Forceps delivery - anyone got experience they will share?

[NearlyDue112]

So with DD I agreed to a forceps delivery (baby distressed and very stuck) but at the last minute it was decided that emcs was a better option so we didn't try forceps in the end. When I've mentioned this to a few people the reactions have scared me a little. Quite a few women have suggested I was very lucky to have cs rather than forceps and one friend told me about her forceps delivery where the force of 2 doctors was needed to get baby out and she was torn and traumatised by it all and she was sure it must have hurt baby (she blames his colic on the delivery). So Im not sure I would consent to forceps again after what I've heard unless other options were ruled out first. If you have had forceps delivery before WWYD? Would you do it again or would you take cs if that was also an option? Is it as bad as people have made out to me? Or have I just heard the bad stories? I do recognise that we may have no choice as cs is not always an option.

notangelina were you given the option of ELCS for second? Can you ask for one? I'm so worried about giving birth again that I think my original plan of 2 children is never going to happen. I'm still having flashbacks etc.

user. Neville Barnes forceps?

If so they're the standard mid cavity forceps I see at 99% of forcep deliveries.

I too had decided definitely no forcepts after being terrified by them in the anti natal classes and briefed DH too that absolutely under no circumstances was he to let that happen. Then I was induced, DH sent home, had a extremely fast and unexpected labour (2hrs from being induced to DD arriving) and that all went out of the window. They thought DD heart kept stopping, she was very nearly out and they just had to get her out there and then. So really there was no choice and with no DH to insist otherwise I had a horrific forcepts delivery.

I'm not going to gross people out with the details but I was very poorly for 3 months following and 3 years on left with some permanent damage. The fecal incontinence was the worst part as even after 18 months Physio I still had issues. That teamed with endless infections in the episiotomy site made me not want to go out and obviously it's not the kind of thing you want to openly tell people. I feel sad that my DD missed out on having a happy and healthy mummy for the first 3 months especially as we were always in and out of hospital. I don't think I will ever feel ready to have another baby which does make me sad, especially for DH.
But despite all this if I had to go through it all again of course I would as when it comes down to it the only thing you want as a mummy is the safe arrival of your little one. You hear so many awful stories of women who are not fortunate enough to receive the care we do during childbirth and lose their baby. I guess what I'm trying to say is try not to over think the labour as ultimately whatever happens as long as you have a healthy and happy baby at the end of it you will feel blessed.

My ds1 was delivered using forceps and my Ds2 was an unassisted birth. My 1st baby was bigger and I pushed for 90 mins before forceps were used, by this point I just wanted it over! It definitely hurt more and took longer to recover from than my 2nd birth experience. But I had no long term issues following it. My ds1 had a mark across his face for a few days too.

gosh I'm shocked by some of the stories on here. I hope everyone who had difficult deliveries is getting the support they need

I can see now why I've had mixed reactions from my friends about nearly having a forceps delivery. I think I will just have to have a frank discussion with doctor about risks and other options if a complicated forceps delivery is mentioned. If I was assured baby was low and it was simple I would have less concerns.

One thing that scares me with a lot of these stories is how hard it would be to tell people about these types of birth injury and therefore to get support/practical help at home. After my emcs I was able to get support from friends and family as it's easy to explain that your stomach hurts after a surgery. But I think I just need to stop dwelling on this particular topic now tho as there's no way to predict how labour will go.... thanks to everyone who has shared stories.

Sorry if I've worried you OP, that wasn't my intention but it felt therapeutic to vent!! What I will say is that you always hear the bad stories more than the good as that's human nature.
If it makes you feel any better my consultant told me there was less than a 5% chance of what happened to me happening with any forcepts delivery, I was just unlucky.
And as I said before, as long as that gorgeous little bundle arrives safe and sound you kind of accept whatever labour throws at you.

PosyBoo - I'm glad I've heard the truth as I will feel I've made an informed decision either way. Last time I was very naive and would have had a terrible shock had I had forceps as I really had no idea (I didn't even realise it would involve an episiotomy let alone the risk of tears etc.). I feel more prepared to make the decison now if it comes to it. So thanks for sharing. I hope your recovery continues and that you get all the support & care that you need.

