Approximately 5% (1 in 20) of all deliveries in the United States are operative vaginal deliveries. An operative vaginal delivery refers to a physician’s use of either forceps or a vacuum device when a woman’s labor has stalled. Over time, the rate of operative vaginal delivery has been steadily decreasing. However, the number of vacuum-assisted deliveries has been increasing. It is vital that vacuum extraction is done correctly by a trained medical professional.
The vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery procedure involves placing a small round cup on the baby’s head, which attaches to a vacuum pump creating suction to provide traction to gently pull the baby out of the birth canal. If performed incorrectly, one of the most dangerous complications of a vacuum extraction delivery is called a subgaleal hematoma (SGH). This is a potentially fatal accumulation of blood beneath the scalp of the newborn which can be caused by too much suction and/or the wrong-sized suction cup damaging blood vessels beneath the baby’s scalp resulting in hemorrhage. This type of injury has been known to cause life-threatening blood loss, hypovolemic shock, permanent brain damage, neurological injuries and more specifically, cerebral palsy (CP).
The frequency of subgaleal hematomas after vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery ranges from 26 to 45 per 1000 deliveries. In the hands of an inexperienced or untrained physician, a vacuum-assisted delivery can cause you and your child serious and permanent injuries. The cost of care for a child with cerebral palsy, or any birth injury, is very high. If your child’s birth injury was caused by a complication during vacuum-assisted or forceps-assisted delivery, contact The Yost Legal Group today at 1-800-YOST-LAW (800-403-7259). When you call, you will speak with an experienced Baltimore Medical Malpractice attorney absolutely FREE.
We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you will never pay an attorney’s fee up front, and you owe us nothing unless we win your case. The attorneys at Yost Legal Group are experienced, caring professionals ready to investigate your claim with compassion and determination. Call us today to receive a free, confidential consultation about your possible case. At The Yost Legal Group, there is no fee or expense unless you recover.