Special Obstetric Instruments Set, 11 Pieces

What a special obstetric instruments set is

A special obstetric instruments set is the tray an obstetric unit opens when a birth needs more than hands. Google’s own summary sorts obstetric sets by the stage or complication they handle, from routine labor support to operative intervention. This one sits at the operative end: it is built around obstetrical delivery forceps, with ovum forceps for what is left behind and two rare instruments for the worst case.

The reason to buy six forceps rather than one is that no single pattern suits every head. The types of obstetric forceps differ in length, in the curve of the blades, and in how the two halves lock, and each difference exists because of a particular head position or a particular stage of descent. An obstetrician who trained on Simpson forceps and meets a breech with an after-coming head wants the Piper, and wants it now.

Many teaching texts split forceps into short and long curved obstetric forceps. The short kind, such as the Wrigley, is an outlet instrument for a head already on the perineum. The long kind reaches a head sitting higher in the pelvis. All six forceps in this set are the long curved kind, from 30 cm to 44 cm, and there is no short outlet pattern in the box. Units that use a Wrigley for most assisted births should know that before ordering, because it changes which tray goes on the trolley first.

What the tray does not carry needs saying too. There is no vacuum extractor, and no episiotomy scissors or repair instruments. Units that use ventouse first and forceps second will have the cups in a separate kit already.

At 609.00 dollars it is the most expensive of our gynecology and obstetric trays. Six long forceps take more steel and far more hand work than any other set in the category, because each pair of blades is fitted to its own partner and will not swap with another pair.

Key design features

Six obstetrical forceps patterns

Simpson-Braun 36 cm, Simpson 30 cm, Naegele 36 cm, McLean 36 cm, Piper 44 cm and Kielland-Luikart 40 cm, all recorded curved. The four classical patterns cover most outlet and low deliveries. The Piper and the Kielland are the specialists, and they are the two a unit regrets not having.

The Kielland for rotation

Kielland obstetric forceps are the rotational pattern, with a sliding lock so the two blades can sit at different levels on an asymmetric head. Our Kielland-Luikart is 40 cm. It is the forceps that needs the most training to use, and the one most often missing from older trays.

The Piper for a breech

The 44 cm Piper is the longest instrument in the set. Its long shanks are made for the after-coming head in a breech delivery, where the forceps go in under the baby’s body. Nothing else in the tray can do that job.

Three ovum forceps and two rare instruments

Three Winter ovum forceps, 28 cm, straight, Fig.1, 2 and 3, remove retained placenta and membranes after the birth. The Braun decapitating hook and Braun cranioclast are for obstructed labor after fetal death, where a cesarean cannot be done. Most units hope never to open them.

What is in the tray, piece by piece

Read off our own pattern record for item AD-95600. Eleven pieces, nine patterns, the box counted separately.

Where the set is used

Each situation below calls for a different instrument from the same box, which is the whole argument for buying them together.

What it does, and what it must not be asked to do

Forceps are only as safe as the choice of pattern and the hands using it. The limits below are the ones that matter.

How it compares with the other obstetric sets

Our obstetric trays go from the everyday to the rare. This one is the operative middle.

Materials and finish

Every piece in this special obstetric instruments set is made from high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. We do not publish a grade number. The real question about a pair of obstetrical forceps is whether the blades still meet evenly at the lock after years of autoclaving, and that depends on how the pair was fitted, not on a certificate.

Each pair is made and finished as a pair, and the two blades carry the same mark so they are never separated in the sterile processing department. The blades are polished smooth on the inside, the side that touches the baby. The handles are left with a satin grip so a gloved hand does not slip under traction.

Caring for it

Separate every pair of forceps at the lock before washing. Blood trapped in a lock dries and makes the blades hard to articulate on the next birth, which is the worst moment to find it. Autoclave them apart and reassemble only matching marks.

Check the Kielland sliding lock moves freely along its full travel. A sliding lock that sticks halfway defeats the reason for having a Kielland. We service obstetrical forceps; send them back with the item code.

Ordering and wholesale

Every piece of the special obstetric instruments set is made by Adas Instruments in our own workshop and sold direct, which is why the price sits where it does against the catalog houses. Order one for a single tray, or in quantity for a hospital list or a distributor line. We do OEM work under your own brand and your own item numbers. Send us a sample and we will hold a run to your pattern rather than ours. Stock items ship from our own workshop. Backorder items take 10 to 12 working days to make. Every instrument carries a three year replacement warranty against manufacturing defects. Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What are obstetric forceps used for?

To assist the delivery of the baby’s head when the second stage of labor needs help, by guiding and gently drawing the head down the birth canal. Some patterns also rotate the head or deliver the head in a breech.

What are the 3 main types of OB forceps?

Classical forceps such as the Simpson and Naegele, rotational forceps such as the Kielland, and specialized forceps such as the Piper for a breech. Our special obstetric instruments set carries all three types.

What is different about Kielland obstetric forceps?

A sliding lock and very little pelvic curve, so the blades can sit at different levels and the head can be rotated. Ours is the Kielland-Luikart pattern, 40 cm.

Why is the Piper forceps so long?

Because it goes in under the baby’s body to reach the after-coming head in a breech delivery. Ours is 44 cm, the longest instrument in the set.

Does the set include a vacuum extractor?

No. It is a forceps and ovum forceps set. Vacuum cups and pumps are a separate kit.

Related products and categories

For every normal birth, the delivery instrument set is the five piece cord tray. The full destructive set is the embryotomy instrument set, and the uterine evacuation instrument set clears tissue retained after a birth.

All of our trays for this specialty sit under gynecology and obstetrics instrument sets, and the full range of procedure trays is under surgical instrument sets.