Thousands of babies are born every year using forceps, which are used to help deliver the baby. One in eight births in the UK are ‘assisted’, meaning forceps is an option.
However, decades of research has shown the controversial instruments can cause high rates of damage to both mothers and babies.
Recent research has confirmed this method poses a higher risk of birth injury than other interventions, including Caesareans.
The odds of having an anal sphincter tear are 6.7 times higher with forceps compared with normal delivery.
Over the past decade, there has been a decline in the use of forceps worldwide – the instrument is consigned to medical history in most US maternity hospitals.
In Denmark, where there hasn’t been a single forceps delivery for 14 years, 30 per cent fewer women suffer from womb and rectal prolapse in later life.
The UK is one the few places where the forceps rate is rising — doubling from 3.5 to 7 per cent over the past five years, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Some experts believe many doctors have been bullied into risky practices, such as forceps, to keep the rising C-section rates under control. Caesareans cost around double that of a normal birth.
Using forceps safely requires a high level of skill and expertise, which ‘means that the outcome is always uncertain, even for experienced surgeons’, experts say.