"The vacuum cup may save many mothers from difficult and dangerous forceps deliveries."
Time magazine (1960)
The ventouse is a vacuum device that was developed to assist in the delivery of a baby when labor is not progressing well. It was developed in Sweden by obstetrician Tage Malmstrom (1911-1995) as an alternative to forceps. Malmstrom had the idea of using a bicycle pump to create the vacuum pressure. A bowl-like apparatus is attached to the baby's head in the birth canal. Air between the baby's head and the apparatus is then sucked out to create a vacuum. The doctor, who controls the amount of suction applied, synchronizes the pressure applied with the mother's contractions, enabling the baby to be delivered. The suction cups can be either flexible (soft plastic or-silicon) or rigid (hard plastic or metal).
The ventouse may cause less maternal trauma than forceps, but is thought to be less reliable at achieving delivery Ventouse delivery was slow to gain acceptance and was not widely used until the 1990s. Although it continues to be popular, it is no longer considered a totally benign procedure. In 1998, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that ventouse delivery can cause serious or fatal complications, including bleeding between the muscles of the scalp and bleeding within the skull. This advisory was prompted by reports of twelve vacuum-related deaths and nine serious injuries between 1994 and 1998.
