Assisted vaginal delivery in low and middle income countries: An overview

Assisted vaginal delivery is underused in many low- and middle-income countries — precisely where women continue to face hardships in accessing emergency obstetric and newborn care and where cesarean delivery can be relatively unsafe. This overview assessed the use of assisted vaginal delivery in 40 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors found that frequent reasons for not conducting an assisted vaginal delivery included the lack of equipment or trained health workers and providers stating this service was not needed.