. On the whole I'm happy with my decision, especially as baby turned out to be 11 lbs 9 ozs so natural birth would likely have been very difficult. It just feels strange to have had to make a choice like that against medical advice and while off my head on gas and air!

Anyway I'd like to hear other people's opinions on which choice they would make in a similar position : Kielland's forceps or emcs?

[emma2277]

Firstly congratulations on the birth of your new little baba. Enjoy, enjoy!

Secondly, congratulations on your refusing a barbaric tool (with or without episotiomy, Im cringing so cant even spell it, another barbaric act).

Obviously Im for a natural birth if there are no complications over a c section any day, who wants that hangoverbelly you can never get rid off, but c section was the best decision here. I myself planned a lovely water birth, no painkillers, but baby was two weeks late and was induced...Im convinced the drugs inducing labour caused baby to be in distress, so had to have an emergency c section, but better safe than sorry.....oh and mother ALWAYS knows best, forget the quacks advice....most male obstetricians are egotistical farts


Enjoy! Enjoy! :)

[ohthegoats]

most male obstetricians are egotistical farts

Haha, yes. I have imagined myself shouting at a male doctor 'how do you fancy massive internal rippage? Hmm?' Along with some swear words.

[TheFirmament]

who wants that hangoverbelly you can never get rid of

Just want to reassure OP it might not be that bad in case this has given her a fright! I've had two sections and mine is hardly noticeable honest!

[JulesJules]

You made the right choice imo.

I had one "normal" delivery with episiotomy and one CS. I preferred the cs by a factor of about a million to one. The recovery was miles easier and quicker too.

[emma2277]

Add message | Report | Message poster ohthegoats Wed 23-Jul-14 12:28:29
most male obstetricians are egotistical farts

Haha, yes. I have imagined myself shouting at a male doctor 'how do you fancy massive internal rippage? Hmm?' Along with some swear words.
--



I feel your anger and pain LOL!

Thing is I had a junior doctor who said there is nothing wring with you or baby and two weeks late is not a massive deal...then the big fancy consultant came over and said the exact opposite...only IMO because they want to protect themselves if anything goes wrong and said c section
, that was after shoving a 8 inch long and 4 inches wide tube up me to take blood froom babys head....excruciating.....he came to visit me in bed a day or so later to check the stitches..I curled my lips up and gave him a dirty look.....then...on leaving hospital I passed by him nattering with another consultant and what he said was unrepeatable...not about me personally, but something derogatory about mothers and his success rates/statistics, I could have smashed his face in...the bugger is I will never know if he was right, but I dont care as all went ok in the end and the first priority is baby

[emma2277]

who wants that hangoverbelly you can never get rid of

Just want to reassure OP it might not be that bad in case this has given her a fright! I've had two sections and mine is hardly noticeable honest!
----

yes my bad, if you already have a bit of a belly this can be a problem, but its nothing major....small sacrifice for a bundle of joy anyway.....and men dont care anyway :D

[CorporateRockWhore]

I had a back to back baby and Keilland's. It was fine, painless, stitches healed beautifully, not a mark on DD.

However, you had a BIG baby so chances are you would have ended up with a CS anyway.

[MsBug]

DD was covered in bruises but was a contented baby and didn't seem to be in any pain from the forceps.

if my birth notes say that forceps were used to rotate the baby, does this mean that it was the keillands type which were used?

[passmethewineplease]

I would imagine so Msbug

[hazelnutlatte]

I was born by keillands forceps - I was starved of oxygen and nearly died, and my parents were told that I would most likely be brain damaged. My mum was also ill and lost a lot of blood, she also feels her back was damaged by the position she was forced to lie in.
Because of this I was very worried about the possibility of keillands forceps when I was pregnant. My midwife reassured me that they are rarely used any more and in most cases would do a c section if normal forceps were not an option, so I'm surprised at all the people on here who have had this recently!
I ended up having emcs, forceps were never an option for me but if they were I would defiantly have done the same as you OP. C sections are for more common and I would think this means that they are a safer option.

[Millie2013]

I was dead against a C sec, so was allowed one attempt with forceps. The delivery was fine (spinal block), the recovery was just awful (such pain and ended up with a haematoma, couldn't sit down for over 2 weeks. Agony)
I know C sec recovery isn't easy and I know that some forceps assisted deliveries have easier recovery than mine, but I wish I could have turned back the clock and agreed to a C sec

[lunalovegood84]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm happy that I made the right choice for me. I keep revisiting it though, maybe because I wasn't able to consider it fully at the time. I wasn't all that informed - I was mainly going by the tragic case in Edinburgh which I'd read about in the Daily Mail of all places. Before I would have said I was dead against a c section, but at the time I just felt a strong conviction that it was necessary.

Anyway it was good to read about others' experiences, positive and negative. I feel reassured that although things may have worked out with the forceps, it was just too big a risk.

