Ghana respectively the incidence of vacuum assisted vaginal delivery in the united stated is currently estimated at around 3.3% an explanation of the low rate of operative vaginal delivery in general zone with vacuum delivery and low threshold for caesarean section as cesarean delivery is increasingly accessible and acceptable reaching levels as high as 30% in the public sector and 70% in the private sector in brazil . most of the vacuum deliveries in this study 88.3% were carried out by resident doctors (senior registrars 47.4% registrars 41.2%)and only11.4% by consultants,which may explain the high failed vacuum rate in this study,and call for more consultants input in the conduct of vacuum delivery.in this study,30(14.3%)who had failed vacuum were delivered by caesarean section because sequential use of forceps to complete the delivery have been associated with increased risk of injuries to the fetus and maternal genital tract the failure occurred with the fetal head visible at the outlet of the pelvis. With a mean age of 23.5 7 years, this study revealed that most of the parturients who had vacuum deliveries were young adults. this study also revealed that vacuum deliveries were more frequently performed in primigravida,who constituted 42.9% of parturients in this study. similar observations were made in Jos Canada and the United Kingdom which may not be unconnected with the higher tendency to second stage delays in primigravida,which was the most common indication for operative vaginal delivery in this study. Tight,untested lower genital tracts,undue anxiety,and inexperience in labour among young aged primigravida no doubt accounted for the higher frequency of this diagnosis.Operative vaginal delivery is used to shorten the second stage of labour.it may be indicated for prolonged second stage of labour,maternal exhaustion or foetal conditions including non-reassuring foetal status to prevent hypoxic brain damage or foetal death.Prolonged second stage of labour was the most common indication in our study and accounted for 45.2% which was similar to other studies in Jos and Maiduguri Shortening of the second stage of labour for maternal disease conditions where bearing down effort is not encouraged was done in 36.7%. This was comparable to 38.0% in Jos. The commonest maternal complication was primary postpartum haemorrhage (9.5%). this was similar to the finding in Enugu. Prolonged labour,and genital tract laceration may explain this. Thus,there is need to anticipate postpartum haemorrhage in operative vaginal deliveries and therefore third stage of labour should be managed actively and genital tract lacerations repaired immediately to minimise blood loss. Vacuum deliveries can cause significant fetal morbidity.This occurred in about 31% of ventouse deliveries in this study, with the commonest(18.1%),being cephalhaematoma.Significantly higher rates of cephalhematomas have been reported in other studies after vacuum application.the rates of sever birth asphyxia and stillbirth were 4.8% and 3.8% respectively.This compares to the findings of various studies ang may not be truly attributale to the procedure as the asphyxia may be the outcome of the events of labour that indicated the intervention than from the operative vaginal procedure itself. Paediatricians should be notified whenever an operative vaginal delivery has been attempted and whether it was successful because serious morbidity can present several hours after birth.