do the suction cups and forceps cause any damage to baby

[laura109]

I am going to consider an epidural if i can not handle the pain. Ive seen alot of people then need assistance. Is there a risk of your babies head being damaged long term? X

 

[Feronia]

Yes, there certainly is a risk. I've seen facial nerve injuries happen with forceps, and fractures can also occur. You are also at much increased risk of tearing or having organ prolapse or incontinence. I've never met a mother who had a forceps delivery who didn't have at least a second-degree tear.
Vacuum-assisted deliveries can cause hematomas or intercranial hemorrhage. If you watch videos of forceps and vacuum deliveries on youtube you'll see why there's a risk of these things -- they're not pretty!

If you can, try to find a doctor or midwife who has a very low use of these instruments!

 

[mara16jade]

I had an easy delivery with an epidural, and barely tore (never had any pain from it).

I was born via forceps delivery back in the 80s and had a slight scar on the side of my face near my ear from the "spoon" slipping on my head. I had that taken care of for vanity reasons when I was in 6th grade (12 years old).

I honestly wouldn't be worried about needing assistance with an epidural. Me, my cousin, my BFF, two other friends....we all had epidurals and all was perfectly fine. I could still feel the pressure from the contractions, and knew exactly when and how to push.

ETA: I just remembered my bff had the suction cup with one of her babies, and baby was just fine. The other baby was born without assistance and mom had an epidural that time as well.

 

[laura109]

I had an easy delivery with an epidural, and barely tore (never had any pain from it).

I was born via forceps delivery back in the 80s and had a slight scar on the side of my face near my ear from the "spoon" slipping on my head. I had that taken care of for vanity reasons when I was in 6th grade (12 years old).

I honestly wouldn't be worried about needing assistance with an epidural. Me, my cousin, my BFF, two other friends....we all had epidurals and all was perfectly fine. I could still feel the pressure from the contractions, and knew exactly when and how to push.

ETA: I just remembered my bff had the suction cup with one of her babies, and baby was just fine. The other baby was born without assistance and mom had an epidural that time as well.

thank you thats reassuring to know xx

 

[ClairAye]

There is but my son was forceps and came away with a mark on each side of his forehead and a line down his cheek, they had started to fade after just one day, no damage at all.

 

[ClairAye]

Also, I didn't tear BUT I did have the episiotomy so that is probably why. I had an epidural but was really ill and baby distressed so they needed him out asap, that is why he was forceps, nothing to do with the epidural.

 

[teal]

I had forceps (without pain relief) and my son was born with bruising on his cheeks and he had a big bump on his head, even now I can feel he bump on his head and the midwives said it was from the forceps.

I also had an episiotomy and a seperate 4th degree tear.

 

[Eleanor ace]

There are risks, the damage can be severe. That said I don't think any doctor would take the risk and carry out a forceps delivery unless it was really needed (or at least I would hope not!). When I was writing my birth plan with my DS I told my midwife that I wanted to avoid a forceps delivery at all costs (my brother suffered very severe damage due to a forceps delivery) and she told me that I should avoid an epidural to increase my chances of avoiding an assisted delivery.

 

[Feronia]

Unfortunately, there's a known tendency for doctors to overuse forceps and vacuums when their use is not needed -- especially in the US. That's why I said it's a good idea to talk to your care provider and ask his or her rate of deliveries using these things. And like Eleanor said, tell your care provider that you would like to avoid their use at all costs. (And yes, to minimize risks, avoid an epidural; it's a labour intervention that can quickly cascade into other interventions, like forceps and vacuums.)

 

[sethsmummy]

if used correctly there is little to no damage done.

if used incorrectly then yes they can cause A LOT of damage. Unfortunately they used both on my son and he did suffer damage but they were not used correctly.

the pictures below are birth, 1 day then 2 days old. On the one day old one you can see some of the bruising to the top of his head.. that was the least effected part.. around the back of his head was black and blue for a couple days. he is jaundice in the 1/2 days photos.. and that got A LOT worse while his body was trying to absorb the excess blood from the bruising xx

 

[sarah34]

I had a ventouse delivery, episiotomy for me and only a slight red bump on lo's head. I think it was prob a little bit sore for him for a couple days as he cried when we touched it x

 

[mara16jade]

Unfortunately, there's a known tendency for doctors to overuse forceps and vacuums when their use is not needed -- especially in the US.

Not sure if it differs in other areas of the country, but my doctors and midwives/nurses said forceps weren't even used anymore. They weren't even in the delivery room with me. lol One nurse mentioned it was an old fashion method and not used unless there is a serious need for it. But even then, they said if they do one delivery every few YEARS via forceps, that was too much.

