Forceps delivery - helping your baby into the world At the end of a labour, when the baby is about to come out, sometimes the birth stalls a little or requires a final nudge in order to fully deliver the baby. Apart from a major intervention

’s development. Babies born by assisted delivery methods such as forceps or a suction cup were found to be 40% more likely to be affected by emotional and behavioural problems by the age of 8.The lowest levels of the stress hormone cortisone were found

as obese (30 or greater) your chances are tripled.Get more information on pre-eclampsiaBirth problems affecting plus-size mums-to-beAssisted birth (forceps or ventouse)In about one in eight births in the UK, a baby needs help to be born. An assisted birth

requiring the use of forceps. However, although the patient satisfaction rate was almost the same between the two groups of women, those using PCEA did experience slightly more pain in the final stages of labour. PCEA is currently only available in one fifth

's breathing, leaving him feeling groggy, which makes feeding tricky.Epidurals can lower the mum's blood pressure which could cause the baby some distress. An epidural also raises the chance of needing a ventouse or forceps delivery.However, you must make

is reassuring,” said editor of the BJOG obstetrics journal, Professor Philip Steer.The study also found that muscle damage was more likely with a forceps delivery and slightly reduced by the use of a ventous.Epidurals are fairly common in the UK

they receive.The tool allows users to search local services using their postcode. It gives important information such as the availability of epidurals and the percent of vaginal births without the use of forceps or other instruments, using up-to-date figures

stage of labour when there may not be enough time for an epidural. Spinals are also often used in emergency situations where intervention such as a ventouse or forceps birth is necessary, and in some hospitals they are routinely given for caesarian

push the baby out, the midwife or doctor might use ventouse to encourage the final movements to get the head through the vagina, before reverting to normal manual delivery of the baby.The point at which a ventouse (or forceps) is used is when either

, which can sometimes lead to tearing. This is more likely with bigger babies or forceps delivery. Episiotomy used to be more common in the 1970s and 1980s when medical thinking considered it a better alternative to tearing. It is used less often now