How Do I Know if the Improper Use of Forceps Led to My Baby’s Birth Injury?

Pregnancy is a wonderful time where you plan and hope for the future of your unborn baby. However, it also is a time where you have to put your complete trust in a third-party, your doctor, as well as the medical team that supports the physicians during the labor and delivery process. When something goes terribly wrong, you may be faced with many questions about why and how this may have happened and what could have been done to prevent the harm suffered by your baby. Many times, it is the actions of the doctor that ultimately resulted in the injuries. If your baby was hurt through the use of forceps, there are some questions that you can ask yourself.

Did your doctor discuss a Cesarean section with you? When a serious problem develops during the labor and delivery process, there are a number of things that could be done. One of the most common options is delivering the baby via Cesarean section. This should be done if the baby is showing signs of fetal distress, if the baby is too large to be delivered normally, or if the baby presents in a breech or abnormal presentation that does not resolve itself.

Did the doctor allow the delivery to go on too long? Did the labor last far longer than it should have? If the baby becomes stuck in the birth canal, then the condition could lead to harm to the baby. Another possible cause of a prolonged labor is shoulder dystocia, where the infant’s shoulder gets wedged against the mother’s pubic bone, which could be caused by a large infant or an overweight mother.

Did the doctor respond quickly to signs of fetal distress? If your baby started to show signs that he or she was suffering harm during the labor and delivery process, did the doctor respond quickly with options about how to address the situation.

Did your doctor discuss the use of forceps with you? At any point during the labor and delivery process, did your doctor talk to you about the potential use of forceps to deliver your baby and what alternatives might be available. Although an emergency situation may prevent a detailed discussion, if there was time, were you presented with any alternatives?

How quickly did it become clear that your child had suffered harm? After the birth of your baby, did the doctor and nurses respond immediately to your baby’s distress? If your baby was harmed from the use of the forceps, the injuries could present immediately or they could develop slowly over a period of hours or days.

Forceps are one of the tools available to doctors during the delivery process when the baby is not being born in the normal and expected process. Although there are arguments that they are a valuable tool in the hands of a well-trained physician, the fact is that the use of forceps may lead to lacerations and abrasions, intracranial bleeding, hematomas, and skull fractures.

If your child was injured through the use of forceps during the delivery process, there are many questions that you may have, including whether or not the forceps had to be used, or if alternatives that were available would have prevented the harm to your infant. The knowledgeable and compassionate Tennessee birth injury attorneys at Bailey & Greer, PLLC can help you get the answers to the questions that haunt you. We will help you understand what happened to your baby and determine the legal strategy that meets the needs of you and your family. To discuss your case, please call us at (888) 470-9143 to schedule an appointment. At Bailey & Greer, PLLC, we are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win.

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