[Traumatic injuries of newborns after forceps delivery at the Abass Hospital Center Maternity].

The authors report the results of a retrospective study on the effect of traumatic injuries observed among newborns from forceps deliveries in the maternity ward of Abass Ndao hospital between January 1st, 1995 and December 31, 1996. Forceps deliveries represent 5.89 for 1000 of total deliveries and 47 for 1000 of nursery admissions. Traumatic injuries are found in 44.77 % of the newborn by forceps deliveries. They are dominated by the hematoma of scalp in 23 cases and facial nerve injuries in 6 cases. The were about 76.66 percent of primipare among which 30 percent were adolescents. Maternal age, parity, gravity as well as birth weight for forceps deliveries were not significantly different from those without any injuries (p < 0.05). However, traumatic injuries of the newborn were more frequent when the forceps were performed by medical resident. The neonatal mortality is 10.44%. We recommend the teaching of the technique for an improvement of technical competence.