These forceps were sometimes used during childbirth to retrieve a child.
Characteristic are the stainless steel, the wide jaws and the short arms. After all, it was not allowed to exert great force on the head. The arms of many forceps were connected without a pivot so that they could easily be taken apart. The physician could then safely push one part of the forceps to the left and the other to the right of the child's head. [MOT]