This is a good thread but I'm so glad
I didn't read it before I had my baby. My labour was mostly me begging for a cs and them saying no. It was vbac ending in forceps and to be honest the whole experience so far has been very similar to my emcs (only 2 days pp). It's just the recovery pain is in a different place. Oh and I can drive and lift already. I guess I'll have to wait and see about side effects. [anxious for the future face]

I started off in a lovely birthing pool and ended up with failed ventouse, forceps and episiotomy. Baby was big and labour too fast (4.5 hours from first twinge to birth). Heart rate was dropping, he got stuck. They asked my permission, I didn't really see another way. He was my first so I had no idea.

It was absolutely fine and I would do it again. A few stitches, sore for a couple of weeks which may well be the norm. DS escaped with no grazes and a perfectly round head. No lasting damage of any type (I'm 6 months in). I hope this is helpful!

I had a forceps delivery with an episiotomy and third degree tear. I don't know if I had a PPH but I was put on iron due to anaemia so presumably lost some blood.
The recovery was painful, sitting up to breastfeed was so uncomfortable. But in the long term I have healed well. No pain, no incontinence and sex is normal.
I don't want forceps to be used in my next labour but I accept that I may not have much of a choice. I have to trust that they will only be used if necessary.

I had a rotational forceps with DD, she was big for me, extremely long and in OP position... and got well and truly stuck. The delivery itself was fine, as was DD, but I ended up with a 3C tear which has taken about 18 months to heal enough for me to feel close to normal.

I was unable to leave the house for months after delivery due to continence issues as a result of the tear and would absolutely never consent to a forceps delivery again, unless it was literally a choice of life and death for my little one or myself.

I have no experience (yet) of a CS, but wouldn't even now consider getting pregnant again if an ELCS wasn't an option.

In the interests of balance, I've had two rubbish labours with one resulting in EMCS and one in forceps delivery. Both have resulted in no permanent damage, but I definitely bounced back quicker from the forceps delivery - out of hospital much quicker and hosting a (small) birthday party for my firstborn within the week - at the same stage after EMCS I could barely shower and get changed by 3pm let alone cater a birthday party and ice a cake.

Hit post too soon. I meant to say how sorry I am to all the women who've suffered serious birth injuries. It's so very crap and just not taken seriously enough.

I had forceps after my large (10lb 1oz) baby got stuck and very distressed. Was over with very quickly, a little sore afterwards (however you'all he sore however your baby is delivered). I was discharged with the notes 'possible jagged membranes' which no one explained to me. Apparently it was because I had forceps there was a risk of membranes being left in me which could potentially cause an infection. At about 4 days I started getting really bad cramps which I assumed were one of those things. At 7 days I got rushed into hospital with a nasty infection caused by jagged membranes. It shouldn't put you off forceps but it is something to keep an eye out for.

From what I can glean it depends vastly on the circumstances but in the interests of full disclosure - I come from a medical family with a number of surgeons in the almost immediate family, and every last one of them says forceps are best avoided if possible and that the NICE guidelines substantiate their claims that in a majority of cases whereby any complication (major or minor) is anticipated, you're far better off with a c/s. Of course there are exceptions to this, as every woman and every labour are different.

I would say as well that my paternal uncle (who did quite a bit of postpartum reconstructive gynae work before retirement) said that most of the women who came to him in need of his services in that department had instrumental births, and virtually none had C/s.

I had forceps after 2 failed ventous attempts. I was so out of it by that point I don't remember much other than the doctor using the full weight of her body to pull the baby out. He was quite big and fairly stuck. I had lots of stitches but was not in pain afterwards, however I lost a lot of blood and was very anaemic for several weeks after the birth so felt awful and generally felt quite traumatised by the whole experience. I have had ongoing pelvic floor damage, and have gone on to have further children by ELCS, which in my experience was much calmer and I felt the baby and myself were safer. It wasn't the forceps that traumatised me so much as being in a position where such a brutal course of action was necessary! My husband found watching the forceps delivery pretty horrific though.

My experience of forceps is that after getting fully dilated on syntocin, (I had an epidural so could feel nothing) attempting to push for an hour but baby being back to back and forehead presenting was taken to theatre. Had ventouse to turn and pull baby but cup came off (I could feel my body jerking back to the bed) then forceps to pull him out. He was very high up and they pulled him down a bit (maybe not very far I don't really know) but his heart rate dropped and they pushed him back in and quick emcs. I did have a cut and a few internal stitches, though I think this was due to the ventouse coming off.
I never had any pain in those stitches or any problems but maybe this is cos he only got pulled down a little bit?

