Abstract: Background: An operative vaginal delivery (OVD) includes obstetrics forceps and /or vacuum assisted delivery to accelerate the second stage of labor and offers the option to accomplish safe delivery for the mother and the clinician. A successful assisted vaginal delivery avoids caesarean section, its associated morbidity and its implications for the future pregnancy.
Design: Retrospective study.
Aim and Objective: To determine maternal and perinatal outcomes associated with instrumental vaginal delivery.
Methods: It was a retrospective analysis of 202 vaginal deliveries via OVD conducted from August 2021 to July 2022 at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Government Medical College Jammu, a tertiary care hospital. Information about the OVD was obtained from labor room register and individual indoor case file. Analysis of data was done to find out the incidence and maternal and perinatal outcome in OVD.
Results: Of 202 women, 170 (84.16%) and 32 (15.84%) had vacuum and forceps deliveries, respectively. The use of instruments was more frequent in infants with higher birth weight and gestational age. There were no significant differences in APGAR scores between the two groups. Two main indications of instrumental deliveries were fetal distress and prolonged second stage labor. Forceps, compared with vacuum, more often caused perineal tears and postpartum hemorrhage. Cephalhematoma was found to be more common in vacuum. Neonatal outcomes were similar in both types of instrumental deliveries.
Conclusion: OVD helps in improving maternal and perinatal outcomes and reduces the caesarean delivery rate. The most important factor to determine the safety of the instrument is the operator rather than the instrument.
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