A medical instrument used to pull or extract the fetal head during difficult deliveries in obstetrics.
From Greek 'kephale' (head) + Latin 'tractor' (one who pulls, from 'trahere' to draw). This instrument represents an alternative to more destructive extraction methods.
The cephalotractor was an improvement over the cephalotome because it tried to extract the baby intact rather than crushing the skull—it represented obstetrics' slow evolution toward safer, gentler delivery methods that preserved the child's life.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.