Parents who are expecting a child in Texas and feeling excitement over the coming event and all its aspects will be loath to think about any potential negatives that can come about. In some cases, unfortunately, they do. In some instances, they are due to a negligent doctor. Birth injuries can lead to pain, lifelong struggles and massive expenses to treat and care for the child. Studies are done to determine how and why these birth injuries occur and it is important for parents to understand what might have happened in the event they want to consider pursuing compensation in a birth injury case.
A study from Canada found that mid-pelvic deliveries using vacuums and forceps lead to more trauma suffered by the mother and infant than cesarean deliveries. The mid-pelvic operative vaginal deliveries came to about 3 percent of Canadian deliveries. That is about 10,000 annually. More than 20 percent of the deliveries that use forceps and a vacuum are of the mid-pelvic variety.
When there were deliveries that did not have fetal distress, it was found that complications for the infant had an 80 percent greater chance of occurring with these tactics vs. a C-section. Women had tearing in 19 percent of the cases with forceps and 12 percent had it with the vacuum. It occurred in 20 percent who had a combination of the two. This study was limited to circumstances in which the baby’s head was midway through the mother’s pelvis. Other times when forceps and vacuums were used were not calculated in the study.
Having a baby is so common that many people might be under the impression that it is a simple matter that yields complications in a few rare instances. However, there are many mistakes that medical professionals can make and some are due to the strategies they employ and tools they use. When there are birth injuries, it is essential that a full investigation into the entire situation is conducted. That can extend to how the birth was overseen and what tactics the medical professionals used. Discussing the matter with a lawyer can help with a case.
Source: sciencedaily.com, “Midpelvic forceps, vacuum deliveries: Higher rates of trauma for mothers and babies,” June 5, 2017
