Trends in Operative Vaginal Delivery, 2005-2013: A Population-based Study

(BJOG. 2017;124(9):1365–1372) Operative vaginal delivery, using forceps or vacuum extraction during the second stage of labor, is an important labor management option. Indications for the use of an operative vaginal delivery include situations where it is beneficial to shorten the second stage of labor, such as a concerning fetal heart rate tracing, certain maternal medical conditions, and maternal exhaustion. The use of operative vaginal delivery in the United States, particularly forceps deliveries, has declined recently. As a result, concerns have been raised that obstetric residents currently being trained may not develop adequate skills to perform operative vaginal deliveries in their practices. In this retrospective population-based study of US births from 2005 to 2013, researchers evaluated the use of forceps and vacuum devices in live-born, nonanomalous singleton births from ≥36 to
Source: Obstetric Anesthesia Digest - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Epidemiologic Reports, Surveys Source Type: research