title: Operative and assisted delivery.
abstract: Decisions about the role of cesarean section, forceps, and vacuum delivery in obstetrics continue to be a challenging part of daily obstetric practice. Five interesting papers on this topic are reviewed, including a comparison of international rates of cesarean sections and vaginal births after cesarean section, the method of choice for the delivery of the low-birth-weight fetus presenting as vertex, the advantages of a prelabor cesarean section for a fetus diagnosed with meningomyelocele, and the appropriate role for the midforceps delivery in the 1990s.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Robertson
mesh_terms: D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007746:Labor Presentation; D008591:Meningomyelocele / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D009772:Obstetrical Forceps / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D014219:Trial of Labor