Forceps seem to be used a LOT in One Born Every Minute

[lucysullivan]

I can't get over how often forceps are used on mothers in Channel 4's One Born Every Minute, every week some poor soul seems to be subjected to them and on tonight's programme forceps were used for 2 births. I've read on here the horrendous damage that forceps can do and know that in some hospitals they are not used at all for precisely this reason.

I've specifically requested in my birth plan for this baby that I will not consent to forceps. Worried though at the extensive use of forceps in British hospitals today, the women I've watched in the documentary don't seem to be told about the risks associated with them, to their health or their babys. Whereas I will be screaming for a c section if forceps are mentioned.

Does anyone else worry about the use of forceps? I'm starting to get very worried that despite me saying I will not consent to forceps I will be told it's either that or I'll be putting my baby at risk, so made guilty if I kick up a fuss about not consenting.

In 5 years working on labour wards at 2 differnt hospitals I have never seen a consultant do a forceps delivery. Only registrars.

As for MMM saying she would never want a m/w who has been trained to do forceps, only a Dr. Who would you rather have - a m/w who has been qualified to do forceps for the last 5 years and or a Registrar who has maybe only been a Registrar and doing forceps for a few months? You can not equate job title to level of competence, it all depends on the individual. All you can do is trust that they have been trained correctly and won't have been signed off as competent until they are.

Yes midwives are overstretched but so are Drs. So I don't see what bearing that has on anything. If the m/w caring for the woman can do the forceps rather than a stranger having to come in at that point and do it I'd have thought that was better. Plus the m/w may actually be less rushed.

The registrar who came and did a ventouse delivery to the lady I was looking after today had another lady waiting to have a bad tear sutured, someone who needed to go to theatre for a section and a 27 weeker had just been admitted who needed seeing. He was rushed, wheras if I'd been trained to do it I wouldn't have been.

My goodness this thread has moved on a pace!

In my ventouse/forecps training programme, the doctors have all said that they wishes they has such a comprehensive training.

I have almose completed my training course which will ensure I am competent to undertake ventouse and forcep deliveries. The type of deliveries that I will undertake will follow strict criteria.

So far the feedback has been very positive from woman and midwife colleagues.

After trying all the methods possible to promote 'natural birth', we have then moved to assisted delivery. The women involved and midwives have all felt that the dynamic in the room was positive and that as I midife I helped the woman achieve her desire for a vaginal birth - I didn't do it for her, I did it with her.

This is in a hospital setting - not to be undertaken at home.

Thank you mears and stripey - it's good to have accurate information from people who know what they are talking about.

We'll all watch with interest to see if injury rates go up or down, time will tell.

It's very hard to just say those 3 little words isn't it?

"I was WRONG' !!!!

I don't think I am wrong, the average midwife you meet in a hospital is NOT trained in forceps, mears is by her own admission still training.

And more to the point it makes me more resolute that I will not be accepting any form of treatment which I consider should be performed under an epidural in a theatre from a midwife, well anybody for that matter because the chances of them damaging me or the baby are too high.
Others will make their own minds up, but the only person I know who did have an ventouse birth, did have a consultant but then she was an anesthetist herself so I guess she was never going to have anything but preferential treatment.

I know you don't think you're wrong - that much is blatantly obvious. People have pointed out to you time and time again that you are factually incorrect in your statements that midwives and GPs never do forceps deliveries and aren't trained to do them. But you're obviously one of those people who can't accept when you're wrong.

Your last post is talking about your own preferences for giving birth. That's fine. Some people choose to have a very medicalised birth - and actually people with medical backgrounds and connections often seem to opt for that route!

But some people don't see having a baby as needing to involve all sorts of medical interventions, with the associated risks. And that's why posting inaccurate information about deliveries in MLUs, simply to validate your own choice is really unhelpful.

Actually your last sentence about preference speaks volumes.

You see, a ventouse delivery for my baby would not be my preference. My preference was a natural birth, without epidural or instruments, which carry risks for baby and mother.

If it's your preference, then fine. Just stick to the medical facts, and don't scaremonger about other people's choices just to reassure yourself that yours are ok.

I am very much in favor of HOME BIRTHS with no intervention and regularly singing the praises of hypnobirthing and water births both of which I have had a great deal of success with but where forceps and ventouse are concerned they should be performed in an operating theatre purely on the basis of what is the midwife going to do next if the ventouse/forceps don't work, start performing a caesarian ?
The Royal College of Midwifes has an article on it's home page debating whether in becoming more specialised the role of a midwife is changing to become more medicalised not less and encouraging intervention.

If it has to be performed at all passing the procedures to less qualified staff instead of specialist is utter madness.
As discussed earlier informed consent when somebody has been in labour for 20 hours is dubious to say the least and we'll see if the midwifes who currently are looking after 4 women I believe at any one time are up to the challenge, seems a recipe for disaster.

I've suffered life long migraines... they started when i was a baby

I was a forceps birth, and still have the marks on my head so clearly quite and agressive forceps delivery, and i'm convinced, utterly convinced, that the damage done during my birth caused me the years of misery i've endured.

The only good thing about what happened to me is that the years of dealing with chronic pain that painkillers don't affect trained me very well for labour and i had all three of mine with no drugs and consequently no intervention.

