Obstetrical forceps
An instrument made of two curved blades ("spoons") that articulate independently, each applied separately around the fetal head and then locked together.
How it is used
It is used in operative vaginal delivery to assist extraction or rotation of the fetal head when the second stage of labor needs to be shortened, due to maternal exhaustion, non-reassuring fetal status, or failure to progress.
Clinical tip
Always confirm the exact fetal head position and correct blade placement before applying traction; if no descent is achieved with the first few pulls, the plan should be reconsidered, for example proceeding to cesarean delivery.
Sources
This entry is part of the Instriq catalog, researched and written per specialty from real web research -- never generated or invented without verification -- and reviewed skeptically and independently before publication. How this catalog is written.
History
Added to the catalog on 2026-10-02.
Dates derived from the project's public version-control history on GitHub, not a live collaborative edit log.