Forceps Delivery and Birth Injury

Transcript

Forceps are used to deliver babies. They’re not used as much in the United States these days; vacuum extractions arebeing used a lot more, but forceps basically are metal tongs – like salad tongs – that go around the baby’s head and help the baby to deliver. The issues with forceps are they need to be used correctly. The correct use of forceps involves placing the forceps just under the baby’s cheek bones, and then pulling the baby’s head out to about there, and then the baby’s delivered the rest of the way. Problems arise with forceps where they’re put on incorrectly on the head. So instead of being placed here, they’re placed here, or back here. And when that happens, if they’re placed back here, for instance, they can actually push the back of the skull into the brain and cause bleeding in the brain and brain damage. This typically happens in situations where the doctor may not be trained in the use of forceps. The important thing is that forceps need to be used correctly. If used correctly, baby can be delivered normally, but if forceps are used incorrectly, they’re not placed correctly on the head, or they’re pulled too tight, if you pull them too tight or pull too hard, these types of forced deliveries can cause damage to the baby’s brain, tear the vessels in the brain, cause bleeding within the brain, seizures, and brain damage. If forceps were used in the delivery of your baby and it caused injury or you have any questions, you can come to our website at www.abclawcenters.com, or give us a call anytime. We’re happy to talk to you.