16/05/2026
The Odon Assist is being marketed as a gentler alternative to forceps and ventouse extraction, and in many ways, it likely is. Reducing compressive force on a baby’s cranium during assisted birth matters.
But if we actually care about reducing birth trauma, pelvic floor injury, fetal distress and instrumental delivery rates, we also need to ask a much bigger question:
Why are so many women needing assisted deliveries in the first place?
Because we already know many of the factors associated with higher rates of intervention:
Routine induction,
restricted movement,
continuous CTG in low risk labour,
supine or semi reclined positions,
epidurals reducing mobility and sensation,
coached pushing,
physiological stress and fear increasing catecholamines,
and birth environments that often disrupt the hormonal physiology of labour.
We also know the evidence supports upright and active labour positions for improving pelvic diameters, supporting fetal descent and rotation, and reducing assisted vaginal birth rates.
So while innovation in obstetrics absolutely has a place, especially in emergencies, it feels worth asking why we are investing so heavily into newer extraction tools while often failing to educate women on the actual biomechanics and physiology of birth itself.
Birth is not just about getting the baby out.
How the baby gets there matters too.
How the mother experiences birth matters too.
Women deserve informed consent around interventions, but they also deserve education around:
movement,
positioning,
nervous system safety,
hormonal physiology,
and how to work with the body during labour, not just what happens when things become pathological.
My new Born to Birth holistic birth education course is now live and available to purchase.
The link is in my bio 🤍
