Risks

A vacuum extraction poses a risk of injury for both mother and baby.

Possible risks to you include:

• Pain in the perineum — the tissue between your vagina and your anus — after delivery
• Lower genital tract tears
• Short-term difficulty urinating or emptying the bladder
• Short-term or long-term urinary or fecal incontinence (involuntary urination or defecation)

Note that most of these risks are also associated with an unassisted vaginal delivery.

Your health care provider may also have to perform an episiotomy — an incision of the tissue between the vagina and anus — before placing the vacuum.

Possible risks to your baby include:

• Scalp wounds
• A higher risk of getting the baby's shoulder stuck after the head has been delivered (shoulder dystocia)
• Skull fracture
• Bleeding within the skull

Serious infant injuries after a vacuum extraction are rare.