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forceps Latin, tongs, pincers < *formu-ceps literally, taker of something hot (formus Latin, warm + capire to take)
The first use of Roman forceps was by blacksmiths, then by teeth-extractors. But an alternate origin may lie in ferrum Latin, iron + -ceps < caput Latin, head, giving an early, unattested form like *ferriceps 'iron-head' tongs or pincers.
Roman dental forceps from 79 A.D. found at Pompei
Forceps originated as flattened blades with a handle in ancient ironmongery. Some ancient blacksmith thought of joining the blades by crossing them at their centers and fastening them with a bolt that permitted their movement. There are many kinds of medical forceps used to grasp, handle, compress, and join body tissues or medical equipment.
Clamp forceps have an automatic locking device.
Mosquito forceps are very tiny hemostats with fine points, used to clamp
off blood vessels.
Towel forceps clip towels to the site of a surgical incision or operative
wound.
Chamberlen forceps are the classic set of obstretic ones: high, mid,
and low, used in forceps delivery, to shorten extended labor or to quickly
deliver a baby in fetal distress. A baby's head may become lodged in
the birth canal in an inappropriate transverse or posterior position.
Often gentle rotation of the head by forceps solves the problem. There
is of course no medical procedure that is free of risk, and this is
true of forceps deliveries too.
Peter Chamberlen (1601-1683) was an English obstetrician and court physician to Charles the Second. Around 1665 he invented midwifery forceps, the original obstetrical forceps with no curvature. There have been many improvements to obstetrical forceps and these modern adaptations continue today.
Illustration of a breech delivery with obstetric forceps
painted
by American medical artist Catherine Sinclair Holt ( 1914 - 1990)
Indications for operative vaginal delivery vary. In general, however, forceps or vacuum extraction may be called for during the second stage of delivery, when the fetal head is engaged and the mother's cervix is fully dilated and the labour is prolonged for hours so that the baby's health and life are threatened, or the mother's health and life are endangered.
This list from one North American manual of obstetrical procedure may be of interest.
Criteria for Types of Forceps Deliveries
Outlet
forceps
Scalp is visible
at the introitus without separating labia.
Fetal skull has
reached pelvic floor.
Sagittal suture
is in anteroposterior diameter or right or left occiput anterior or
posterior position.
Fetal head is at
or on perineum.
Rotation does not
exceed 45º.
Low
forceps
Leading point of
fetal skull is at station >= +2 cm and not on the pelvic floor.
Rotation is 45º
or less (left or right occiput anterior to occiput anterior, or left
or right occiput posterior to occiput posterior).
Rotation is greater
than 45º.
Midforceps
Station is above
+2 cm but head is engaged.
dental forceps from the early nineteenth century
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