All about vacuum assisted delivery

All of you might have heard of assisted delivery and wondered what it is in the first place. It is a form of birth when the baby needs some form of help to emerge from the womb of the mother. This happens right towards the end which is the pushing stage of labor. In this regard the two most common types of assisted birth are forceps or vacuum assisted delivery. The latter is also referred to as ventouse

A ventouse works on the model of a suction cup. It is a soft plastic cup that is being attached to the head of the baby and with the help of a handle the baby is moved out of the birth canal.

The reasons for a vacuum assisted delivery in the first place?

This form of birth could arise for a number of reasons. Though the most common reason happens to be when the baby has gone on to become distressed and is pretty close enough to delivery. Here the ventouse is known to speed up the process. In cases of normal delivery it takes an hour to push the baby out of the birth canal. If the need is felt that the baby needs to arrive within a matter of minutes, the vacuum assisted delivery is the only option left

• When pushing for several hours has been undertaken with dilation
• You are exhausted from pushing
• Baby is showing reasonable signs of distress and it needs to be pushed quickly than what the mother can afford
• The mother is not able to push because of a recurring medical condition
• The head of the baby is not in an optimal position for birth
• Time policies or restrictions in place as per the hospital guidelines.

If the doctor goes on to suggest such a form of delivery, it needs to be ascertained whether the position of the baby is low enough to be born. If the head of the baby is high then a C section delivery is suggested.

To avoid this form of birth, it is suggested that you would need to be proactive during the stages of pregnancy. Ensure as far as possible that the process of pregnancy progresses in a natural manner. As far as possible stay healthy and make it a point that you do not over exert on things, whereby conserving energy.

The side effects coupled with risks

With a vacuum cup baby delivery there is bound to be swelling on the head of the baby where the suction cup was being placed. Though this bump is going to cause discomfort it is going to disappear around 48 hours after the birth of the baby. Babies who are born by this method tend to be a lot grumpy and in the first few days it is suggested that strangers do not handle them. A close bonding with the mother is going to help considerably.

Women who had a delivery of this type are going to experience sourness if a tear emerges.