I had a forceps and episiotomy on my first (big baby) and was very sore afterwards and struggled to feed, couldn't do skin to skin as I went into shock and couldn't stop shaking. I then developed an infection a week after getting home and ended up back in hospital for 7 days trying to bf whilst my husband went back to work. There was also a ban on visitors at the time due to a high risk of infection so I was really on my own. This time they discussed me having an elective c section and I was determined to give birth naturally. As the weeks went by she was getting bigger and bigger in size that the consultant said I would more than likely end up having a similar birth than that of my first. I opted for a c section last minute and it was a really positive experience and I was able to hold my daughter shortly after the birth, she took to breast feeding straight away and I was no where near as sore as I was with the vaginal delivery. I would opt for another section again over giving birth with forceps and episiotomy.

Haven't read previous posts so sorry if repeating but...

Just to add into the mix, the force of two doctors is required with near full body weight to expand the incision into the uterus during a caesarean. The cut alone does not enable enough space to remove a baby. You don't see this during a caesarean due to the screen up and they never show that bit on tv! I have witnessed both a caesarean and a forceps delivery (shadowed my mum, an ob-gyn for the day) and had a natural delivery myself. Force is also required during a forceps delivery and women will be given an episiotomy to enable there to be space for both forceps and babies head to come out. It's true sometimes tear happens as well tho aim of episiotomy is to avoid this.

So basically what I'm trying to say is both forceps and caesarean use force! If it was up to me having seen them both from the downstairs end and having given birth myself (with horrific second degree tear requiring remedial operation and 6 months of physio) I would opt for forceps. But then in no way would I choose major abdominal surgery if there was an alternative so I am probably bias... (despite my own bad birthing experience and recovery! Would still opt for vaginal again even tho I could opt for caesarean!)

Re help...

Op I just ended up telling everyone about my birth injury. It's a bit awkward, but when everyone expects you to be getting on with life and you can't stand up for long/hold baby for long etc I found it easier just to say ''I have an internal corkscrew tear plus a labial tear plus a second degree perineal tear and a prolapse and am struggling right now''. It's more uncomfortable for them but then I did have a lot of people rally round and help, especially when I had to have a remedial operation. I got over the awkwardness pretty quickly as was glad of the extra help!

I was terrified of a forceps delivery and very nearly put in my birth plan that I didn't want one and wouldn't consent to one. In the end, it saved my baby.

She was over 11lb, stuck and in distress. No pain, over fairly quickly and I healed better than I did with my previous unassisted birth.

I had rotational forceps as baby was in distress, heart rate through the roof, was back to back and stuck as largest part of the head couldn't pass through that way.

They clamped the head, rotated baby right round then pulled while I pushed.

It all went to plan. Was told if it failed then I would have a CS. I believe that recovery time for forceps is far less than CS, which is usually the reason for wanting to try that first.

My baby had some facial bruises, and ear was a little misshapen, but healed fine with no problems. Ear looks quite cute really, not majorly obvious and tells a story I suppose!

I had an episiotomy, and a 2nd degree tear. Quite a few stitches too. I found it very painful to sit down properly for about a week, but I did heal relatively quickly and have no lasting damage.

I would obviously prefer not to have any intervention, but would be ok with forceps again if absolutely necessary. I really don't fancy a CS. I believe doctors don't suggest intervening for the fun of it, so if it is in the best interests of mother and baby then I trust what they are saying.

There are different kinds of forceps- I had the smallest kind, DH said it looked like they barely touched baby's head, though It hurt even through an epidural. I wasn't in theatre and it wasn't traumatic. I really don't think recovery was that different from a c section though, except that I got less sympathy! An episiotomy chops up a big chunk of important muscle and it took about 3 weeks to feel better, 6 to feel normal. You've made me think I need to have a chat with my mw about rotational forceps for my birth plan though!

I'm not a medical professional so perhaps there is an obvious answer to this but I really struggle to understand why forceps are still used instead of ventouse? Surely there isn't a situation where forceps are more suitable than ventouse and ventouse is less likely to result in tearing?

Pigface in my case id been pushing for a while and baby's heart rate dropped so they needed to get him out quickly. The skin on his head was all creased so they didn't have a smooth surface to suction on to ... if I remember correctly, it is a bit of a blur!