Skills training for operative vaginal birth

Skilled, safe operative vaginal birth can substantially improve maternal and neonatal outcomes arising from complications in the second stage of labour and should be available in a diverse range of maternity settings for women across the world. Operative vaginal births are complex, requiring a combination of good technical skills, non-technical skills as well as sensitivity from the accoucher. It is axiomatic that accouchers should be adequately trained and simulation-based training is a promising strategy to improve outcomes and increase the rates of operative vaginal birth. However, not all training is effective and although there are likely to be important lessons from other areas of simulation-based obstetric emergencies training that are generalisable, more research is required to identify effective training interventions for operative vaginal birth. Training for operative vaginal birth should also be operationalised for maximum spread and benefit.