Just Hoover the kid out

Well, in one week I have seen my first forceps delivery and first vacuum delivery.
I attended to back up for neighbour midiwfe at a first time mother's delivery. She was doing great, but as soon as she started pushing, the heart rate started dropping significantly (down to 50s). So the OB was called in, first to put a scalp clip in: a wee tiny wire that screws in the baby's scalp [yes, I know, barbaric] in order to get a good reading of the baby's heart rate. Then later we were still getting decels and they were taking longer to recover, and the OB concurred that we needed a vacuum delivery. So, the suction was attached and over a few contractions and a small episiotomy the baby was born, and thankfully, was fine. The umbilical cord was short and tightly around the baby's neck, which was no surprise since the heartbeat was reflecting that very picture.