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Review
. 2023 Feb;51(2):143-152.
doi: 10.1016/j.gofs.2022.11.009. Epub 2022 Nov 24.

[Spatulas: A Franco-Colombian story or the slow rise of propulsion..]

[Article in French]
Didier Riethmuller  1 , Nicolas Mottet  2 , Paul Guerby  3 , Olivier Parant  4
Affiliations
Review

[Spatulas: A Franco-Colombian story or the slow rise of propulsion..]

[Article in French]
Didier Riethmuller et al. Gynecol Obstet Fertil Senol. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

The idea of using an instrument to assist natural childbirth is not new and it was in the 18th and 19th centuries that the forceps was developed. It is only after the Second World War that the suction cup provides an alternative to instrumental childbirth, but still based on prehension and traction. In 1950, Emile Thierry, in France, presented his spatulas based on the then original principle of propulsion. The diffusion of spatulas is almost non-existent in the Anglo-Saxon world but is not limited to France since its use was real by the Iberians and Latin Americans. There are currently three types of spatula, two of which are French and one Colombian. This review takes up the saga of this instrument for more than 70 years, develops its particularities and describes the present literature.

Keywords: Accouchement instrumental; Mécanique obstétricale; Obstetric mechanics; Operative delivery; Spatulas; Spatules.

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