What do they do?

They put one each side of babies head and gently pull with each contraction to help baby along. I think you normally have to have a small cut with them though.

Not as scarey as they sound then

They are a set of 'tongs' to pull the baby's head out.

Just be aware that if you do need forceps, LO will have a slight mark on the head/face for a couple of days after. I had a section with Charlie, but he really didn't want to come out so they used the forceps on him. This was about an hour old, but it had gone the following day.

i saw on "Dawn gets a baby" something which suprised me - the forceps dont put pressure on his head, they clip together once they are around his head and pull from the jaw, so they don't actually squeeze the head - like i expected them too. Hope that makes sense!

Mia was SUPER lucky and didn't have a single mark on her face/head.

It really takes a skillfull dr to perform this.

Noah had a tiny mark on his ear.....dunno if it was from the forceps tho!!

A friend of mine was bruised really badly. But they were panicing to get him out because the cord was wrapped tightly around his neck x

they bloody hurt!!!!!!! callum was a forceps delivery and had a slight mark on his head that lasted for a few days.