My 43 year old son was a forceps baby. The mother in question was 4’11” and the baby was almost 8 lbs. and 22 inches. That is very large for a woman that small. The size of the woman’s pelvic structure is an important determinant. I was 5’5”, small boned, and my boy was 9 lbs. and 22 inches. He was also 3 weeks later than his due date. We never discussed a section. I had an epidural (spinal) anesthesia. When it came time for me to start pushing I asked them not to give more anesthesia so I could have some awareness of my pushing. It had been 13 hours of labor, but I was not exhausted. I was pushing very hard, and the doctor was pulling with forceps, although not in a dramatic manner. My husband said blood vessels were bulging on my forehead and he had never seen anyone work so hard. They had a little trouble getting his breathing started, but otherwise his Apgar score was good. He also had a little bruising on the sides of his head. I am glad I did not need a C section and my second child was born after two hours of labor in the hospital.
Doctors should have that option, but it sounds as though the Doctor in that case was not willing to give up on the vaginal birth and overdid his efforts. Parents need more education on their options and possibilities before the delivery. For example, the fact that I knew enough to not use maximum anesthesia and could help with the pushing probably meant the doctor did not have to pull too hard. On the other hand the mother in this case was already exhausted, so the doctor probably made a bad call and should have used the C section.
my, now 74 year old wife was 4'10, and 87 pounds when we were married in 196l...our first of three babiis was 9#4oz and the other two, a little later were about the same size....the baby was more than 10%of her weight!!! she did just fine
I was a forceps baby roughly 40 years ago. They stopped doing them here around 2000 (my friend’s daughter was one of the last in her hospital). My 9 lb face-up baby was not. The doctor reacher her hand up to ease her position. If anything, maybe only a c-section could have improved on the outcome.
“He was also 3 weeks later than his due date.”
You’re lucky. I was dumb enough to get a doctor involved on Baby#1 and they force the issue starting the week before their arbitrarily calculated due date. I had to argue with the Master of Modern Birthing that God was going to decide when the baby was done cooking, not him.