 

[Feronia]

Unfortunately, there's a known tendency for doctors to overuse forceps and vacuums when their use is not needed -- especially in the US.

Not sure if it differs in other areas of the country, but my doctors and midwives/nurses said forceps weren't even used anymore. They weren't even in the delivery room with me. lol One nurse mentioned it was an old fashion method and not used unless there is a serious need for it. But even then, they said if they do one delivery every few YEARS via forceps, that was too much.

That's honestly surprising to hear if you are indeed referring to Southern California. Maybe you were at a more enlightened hospital? Being from Southern California myself, I know of many people who had forceps used during their births fairly recently. I was yanked out of my mother's body (quite unnecessarily) with forceps in Southern California as well, hah -- but that was 27 years ago. Point being, I know they're used quite extensively in the States, even in SoCal!

 

[Preg Mama]

There are risks for any procedure. I had 2 epidurals and my daughter was born with forceps no damage. My son was born simply by me just pushing
I was born myself with forceps and hurt my left eye , so my left eye is now smaller than my right eye. Nerve damage. I was born in 70's.

 

[ItsJana]

I may be an anomaly, but with my last two vbacs I had an epidural.
1st vbac- no assistance with forceps or vacuum and had 2 stitches.
2nd vbac - vacuum assisted birth due to baby's heart rate dropping far too low. I didn't have any stitches and baby only had a slightly misshaped head for a couple days.

 

[MommyJogger]

Unfortunately, there's a known tendency for doctors to overuse forceps and vacuums when their use is not needed -- especially in the US.

Not sure if it differs in other areas of the country, but my doctors and midwives/nurses said forceps weren't even used anymore. They weren't even in the delivery room with me. lol One nurse mentioned it was an old fashion method and not used unless there is a serious need for it. But even then, they said if they do one delivery every few YEARS via forceps, that was too much.

They use them somewhat frequently here (central PA).
If you want to avoid unnecessary intervention, I highly recommend hiring a doula to help guide and advocate for your wishes. They're well-worth every penny they cost and can help you avoid the epidural/other interventions through their knowledge and experience in natural pain management, labor positioning, and exercises during pregnancy to encourage good fetal positioning. Doctors simply won't have the time or inclination to actively help you achieve a pleasant birth experience. I wholly credit being able to look back on the labor part of my second birth with fondness to the awesome coaches that were there supporting me. It was an awesome experience I will never forget thanks to them.

 

[mara16jade]

Unfortunately, there's a known tendency for doctors to overuse forceps and vacuums when their use is not needed -- especially in the US.

Not sure if it differs in other areas of the country, but my doctors and midwives/nurses said forceps weren't even used anymore. They weren't even in the delivery room with me. lol One nurse mentioned it was an old fashion method and not used unless there is a serious need for it. But even then, they said if they do one delivery every few YEARS via forceps, that was too much.

That's honestly surprising to hear if you are indeed referring to Southern California. Maybe you were at a more enlightened hospital? Being from Southern California myself, I know of many people who had forceps used during their births fairly recently. I was yanked out of my mother's body (quite unnecessarily) with forceps in Southern California as well, hah -- but that was 27 years ago. Point being, I know they're used quite extensively in the States, even in SoCal!

Wow! The way my hospital (Kaiser) made it sound, was that it was seriously old and outdated. Weird! They even smiled politely when I told them I was worried about episiotomies or forceps. They truly made it seem like either of those were not done anymore....esp. forceps. They said that episiotomies were still done on the very rare occasion, but even those were definitely few are far between.

And yes, I'm from So. Cal.

 

[laura109]

The uk is always behind america. They are very much still used here x

 

[Aud05291987]

First off...my baby was Vacuumed out. It felt like tug a war down there. She was stuck and would have died had they not. It was last resort. Nowadays they dont use those unless really necessary. It can cause damage I was unaware of but we are both fine. She just had a bit f red on her head for few days. It saved her life. As far as epidermal I had one....but it wore off at 9 centimeters....they tried to help but nothing worked. I got it very early as thr pain was horrible. But ill do it next time too. Its that bad lol. I do suggest baring the pain as long as u possibly can tho! I think it also slowed my labor down too. Also u cant get up afterward they give it and after u shakey. Theres risks to it all but id talk with docs about that.

 

[ginny83]

DS was born via ventouse delivery. I didn't have an epidural, but they needed him to come out quicker as I think his heartbeat wasn't doing so well. He had quite a bit of a lump on the back/top of his head, but by the second day it was almost totally gone and then definitely gone the day after that. I had a 2nd degree tear but only needed 2 stitches and very easy recovery.

I'd also hope that drs would only use assisted measures like that when they felt the risks of using them outweighed the risks of letting things progress naturally.