Forceps are tools that have been used to assist in childbirth since the 1600's.

Short forceps, used in the United Kingdom and the United States, are applied to the fetal head inside the birth canal. The blades of the instrument are locked into place around the skull and the fetal head is rotated to provide a minimal amount of traction during delivery. 

While forceps can be used to avoid caesarean delivery, and take less time, there are a number of birth injuries associated with the tool. An infant may sustain temporary or permanent nerve damage if forceps are applied in the wrong location, or with too much pressure. Facial bruising on the newborn is also common. Skull fractures are not rare either. 

Forceps are a legitimate medical tool; in the hands of an experienced operator, the risk of injury is no higher than with natural intervention-free vaginal delivery. In the wrong hands, however, the instrument can cause serious harm to an infant and its mother.

If your child has been injured by a negligent medical worker, finding an experienced and trustworthy attorney is vital in securing a positive outcome in your case. Please contact a Philadelphia birth injury lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-238-1130.

The Virginia Attorney General's Office is appealing a court order which requires the state-run birth injury program to pay $59,000 to pay defense attorneys in two medical malpractice lawsuits.

The lawsuits stem from the death of a full-term newborn and injuries sustained by the mother. 

A Workers' Compensation Commission deputy last month ordered the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program to pay the legal fees of four lawyers who are defending the Richmond-area doctor, her practice, Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital, and four nurses.

The attorney general's office says that paying the legal fees of defendants in a medical malpractice suit is not the purpose of the state run program, and that the payments are against the birth-injury act's public policy.

To learn more about Philadelphia birth injuries and to explore your legal options, please contact a Philadelphia birth injury lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-238-1130.

A mother in Australia has rejected a $100,000 settlement, offered by her government as compensation for the death of her child, that included gift cards to various Australian department stores.

45 year-old Michelle Edwards has rejected an out-of-court settlement from the state run program FamiliesSA that included numerous $400 gift-cards to Myer and Coles stores, the Aussie equivalent of JC Penney and Kohls. Court documents show two payments of emergency funding assistance to Edwards from the Department of Families and Communitites, to cover costs incurred during a 2007 coronial inquest into her daughter Elzabeth's death.

The assistance was provided to her even though she did not qualify for legal aid and was denied government subsidized Victims of Crime funding. Jeremy Roberts, media adviser for the Department of Families and Communities, said "The Department of Families and Communities provided financial assistance to the woman for funeral assistance, legal fees, counseling, family re-establishment/re-unification expenses and other supports to ensure that she was able to look after her other child."

If your child has been injured by a negligent medical worker, you may have grounds for a Philadelphia birth injury lawsuit. Legal action can help you win compensation for all past, present, and future medical bills related to the injury as well as compensation for the pain and suffering your family has experienced.

To learn more about Philadelphia birth injuries and to explore your legal options, please contact a Philadelphia birth injury lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-238-1130.

Birth injuries can range from mild bruising to sever nerve or brain damage, and no two cases are alike. There are however, birth injuries that are more common than others. 

Bruising on a newborn is quite common. An infant will sometimes suffer bruising of the face or head simply from passing through the birth canal, but the use of medical forceps or vacuums during delivery can exacerbate these injuries. The use of forceps and vacuum extraction has been known to cause scalp lacerations and even depressed skull fractures, which may require surgery.

Another less common, but more severe result of birth injury is Brachial Palsy, also known as Erb's Palsy. This condition is often caused by should dystocia, when an infants shoulders impair its passage through the birth canal damaging a group of nerves called the brachial plexus. This can cause permanent nerve damage and may require surgery or physical therapy to treat.

If your child has been injured by a negligent OBGYN worker, you may have grounds for a Philadelphia birth injury lawsuit. A successful legal action can help you win compensation for all past, present, and future medical bills related to the injury as well as compensation for your family's pain and suffering.

To learn more about Philadelphia birth injuries and to explore your legal options, please contact a Philadelphia birth injury lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-238-1130.

A jury has awarded $23.2 million to a Minnesota family in a birth injury lawsuit.

Elise Rodgers and Matthew Larson filed a lawsuit agianst Affiliated Community Medical Center and Rice Memorial Hospital on behalf of their daughter who is severely handicapped due to complications during her delivery. Attorneys for the girl's parents successfully argued that Rice Memorial Hospital was negligent when doctors at the medical center deprived their daughter of oxygen during delivery. As a result Kylie Rodgers has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, cortical impairment, neurological difficulties, and seizures.

The jury attributed 80 percent of the negligence to the Affiliated Community Medical Center and 20 percent to Rice Memorial Hospital.

The award includes $1.7 million for Kylie's past health care expenses, $10 million for future health care expenses, $10 million for past and future pain, disability and emotional distress, and $1.5 million for loss of earning capacity.

If your child has been injured by a negligent OBGYN worker, you may have grounds for a Philadelphia birth injury lawsuit. A successful legal action can help you win compensation for all past, present, and future medical bills related to the injury as well as compensation for your family's pain and suffering.

To learn more about Philadelphia birth injuries and to explore your legal options, please contact a Philadelphia birth injury lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-238-1130.