Balloon disimpaction of the baby’s head at emergency caesarean during the second stage of labour

June 2023: We are aware that the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics has retracted a 2016 paper, which was used in committee decision making for this topic (IPG744).

As the evidence base has now changed, it is returning to committee for re-discussion, see NICE's in-development webpage on balloon disimpaction of the baby’s head at emergency caesarean during the second stage of labour. Once the schedule for this has been confirmed, it will be communicated to stakeholders and published on the NICE website.

In the meantime, please read the NIHR updated process to oversee the safe introduction of new procedures (PDF only).