The following is a summary of “A new approach to assessing the obstetrician’s posture and movement during an instrumental forceps delivery,” published in the November 2023 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology by Sorel, et al.
In favor of Hoover, the number of births by forceps went down by a large amount. Now, when tools are needed, doctors who haven’t done this surgery before are more likely to hurt the baby or the perineum in ways that could have been avoided. Because of this, training is necessary. However, there weren’t clear instructions on how to do a birth by forceps, such as what body position and gesture to use.
For a study, researchers sought to come up with a plan that could help them figure out if there is a best way to use forceps to deliver a baby. They will have volunteer players with a range of skill levels and exercise types. They plan to use an optical motion analysis device to record their movements and actions while they mimic a forceps birth on a dummy. They also used force platforms and scientific marks on the tools to measure the subject’s pulling force on them. Then, They used principal component analysis to look for similar motion patterns.
They looked at about fifty people, with 25 being seniors and 25 being students. Their theory was that the participants would be happy with how realistic the simulation was, that the testing conditions wouldn’t change how they move, and that the level of experience would lead to different methods. Women and babies should be safer when they know more about the right way to stand and move to use forceps during delivery. The study’s results could also help obstetricians learn how to do their jobs better.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468784723001216
