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By Mayo Clinic staffBefore your health care provider considers a forceps delivery, he or she might try other ways to encourage labor to progress. For example, he or she might adjust your anesthetic to encourage more effective pushing. To stimulate stronger contractions, another option might be intravenous medication — typically a synthetic version of the hormone oxytocin (Pitocin).
If a forceps delivery seems to be the best option, your health care provider will explain the risks and benefits of the procedure and ask for your consent.
If you haven't already been given a regional anesthetic, your health care provider will likely give you an epidural or a spinal anesthetic. A member of your medical team will place a catheter in your bladder to empty it of urine. Your health care provider might also make an incision in the tissue between your vagina and your anus (episiotomy) to help ease the delivery of your baby.
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- Holcroft Argani C, et al. Management of the fetus in occiput posterior position. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed April 25, 2012.
- Cunningham FG, et al. Williams Obstetrics. 23rd ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2010. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=46. Accessed April 26, 2012.
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Your Pregnancy and Childbirth Month to Month. 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; 2010:199.
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee on Practice Bulletins - Obstetrics. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 17. Operative vaginal delivery. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2000;95:1. Reaffirmed 2009.
- Heart disorders in pregnancy. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec18/ch261/ch261i.html. Accessed May 11, 2012.
- Robinson JN. Approach to episiotomy. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed May 4, 2012.
- Lavender. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://naturaldatabase.therapeuticresearch.com/nd/Search.aspx?cs=MAYO&s=ND&pt=100&id=838&ds=&name=LAVENDER&lang=0&searchid=34422770. Accessed May 2, 2012.
- Sheikhan F, et al. Episiotomy pain relief: Use of Lavender oil essence in primiparous Iranian women. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 2012;18:66.
- Brubaker L. Patient information: Pelvic floor muscle exercises. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed May 3, 2012.
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- Gibbs RS, et al. Danforth's Obstetrics and Gynecology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Wolters Kluwer Health Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008. http://www.danforthsobgyn.com. Accessed April 26, 2012.
- You and your baby: Prenatal care, labor and delivery, and postpartum care. Washington, D.C.: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; 2011;1.
- Lowerdmilk DL, et al. Maternity & Women's Health Care. 10th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Mosby; 2012:470.
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- Lewicky-Gaupp C, et al. Fecal incontinence related to pregnancy and vaginal delivery. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed May 3, 2012.
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