Individuals in Arizona may wonder about the safety of delivering babies using forceps. Forceps delivery is used when the doctor perceives that the labor is proceeding too slowly for some reason. This might be because the baby seems stressed, the mother is too tired to push or there is some medical condition that makes the use of forceps necessary.
A baby needs to be in a certain position in the birth canal for the forceps delivery to be possible. The mother will receive pain medication before the instruments are used. The instrument is then placed on the baby’s head while the mother pushes. If this is not successful, the next step might be a C-section.
However, a forceps delivery is not without risks. For instance, there might be minor nerve damage caused by the pressure exerted when the doctor used the forceps. This could lead to facial drooping, which could last a few days until the nerves heal. Other serious complications that could occur with forceps assisted delivery could lead to bleeding inside the baby’s head, but this is rare.
A mother who feels that her child has been injured during delivery as a result of medical malpractice may wish to consult an attorney. This malpractice may be the result of using forceps improperly or it may be from failing to recognize the need for forceps in time. The hospital and medical staff that assisted the doctor could also be named as defendants in such a lawsuit. If compensation is awarded, a child’s parents could use the monetary award to pay for their child’s current and future medical treatment expenses.
Source: Medline Plus, “Assisted delivery with forceps,” Accessed on Jan. 9, 2015