Although the majority of babies arrive within a week or two of the estimated delivery date without medical intervention, specialist assistance is needed for various reasons in a substantial proportion of births. Sometimes labour is late in starting and a point is reached where doctors consider that it is advisable to start contractions artificially by inducing labour. If your labour is slow, you are too exhausted to push or your baby is becoming distressed, you may be offered an assisted birth, e.g. forceps or Ventouse extraction to help the birth.
