Introduction to operative vaginal delivery - forceps and ventouse
This tutorial costs £10.00
During recent years, most obstetrics units in the UK have seen an increase in the rate of instrumental deliveries. In part, this may be due to changing patient attitude but other factors including an increased use of epidural analgesia, continuous electronic fetal monitoring and the increased threat of obstetric litigation have also made a significant impact.
The goal of all operative vaginal delivery is to mimic spontaneous vaginal birth. In the hands of experienced operators, instrumental deliveries may be used in a variety of clinical situations, but during training there are basic principles that should be followed if the risk to mother and baby are to be kept minimal.
This tutorial will help you to learn the place of assisted vaginal delivery in modern obstetrics and ensure that the techniques employed during delivery are safe.
Learning objectives When you have completed this tutorial you should be able to: - identify the common indications, prerequisites and contraindications for instrumental delivery
- appreciate the relative advantages and disadvantages of ventouse cup versus forceps delivery for non-rotational assisted vaginal delivery in varying clinical situations
- describe a safe method of delivery using non-rotational forceps or ventouse cup
- outline the common complications and morbidity associated with assisted vaginal delivery
- discuss methods that may be used to minimise or reduce these risks
- describe the indications, technique and potential complications of rotational forceps and ventouse cup deliveries.
|
Last updated: 17/11/08 (two BJOG papers added in 'Preliminary reading')
17/10/08 (latest RCOG patient information on VBAC added in 'Preliminary reading').
Time allocation
Four hours to read the tutorial and the essential reading. In order to undertake the activities and self-assessments and to follow up additional reading and discussions with colleagues, it is recommended that you concentrate on the subject area covered in this tutorial for one to three weeks.