This obstetrical wax model shows forceps being used to disengage the head of a fetus in cephalic presentation. The head is grasped transversally (above the ears) with the forceps when it has descended into the inferior strait and the occiput has rotated forward, under the pubis.

The model was commissioned by Felice Fontana, who was working on the installation of the Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale of Florence, from the sculptor Giuseppe Ferrini and his assistant Clemente Susini.