Forceps Injury

Improper use of a forceps during delivery can cause serious injuries to both a mother and her newborn. If you or your child has been harmed by the improper use of forceps during the labor and delivery process, it is important to speak to a Baltimore birth injury attorney who can thoroughly examine the circumstances of your case and advise you on your legal options. At Arfaa Law Group, we are dedicated to seeking the compensation that you deserve and holding the medical professional accountable for their actions.

Forceps delivery is a medical procedure in which a health care professional utilizes forceps, a surgical instrument, to guide a baby out of the mother’s birth canal. In essence, forceps are a surgical instrument that resemble a pair of salad tongs, used during labor and delivery to help pull the baby out of the birth canal. A forceps delivery may pose a risk to both the mother and the baby, so the correct placement of the forceps is critical.

Forceps injuries often have significant and long-term consequences on a child’s life. The symptoms of a forceps injury may include lacerations, bruising, and hemorrhages. Forceps errors often lead to serious injuries, including facial nerve damage, skull fractures, seizure disorders, and cervical cord injuries. Injuries caused by forceps, vacuum extraction device, and other delivery instruments can include intellectual disability, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy, and brachial plexus. When performed correctly, forceps deliveries pose no greater risks to a mother or baby than a vaginal delivery without instrumentation. However, the improper use of the forceps or a vacuum device when removing the baby from the birth canal during delivery, cause result in traumatic injury to the child.

The type of compensation available to a party injured during childbirth from the improper use of forceps include both economic and non-economic damages. While the costs of medical treatment for an injured child may impose a substantial hardship on the child’s family, compensation will usually be available to help alleviate the burden. Economic damages, also known as special damages, are calculable expenses, such as past and future medical bills, lost wages, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, and other financial losses caused by the medical malpractice injury or harm. Non-economic damages, or general damages, are losses that cannot be specifically calculated or valued, including loss of enjoyment of life, the child's and the mother's pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and other related damages.

If your child has suffered a birth injury as a result of a delivery assistance technique, it is critical for you to seek prompt legal advice from a qualified medical malpractice lawyer. The Baltimore birth injury lawyers at Arfaa Law Group are highly skilled personal injury attorneys with extensive experience handling a variety of medical malpractice claims involving birth injuries such as forceps and vacuum extraction injuries, cerebral palsy and bone fractures. At Arfaa Law Group, we understand the complexity of medical malpractice claims and the emotional turmoil that families endure in these situations. Our compassionate medical malpractice attorneys represent children and their families throughout the state of Maryland. Call 410-889-1850 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation to discuss your next steps.