Any other foreceps deliveries?

SCMomToBe

After 3 hours of pushing, I ended up needing an "assisted" delivery which meant the use of foreceps. I've done a little research and learned that these kinds of deliveries are very rare and that newer docs do not even learn this practice any longer due to risks of complications. Mine resulted in severe tearing for me and a close call with some injuries to the baby's head. Just wondering... Did anyone else end up with foreceps and, if so, how has your recovery been?

Crowwing

I had one after hours of pushing and other complications, I was told it was it was the last resort before a C-Section and that the vacuum was not an option. Being this is my first I do not have a comparison but I feel like my recovery is taking longer than I expected. It has been 3 weeks and I still find that I am sore if I try to do much, such as an hour of grocery shopping.  

My son has not had any side effects from the forceps. My cousin's son has vision problems from them being used.

Wishing you a speedy recovery! 

JG362009

I have not had a forceps delivery but it still is very much in practice in some residency programs (my best friend and brother are OBs).  Sometimes forceps are better than a c-section because in certain situations you can get the baby out sooner.  Institutions that train on assisted forceps deliveries generally have lower c-section rates too.  Yeah, there are complications but there are also complications with a c-section.  

lindy27

I didn't have forceps used but our hospital said 3% of natural births there use forceps.  6% use a vacuum.  So they are still very much in use in my town but as a last resort.

blams05

I had to have forceps used after the vacuum failed. The Dr cut me all the way through though.  The hospital does them so rarely that at first they brought him the wrong ones. He is also the only Dr in the practice trained to perform them. My recovery has actually gone better than expected. I am 17 days pp and feel pretty much back to normal. I stopped taking pain meds at 9 days pp. LO had bad bruising on his face that led to some jaundice issues, but that only took a week to clear up.

jaxie320

The forceps were used on me during my mom's delivery.

raynes

Popping in from April 2012 (though I had a May baby). 

I had a forceps delivery. My doc made the call to the on call OB after just 40 mins of pushing because LO was not tolerating the pushing well at all. The OB that was on call only uses forceps, not the vacuum, so we didn't get a choice. He is apparently the best with them though. 

I ended up with a 2nd degree tear and we had some issues getting going with BFing, which is apparently common with forceps use.  LO has 1 bump/bruise on his head, but that's more likely from being stuck than the intervention, and it's nearly gone now. 

As for my recovery, the first week and a half were pretty rough, but things really started getting better around 2 weeks pp.