a maternal mortality two to four times greater than that for a vaginal birth. Furthermore, an elective cesarean section increases the risk to the infant of premature birth and respiratory distress syndrome, both of which are associated with multiple complications, intensive care and burdensome financial costs. Even with mature babies, the absence of labor increases the risk of breathing problems and other complications.”Despite the risks of having a cesarean section, all of the researchers concluded that cesareans are often needed, and must be performed in those cases. To avoid unnecessary cesareans, Childbirth.org suggests, “carefully studying the indications for a cesarean as well as understanding the causes, procedures, and risks involved.”Another common medical procedure used during labor is a forceps delivery. A forceps delivery is a delivery where the head is delivered using the forceps to pull the baby down on to the mother's perineum, and then withdrawn and the rest of the baby is delivered as normal. Forceps deliveries are sometimes necessary, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (1997) . “They are applied during four different situations. When the baby's head has engaged, (is lying in the mother's pelvis,) but fails to descend further, when the baby is in a posterior position or is a breech birth, when the mother becomes too tired to continue pushing, or the uterus fails to maintain contractions, or with premature babies so as to protect the delicate skull bones from being compressed in the birth canal.”The benefits of forceps deliveries are clear. If a forceps delivery is needed and does not occur, the child and/or the mother will definitely die. However, there are still major risks involved with such a procedure. According to R.B. Johanson and V. J. Menon (1999), “forceps delivery often resulted in maternal trauma and required a large amount of regio...
