Vacuum extraction and forceps delivery in a district hospital

We compared 302 vacuum extractions and 205 forceps deliveries at Fairfield District Hospital, Sydney, over a period of 30 months. Age, parity, gestational age, length of labour and birth-weight were not significantly different between the 2 groups. Significantly less analgesia was required for mothers whose babies were delivered by vacuum extraction compared with mothers with forceps deliveries (p less than 0.01). Average blood loss was slightly higher during forceps delivery as compared with vacuum extraction and there was a significantly higher incidence of postpartum haemorrhage after forceps delivery (p less than 0.05). More babies were jaundiced after vacuum extraction and more required phototherapy, but the differences were slight and were not statistically significant. We conclude that vacuum extraction is a useful and safe alternative to forceps delivery in a district hospital setting.