Healthy Child Programme: final report
6.1.2. Type of Delivery
Respondents were provided with the following options for type of delivery and asked if there were other types of delivery they would like to see included:
- Spontaneous Vertex
- Spontaneous Other Cephalic
- Low forceps, not breech
- Other Forceps, not breech
- Ventouse, Vacuum extraction
- Breech
- Breech Extraction
- Elective caesarean section
- Emergency caesarean section
- Other
A thematic analysis of the qualitative responses identified the following common themes and the project team’s recommended response:
| Other types of delivery | Recommended Response |
|---|---|
| Include Born Before Arrival (BBA) | Recommend including a new heading to record ‘location of birth’ |
| Include concealed pregnancy | This should be considered by the NHS Digital maternity events project |
| Water birth | This should be considered by the NHS Digital maternity events project |
| Category of caesarean section | This should be considered by the NHS Digital maternity events project |
| Shoulder dystocia | This should be considered by the NHS Digital maternity events project |
| Still birth | This should be considered by the NHS Digital maternity events project |
| Induction | This should be considered by the NHS Digital maternity events project |
| Delayed cord clamping | This should be considered by the NHS Digital maternity events project |
Respondents were also asked if it was appropriate to record more than one option for ‘type of delivery’. The responses were as follows:
| Response | Number | % |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 267 | 43% |
| No | 134 | 22% |
| Not Sure | 214 | 35% |
In line with the survey findings, the project team recommends that it is appropriate for more than one option to be selected, for example forceps or ventouse proceeding to a caesarean section.
Page last updated: 27 March 2026