About 1 in 4 times forceps are used during childbirth in Canada, a mom is injured: study
A new study from the University of Alberta recommends limiting the use of forceps during childbirth.
U of A experts on incontinence say educating both clinicians and mothers will help to prevent lifelong injuries to women.
According to the study, Canada has an alarmingly high rate of forcep use during childbirth.
“Often women who have had this type of delivery are completely shell-shocked because they’ve got infection, they’ve got pain, they’ve got a newborn and they had no idea that this was even a possibility,” Jane Schulz, professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology in the faculty of medicine and dentistry, explained.
“Education is needed for both patients and health providers that this is a potential complication.”
Use of forceps can lead to some immediate and long-term complications that can include infection, chronic pain, sexual dysfunction, incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
“These birth injuries sometimes result in conditions which are extremely troublesome in later life,” Adrian Wagg, the division director of geriatric medicine and scientific director for the AHS Seniors Health Strategic Clinical Network, added.
'WE'RE NOT DOING WELL COMPARED TO OTHER COUNTRIES'
Forceps, described as similar to “large sugar tongs,” are placed on a baby’s head to pull it out.
“The blades go around the baby’s head and can potentially tear muscles and ligaments of the pelvic floor or cause damage to the nerves that supply the pelvic floor,” Schulz said.
The study shows that researchers looked at close to two million birth records from Canada, Norway, Sweden and Austria with a focus on first-time births.
It revealed five per cent of the women had third or fourth-degree tears to their perineum. Both Canada and Sweden had the highest recorded rates of injury, whereas Austria and Norway had the lowest.
A study conducted in 2016 showed roughly 24.3 per cent of Canadian mothers with forceps deliveries were injured, in comparison to Norway where it was only 6.4 per cent.
Those injuries were associated with the use of instruments such as a vacuum or forceps during delivery, the study read.
“We’re not doing well compared to other countries that were chosen based on similar social demographics and health-care services,” Schulz said.
She added that some women are more prone to injury depending on the size of their baby or if they have a shorter perineum.
That's why both Schulz and Wagg want to improve education for clinicians to better inform new mothers of their birth options.
“I advocate for women to be fully informed about their options in childbirth and counsel women to avoid forceps if at all possible,” Wagg said. “Caesarean section is the fallback option.”
Schulz encourages patients to be assessed six weeks before childbirth to ensure they get the care they need to avoid any long-term damage.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.