Forceps may be essential surgical instruments, but they can also cause significant, permanent injuries when misused. For example, you may occasionally hear about medical malpractice cases involving forceps left inside patients during surgeries.
However, the most consequential forceps injuries happen during the delivery process. These injuries can cause disabilities and disfigurement that affect a child for their entire life.
Should your child suffer a birth injury in Baltimore, MD, due to the misuse of forceps, you can trust WGK Personal Injury Lawyers to fight for the resources they will need for a lifetime of medical treatment and therapy.
Contact our law office in Baltimore to schedule a free consultation at (410) 837-2144 to discuss your case with a birth injury lawyer.
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How WGK Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You With a Forceps Injury Claim in Baltimore, MD
Since 1977, WGK Personal Injury Lawyers has fought for clients throughout Baltimore, Maryland, against at-fault parties and their insurers. Our team of birth injury lawyers has over 80 years of combined legal experience fighting for injured children and their families.
In the event that a medical professional’s improper use of forceps injures you or your child during delivery, our family-run law firm will provide the following services:
- A free consultation to learn about your situation and explain your legal rights
- A thorough investigation to collect evidence to support your case
- Preparation of an insurance claim and negotiations to settle it
- Litigation against the at-fault party if settlement discussions fall through
A birth injury can be devastating for both the affected child and their parents. Do not hesitate to contact our Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers to discuss how we can help you fight for your child’s future.
How Many Birth Injuries Occur in the U.S.?
Statistics suggest that birth injuries are uncommon, with only six to eight infants out of every 1,000 live births suffering an injury during labor and delivery. Deaths from these injuries are also quite rare, with only about 2% of infant deaths resulting from an injury. The other 98% result from a congenital disease or condition.
Causes and Consequences of Forceps Injuries
There are instances in which a sustained forceps injury has a reasonable explanation. For example, the hospital might have suffered a power outage just as the doctor grasped the baby with forceps.
However, many birth injuries have much less excusable explanations, such as the following:
- Lack of skill
- Inadequate training and supervision
- Impairment by drugs or alcohol
- Skill deterioration due to old age or neurological disease
- Mental illness
- Fatigue
Fatigue, in particular, is quite common among healthcare providers. Doctors are notoriously overworked and sleep-deprived, so when an OB-GYN tries to deliver a baby without enough rest, their physical and mental performance may suffer. The outcome may include injuries to both the mother and her child.
Common Forceps Injuries
Forceps extend a surgeon’s reach. They are hinged like scissors but feature grasping surfaces instead of blades. Doctors can use large forceps to grab hold of a fetus in the birth canal to manipulate it into a better position or even pull it through to complete the delivery.
The unskilled use of forceps, however, can physically injure the child. The pressure of the forceps focused over a small area of the child’s body can lacerate their skin, bruise soft tissues, and even break bones.
Two other injuries, known as caput succedaneum and cephalohematoma, can both cause temporary deformations to the baby’s head.
The former occurs when forceps bruise the scalp and cause it to form lumps on the head as the damaged tissue swells. The latter happens when forceps cause small tears in the blood vessels under the scalp. Blood pools under the scalp, producing blood-filled lumps on the baby’s head.
Forceps can also cause more serious injuries, such as internal hemorrhaging if the baby’s organs are crushed. Nerves can also be stretched, compressed, or severed by forceps, with the resulting injuries causing weakness, pain, and even paralysis.
A doctor can even fracture the baby’s skull, causing facial deformities or permanent brain damage. A child with brain damage may experience paralysis, cerebral palsy, or intellectual disabilities. They may also lose one or more senses, including their vision or hearing. And since brain cells do not regenerate, the child will suffer from these symptoms for the rest of their life.
Birth Injuries and Medical Malpractice Claims
Medical malpractice takes place when a healthcare provider fails to meet their professional standard of care. That standard requires doctors and nurses to display the same knowledge and skills as any other reasonably competent and careful medical professional would in the same situation.
With that in mind, though, not all adverse outcomes support a medical malpractice case. Instead, your Baltimore medical malpractice attorney must show that the error that led to your child’s birth injury was unreasonable under the circumstances.
For example, you probably have a medical malpractice claim if a doctor caused your child’s forceps injury by trying to deliver your baby while drunk.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Baltimore Birth Injury Attorneys If Your Child Suffered Forceps Injuries
A birth injury can deprive your newborn of their future ability to earn a living or even care for their needs. Contact WGK Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation to discuss your child’s birth injury and how we can pursue financial compensation for their losses.
