Vacuum Delivery in Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria.

Obstetric practice continues to change, particularly assisted vaginal delivery. Vacuum delivery is a mode of delivery technique in Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) in the maternity unit. The objective of the study was to determine the rate of ventouse delivery, its indications, and maternal and fetal morbidity in our center. This was a retrospective study of all admissions in the maternity unit of JUTH from January 1987 to December 2002. Clinical records of all women that had ventouse extraction were retrieved and information on the patients' age, parity, indication for the vacuum delivery, materno-fetal morbidity, and the fetal outcome were extracted collated and analyzed. Within the period of study, there were 38,576 deliveries. Two hundred and forty five (245) were vacuum deliveries, constituting 0.6%. The mean age of the patients was 25.6 years. The mean parity was 2.4, and primiparous women constituted as much as 44.5% of all the mothers. The main indication for the vacuum delivery was prolonged second stage of labour and was in 46.1%. Shortening of the second stage of labour for maternal disease conditions was done in 38.0%, and fetal distress accounted for 12.2%. The commonest maternal complication was the extension of an episiotomy, while the commonest maternal indication for elective ventouse delivery was hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Fetal complication occurred in about 25% of ventouse deliveries, with the commonest being fetal asphyxia. Ventouse extraction is a mode of assisted vaginal delivery in our facility. The commonest indication was prolonged second stage of labour. Keywords: Instrumental delivery, Vacuum extractor, Ventouse, Malmstrom, Jos – Nigeria Journal of Medicine in the Tropics Vol. 9 (2) 2007 pp. 21-2