[ohthegoats]

How much 'insisting' did you have to do? Were they trying to convince you repeatedly, or could you just say that you didn't give consent and that was that? Did you have it in your birth plan at all?

[duchesse]

Totally the right decision from everything I've read. Recovery for high forceps can be very slow and difficult and some women end up damaged for life, as do some babies. CS is a very safe and frankly better alternative.

[lunalovegood84]

Its a bit blurry because I was so exhausted and so high on gas and air. I just remember the registrar saying that it would need to be an assisted delivery. I asked if she meant venteuse, she said no, Keillands rotational forceps. I started wailing about how they were banned in most countries and that a baby in Edinburgh died due to them and that I wanted a c section. She was pretty good to be fair, she said that they were routinely used in the hospital but she didnt push me at all. She asked me to confirm that I was refusing consent and went away to phone the consultant to ask for permission for the emcs. I'm so thankful they listened to me and I didn't have to fight - I know sadly this isn't always the case.

[lunalovegood84]

Not on birth plan, I'd only written a very basic one back when I thought I'd get a nice calm delivery in the MLU. I was a bit naive about the likelihood and consequences of intervention. My mum had such straightforward natural deliveries even with an induction that I just assumed I would too.

[Jellylove]

Good decision, well done, you did what was best for your baby and you. I really think if you'd gone ahead with the Keillands then you would have had a shoulder dystocia as well, which would have been worse.
Hope your recovering well now

[gentlydoesit89]

Reading this thread makes me feel wobbly and tearful.
I had Keillands delivery 3 years ago in October.. I can't remember all that well as I was exhausted but apparently I was begging for a section and telling the midwife no and that I was scared and didn't understand.
Took me the best part of 9 months to recover, 3rd degree tear that got infected, could barely walk.. I still believe that the birth had a lot to do with the fact I still have to take antidepressants despite my son being nearly 3.
You absolutely made the right choice- whereas yes my baby was born big but healthy, the health implications physically and mentally for me as a first time mum make me absolutely certain nobody will ever touch me with those hideous instruments again. Even if it means not having another baby :(

[westcountrywoman]

I had very few things on my birth plan. NOT having a forceps delivery was about the only thing. Too many horror stories. I used to work on a maternity ward and overheard a Dr saying they'd never consent to a forceps delivery and that was enough to put me off. They're relatively rare events (delivery by Keilands) and so many Drs are lacking in experience. Quite often the less experienced Drs would have a go (under supervision, but even so I didn't fancy being a guinea pig!). With DD they mentioned forceps and I said I wouldn't consent. Luckily they opted for a trial of ventouse and it worked. You made the right choice IMO.

[lunalovegood84]

Thanks. Yes shoulder dystocia sounds incredibly scary, although his head circumference measures above the 99.6th centile so that would have been bad enough! He's measuring the same for length. I blame his 6 ft 3 father.

Recovery has been very easy. No significant pain at all, scar healing very nicely, can't believe how easy it's been.

[marthabear]

You did the right thing. Keillands forceps are awful things that belong in a Victorian museum. ( I am only talking about this particular type of forceps). Congratulations on the birth of your baby.

[squizita]

"I used to work on a maternity ward and overheard a Dr saying they'd never consent to a forceps delivery and that was enough to put me off."

I have been told by several HCP that in my area (London) they 'just don't do Keillands anymore - always C section instead' - which I am quite glad of now! I was told this by a local MW, an Ob/gyn at hospital and a NCT trainer who I think works in hospitals too.
Interestingly a few people at my NCT group got a bit militant about it being less 'natural' until the NCY lady explained rather graphically for MCT why this was now the case and she felt it a very safe move on the part of hospitals!

Nevertheless I am totally writing "No Kiellands: would prefer EMC" on my birth plan though just in case. It's pretty much my only sticking point.

Having said that, I was born with them and it was OK. But I was a wee little thing!!

[RJnomore]

Wee note, bit late, in response to the hangover belly comment.

I have one tiny four inch thin white line scar across roughly where my pubic bone sits.

That's it.

No hangover, no flappy saggy bits, nothing. Just one tiny thin line. I think if I lost a bit of weight it probably would vanish completely.

[Woodifer]

Had 2 back to back babies. Ventouse with the first (8lb5), keillands with the 2nd (9lb2). Not a mark on forceps baby! I had slightly worse bruising. With baby 1 I was off my face on diamorphone (which also made me really sick! had an epidural - 6 hour birth). 2nd birth only took 2hrs from getting to labour ward, but clip on head heart rate monitoring indicated speedy exit required.

Having had instrumental with baby 1, the prospect of forceps felt less alien to me than having my abdomen sliced open. I lost quite a lot of blood during the episiotomy repair and had a fair bit of bruising, so I wouldnt say recovery was amazing. But with a toddler as well I was really glad to be able to lift both children, and drive straight away.