shared decision making: during labor & delivery

Assisted Vaginal Delivery

Sometimes women need a little  extra help pushing the baby out of the birth canal during a vaginal birth. Your care team may talk to you about an assisted vaginal delivery,  where they assist your pushing efforts by helping to  guide the baby out of the birth canal. The most commonly used methods are forceps or a vacuum device.

These might sound scary, but it’s important to remember that these methods  are used to help guide your baby out of the birth canal. They are not used to pull the baby out.

Forceps look like a pair of salad tongs, or a pair of spoons. They are gently placed so that they cradle the baby’s head. As you push during contractions, the forceps guide the baby out of the birth canal.

A Vacuum device looks like a suction cup, and works in a similar way. It’s placed over the baby’s head and a pump creates suction. As you push during contractions, the suction guides the baby out of the birth canal.

Your care team may talk with you about an assisted vaginal delivery if you’re really tired from pushing or if the baby needs to be delivered as soon as possible.An assisted vaginal delivery is not an option for every birth. For some births, a c-section may be an alternative.