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The use of forceps is sometimes necessary during births and requires skill and training. Unfortunately, some babies suffer forceps injuries due to the negligence of healthcare professionals. When they do, an Alabama forceps delivery injury lawyer can help their parents hold healthcare professionals accountable.

Why Choose Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana?

We Understand What You Need

After nearly 30 years of combined experience helping injury victims, Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana are well aware of how devastating forceps injuries and other birth complications, such as Erb’s palsy and shoulder dystocia, are on people’s lives. For this reason, we never back down from a dispute when our clients are entitled to more compensation.

Choose Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana and get the benefit of working with a firm that has:

  • Attorneys with industry awards and accolades
  • A track record of high-dollar verdicts and settlements for clients
  • A 24/7 direct line for clients to their attorney
  • A reputation for never settling for less.
Foley, Alabama Lawyers
Call 251-444-7000 today for help understanding your options for compensation. We offer a free initial consultation and case review with an Alabama forceps delivery injury lawyer from our team.

For attorneys and law firms, we actively work with client referrals, so contact us if you would like to meet.

Justice Through Compensation for Forceps Injuries

Forceps birth injuries are often some of the most devastating injuries children and their families may face. When negligence is the cause of the damage, justice through compensation may be available.

When you meet with a forceps delivery injury lawyer, one of the first things they will do is assess the damages suffered in the case. This initial evaluation will give your forceps delivery injury attorney a good idea of the value of your claim.

The two main types of compensation available in all personal injury cases are economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include medical care costs, missed economic opportunities, such as lost wages, and costs related to home health care.

Non-economic damages refer to negative intangible consequences, such as:

  • Physical pain
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Emotional distress.

Another type of damages is punitive or exemplary damages. They are only available when the negligent person acted maliciously, wantonly, or fraudulently.

Understanding the Use of Forceps During Delivery

Forceps are a life-saving medical tool that requires an elevated level of skill and training from its users. They are typically employed in difficult births when the mother and the delivery team experience difficulties in the last stages of delivery.

The tool is shaped in a way that allows a doctor to effectively grasp the baby and pull it out of the birth canal.Although not used in the majority of births, forceps are used often enough to be a concern, given the risks involved.

When a Doctor Should Use Forceps

When a mother is dealing with a stalled delivery during the pushing stage, doctors often take a wait-and-see approach unless immediate action is necessary. When quick action is necessary to help get the baby out, doctors may choose between forceps or a vacuum.

Because using forceps requires more skill and training than using vacuums, more healthcare professionals know how to use vacuums compared to forceps. However, whereas vacuums can only assist in extracting the infant, forceps can be used to manipulate the baby’s position and can be used, unlike vacuums, for a breach birth.

Bottom line, doctors should use forceps only when:

  • They are necessary to help a stalled birth and protect the mother and child
  • The physician is adequately trained in their use
  • They are used in the final stage of delivery.

Although often lifesaving, the use of forceps can produce serious consequences for the mother, such as:

  • Vaginal tearing
  • Tearing of the rectum wall and muscles
  • Urinary incontinence
  • Uterine rupture
  • Bladder and urethra injury.

Due to their fragile state and the positioning of the forceps around their head, babies face more serious repercussions to forceps deliveries gone wrong, such as:

  • Head and facial wounds
  • Facial nerve palsy
  • Fractured skull
  • Eye injuries
  • Hemorrhaging within the skull.

These injuries, especially those affecting the skull, can lead to all manner of lifelong, debilitating conditions for children, including:

  • Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  • Epilepsy and seizures
  • Ischemia
  • Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
  • Cerebral palsy.

Sadly, death is also possible when a doctor negligently utilizes a pair of forceps for delivery.

Accountability for Forceps Injuries

Medical professionals must maintain established standards of care whenever they treat patients. Violations of these standards of care often lead to injuries in which patients and their families suffer overwhelming losses. Regarding forceps deliveries, there are numerous ways that healthcare professionals can fail their patients, including:

  • Using forceps when not trained to do so
  • Using inadequate or broken forceps
  • Unnecessary use of forceps
  • Applying too much force or erroneous use of forceps
  • Using forceps while fatigued
  • Using forceps when doing so would be unreasonably dangerous
  • Using forceps without consent.

Whether a healthcare provider’s use (or failure to use) of forceps was negligent is a medical question.

As you might imagine, a doctor’s first instinct will likely be to defend their actions as acceptable under the relevant standards of care. However, your forceps delivery injury lawyer will perform their own investigation into the incident, using medical experts to help them identify negligence.

How a Forceps Delivery Injury Lawyer from Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana Can Help

The Alabama forceps delivery injury lawyers from Caldwell Wenzell & Asthana handle everything for you, so your family has the time and space to deal with your difficult situation. You never have to worry about whether your claim has been filed correctly or is progressing satisfactorily. Our firm manages every aspect of your case, including:

  • Handling all your claim’s paperwork and documents
  • Hiring investigators to gather evidence
  • Hiring and consulting with medical experts to build your case
  • Negotiating on your behalf with insurance company adjusters for a fair settlement
  • Keeping you up to date on your claim’s progress
  • Filing a lawsuit and representing you in court if necessary.
Foley, Alabama Lawyers
We are ready to fight to get you and your family justice. Contact our office at 251-444-7000 to set up a free consultation and review of your case.

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions and answers below should help you further understand forceps injuries and compensation. Feel free to call our office any time to ask more questions and discuss your case with a forceps delivery injury attorney

How much do Alabama forceps delivery injury lawyers charge?

Alabama forceps delivery injury lawyers charge a fee based on the amount of compensation they win. Hence, clients only pay when they receive compensation.

How much compensation is available for forceps injury claims typically?

It depends on how extensive the losses are. After reviewing your case, an Alabama forceps delivery injury lawyer will be able to give you more information as to the value of your claim.

How long does a forceps injury claim take?

It depends on the complexity of the case. In general, it can take anywhere from a few months to a few years.

What do I do if an insurance company contacts me about my child’s injury?

If an insurance company contacts you about your child’s birth injury, you should not agree to anything. Instead, you should meet with a forceps delivery injury attorney to ensure that your rights to compensation are protected.

Is there a time limit for filing a forceps delivery injury lawsuit?

Yes. If the parents bring the claim, a two-year statute of limitations begins running when the injury occurred or should have been discovered. If the child is the plaintiff, the child has until their eighth birthday to file a lawsuit for damages.

Please reach out if you have any more questions. Our forceps delivery injury lawyers are ready to help you.

Speak with a Forceps Injury Lawyer Today

Learn How Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana Can Help

You deserve skilled and caring representation for your forceps injury claim. With the forceps delivery injury lawyers from Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana, this is precisely what you get. Trust us to safeguard your right to compensation and fight for the maximum payout available to you.

Call our office at 251-444-7000 to schedule a complimentary consultation and case review with one of our forceps delivery injury lawyers today.

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