As for OBEM... i too find it uneasy watching due to the medical professionals involved.... i was screaming at the tv last week when that poor girl was forced to have the synotocin. What's so hard about a natural third stage fgs, apart from it necessitating that the mw spend a bit more time away from the biscuit tin of course

MillyMollyMoo - I will never, as a midwife perform, ventouse or forceps that requires to be done in threate. The type of assisted deliveries that I will perform (and have done) are where the head is way too low for CS as an option. It is where the mother is just about there biut can't quite manage it. I too support intervention free birth and especially homebirth, but unfortunately all mothers do not fit that criteria.
My role is not for all midwives to do. This is an extension to another role in the labour suite - quite specialised.

MMM - I think it really depends until you are in that situation that you would know the risks at them etc...

I had forceps in theatre and it was a horrid experience, one I don't wish to repeat hence me opting for an elective section, my recovery was longer but my DD's heart beat was dropping and at the time (partly brain washed by the NCT into natural is best) I opted for Forceps...I'm lucky it took about 6months for me to be normal again, yet my friend who had a c-section the day before me recovered much quicker.

That said my SIL had forceps for the last part of her birth in the delivery suite and stitches but was fine within 10 days it varies person to person.

I think personally having gone through a theatre forceps delivery I would rather have an experienced Midwife do it in a delivery suite in a low risk situation as Mears has explained, the MW would have more time, and lets face it when it comes to anything like taking bloods a nurse/MW is much better at it than a doctor!

We all have our own choices and preferences my local hospital is a training hospital linked to Kings Colleage hospital so the midwives have had some of the best training in the UK, I would trust them over a rushed consultant....

I don't believe I was briefed on the forceps side effects but that was as much the NCT's fault as the hospitals in my opinion! I was prepared for a section but went to have a trail of ventouse (twice) before forceps and if that failed they were going to c-section me....all I was concerned about at the time was not having a smilie face scar on my tummy!!!

I think MMM you need to accept that we all have different experiences and different expectations out of our births etc...at the end of the day all I wanted was my dd to be here safely

stripeyknickersspottysocks (love the name!) the consultant who did my C Section also did my friend's forceps.

In my unit, consultant obstetricians are present for trial of forceps in theatre and are most likely to actually do them.

Good post butterscotch

Different at every unit I guess. A consultant friend of mine who works at a different hospital is shocked that where I work we don't have a consultant in the hospital at weekends or nights. They're on call but at home which can be 45 mins away.

I've been in theatre before now waiting for the consultant to arrive in the middle of the night when the Reg has admitted defeat with something.

The thing I can't get over in watching so many of these shows (I've mostly seen US ones) is how many women are delivering on their backs - so much easier for the attendants! You get a third more room for bub to escape the pelvis when delivering in an upright position!

Forceps must have been invented by a MCP (oh they were - and he's been dead for 100 years). No body even thinks to mention the episiotomy that comes as added baggage.

Talking of which, has anyone been to Mamas and Papas recently. They have a picture of a newly born baby branded across the face by forceps. Are they trying to say that this is now the norm...

There is nothing like rubbing peoples noses in it. M&P must either be very stupid or no something the rest of us don't.

I was really struck by the difference in consent and information between the epidural and the forceps delivery that I had. With the epidural the risks were listed - 1/2000 get this, 1/20000 get that. No such information was presented for the episiotomy and forceps or the induction process. I am grateful that a skilled registrar got DD out without a scratch on her (probably more experienced with forceps due to training in Africa than the average registrar), but I might have made some different decisions at the start regarding being induced if I had fully understood the risks of induction in terms of instrumental deliveries and the risks of instrumental deliveries. I am still waiting to feel normal again.

Sorry to hijack a little bit: I have never seen an episode of this series, for one reason or another. I thought I'd go and have a look, so headed off to C4oD. Does anyone else find it amusing that on the oD player it gives you the option to 'watch in pop-out'?

breatheslowly I was not given any information on the whole induction or forceps either, I think that's what made it so bad I didn't have a clue what was going on I vaguely remember them mentioning forceps but that's all. I also had an African doctor who did a good job, dd was a bit bruised but that's all. I am still that I was refused an epidural after the drip having and having no clue what was going on at all!

I had a forceps delivery and tbh it was horrible, but I don't think that any other alternative would have been more pleasant. DD was just not coming out and when the said the doctor was going to use forceps I was terrified but looking back I think it was the best option because DD was out before she became distressed and the faint mark on her face had disappeared after a few days. For me the quick delivery was a relief after a long, painful and terrifying labour. No one wants forceps to be used but I was glad that I didn't have to have a CS and couldn't have pushed her out unassisted.

I had a forceps birth with my first child and it was all absolutely fine. I think the stories you hear in the media are most usually the bad stories. There are as many good stories I bet.

I was just informed that my baby needed to be delivered with the use of forceps because he wasn't coming with my pushing alone and I then signed the consent form on the Dr's advice.

They try 3 times maximum then resort to c-section if the baby still is not coming.

I had two forceps deliveries,with no1 and no4,and have had no problems at all,and i didt have an epidural with no4,he was just high up in my pelvis,i was taken into theatre for a cs,but for some reason they decided to use the forceps.I had no say in the matter..