title: [The inventors of the obstetric forceps and the obstetric lever].
abstract: A multiple lineage is proposed for the invention of the obstetric forceps. Having been conceived by a member of the Chamberlen family in fifteenth- or seventeenth-century England, the instrument seems to have been reinvented in Flanders by Jan Palfyn and in Holland by Rogier Roonhuyse. Later, Roonhuyse invented a more effective instrument for coping with the impacted head: the obstetric lever. Palfyn's "Iron Hands" inspired Dussé to produce the "French" forceps which bears his name.
authors.affiliation: Verloskundige Kliniek, Faculteit der Geneeskunde van de Rijksuniversiteit Gent.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thiery
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D004739:England; D005113:Extraction, Obstetrical / Q000266:history* / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D009772:Obstetrical Forceps / Q000266:history*
vernacular_title: De uitvinders van de verlostang en de obstetrische hefboom.