The use of Kielland's forceps and obstetricians' anxiety trait

Summary

There is very limited literature available on the use of Kielland's forceps in the management of deep transverse arrest, and currently no studies looking at the correlation between obstetricians' personality traits and Kielland's forceps use. This study, therefore, aims to explore this relationship. All practicing consultant obstetricians in Wales received a postal invitation, including a psychometric questionnaire. The results showed that 32.7% currently use Kielland's compared with 36.7% who have never used Kielland's forceps. The remainder (30.6%) have used Kielland's in the past, but have since abandoned their use. Anxiety levels were actually lowest in those consultants who have never used Kielland's and highest in those who have abandoned their use. This could reflect the fact that Kielland's users tend to be the more senior consultants, who have perhaps become discouraged by recent changes in practice.

Keywords:

• Kielland's forceps
• delivery
• psychometric
• labour
• obstetricians' anxiety