Vacuum suction deliveries are risky for both babies and mothers

Recently this San Diego medical malpractice and doctor negligence blog presented some common risk factors that may arise during the labor and delivery process. Particularly when doctors choose to use tools of intervention such as vacuum suction of forceps does the threat of risk increase for both worried mothers and newborn babies. This post will explore more deeply the serious complications that may occur as the result of a doctor's use of vacuum suction.

There are some medically appropriate reasons that a doctor may advise a patient that vacuum suction is prudent. When a mother's body is completely ready for the birthing process but she is unable to push the baby out on her own, vacuum suction may be a less invasive method of extracting the newborn than performing a C-section on the mother for the birth of the child. Vacuum suction involves placing a vacuum cup on a baby's head while it is still in their mother and pulling the baby free of the birth canal.

Significant injuries can result from this process especially when it is done without cause or with negligence by a doctor. On the less serious end of the injury spectrum is the potential for bruising on the infant's head in the location where the suction cup attached; wounds, intracranial bleeding and skull fractures can also result during this process. Additionally, vacuum suction deliveries have a higher rate of shoulder and nerve injuries to babies than deliveries that do not involve intervention since there is a greater chance of the babies having their upper torsos caught during the birth process after their heads have begun to be delivered.

Though sometimes necessary, vacuum suction deliveries are not without risks. A mother may endure physical trauma when vacuum suction is used during the delivery of her new child and the process may leave both mom and baby with medical problems to recover from. Readers who fear that they were harmed during vacuum suction deliveries and who believe that their children may have suffered birth injuries from the process may wish to consult with medical malpractice attorneys.