Piper forceps
An obstetric forceps with a distinctive design: long shanks with a backward curve that drops the handles well below the level of the blades, and little or no pelvic curve, allowing it to be applied beneath a fetal body that has already partly delivered without lifting it.
How it is used
Applied specifically to the fetal head during a vaginal breech delivery (the "aftercoming head"), to maintain head flexion and control its descent and extraction after the body and arms have already delivered — a different clinical scenario from cephalic presentations, where forceps such as Simpson, Kielland, or Wrigley are used instead.
Clinical tip
Apply only once the fetal body has delivered to the level of the shoulders and the head is engaged; an assistant should support the trunk horizontally during application to avoid traction injury to the neck or brachial plexus.
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.