BIRTH INJURY: VACUUM EXTRACTION
Welcoming a child is a life-changing experience. Parents usually spent months preparing a nursery and choosing names. Many first-time moms also take childbirth classes to prepare themselves for the delivery.
Giving birth is a natural process. Although millions of babies arrive each year without complications, some moms and babies need medical intervention during delivery. A vacuum-assisted delivery can protect the health of the mother and save the baby’s life; however, vacuum extraction complications can cause short-term and long-term medical issues for the mom and baby.
Introduction to Personal Injury Claims
Everyone knows that after a car accident, you can try to file a personal injury claim and recover compensation through a driver’s insurance policy. However, many other types of accidents are often covered through insurance.
Some of the types of injuries a lawyer might be able to help you recover compensation for include situations that involve:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Slip-and-fall accidents
- Defective products
- Dangerous drugs
- Medical malpractice
- Work injuries
- Dog bites
- Sexual assault
- Nursing home abuse
- Wrongful death
Anytime you’re left with medical expenses, lost wages, or other serious consequences
Understanding Personal Injury Law
When someone commits a crime, they face criminal charges, go to court, and receive a sentence. The criminal justice system exists to enforce the laws and hold people accountable for breaking them. Unfortunately, criminal courts don’t do much to help the victims of crime.
When someone’s actions cause injury to another, civil law is the court system that allows victims to pursue justice. In most personal injury cases, the first step is attempting to recover compensation through insurance. However, if an insurance company won’t settle or policy limits can’t sufficiently compensate the injured individual, you can file a personal injury lawsuit in civil court.
A personal injury case can lead to both civil and criminal court proceedings. For example, sexual assault and drunk driving are two types of incidents that involve breaking the law. In these cases, the responsible person can be held responsible in both civil and criminal courts.
Initial Steps After an Injury
How you respond immediately after an injury can significantly impact your ability to recover personal injury compensation. Initial steps you should always take in the aftermath of an injury include:
- Reporting the accident
- Documenting the scene of the accident
- Documenting your injuries
- Obtaining witness contact information
- Seeing a doctor
- Following all medical advice
- Calling a personal injury lawyer
Police reports, medical documents, and evidence all help strengthen your claim. Following these steps helps protect you from liability and ensures your lawyer has the evidence they need to build a successful case.
Determining Liability
Liability is a foundational concept in personal injury law. Before obtaining compensation for an injury, you need to determine liability. A successful personal injury case requires proving that the other person’s actions amounted to negligence. This is a legal concept that a lawyer demonstrates by showing:
- The other person or company owed a duty of care
- They violated that duty
- You were harmed as a direct result
- You can provide proof of the harm
Personal injury law is founded on the concept that all individuals owe a duty of care to others. For example, drivers must exercise vigilance and obey traffic laws. How a lawyer proves negligence depends on the type of personal injury case and the circumstances that led to your injuries.
Role of Insurance Companies
Since most personal injury compensation comes through an insurance claim, dealing with insurance companies is an unavoidable part of the claims process. Unfortunately, insurance companies work hard to reduce payouts. Often, these companies use tactics designed to trick unsuspecting individuals into making statements that can be interpreted as admissions of fault.
Anything you say can be used against you by an insurance agent. Unfortunately, once you make a statement to an insurance company, you can’t take it back. Personal injury lawyers know about insurance tactics and protect their clients from them.
When you hire a lawyer to work on your personal injury claim, they’ll handle all the paperwork and communicate on your behalf. This helps ensure you’re protected from insurance tactics and that all documentation is submitted correctly and on time.
Filing the Claim
When you first hire a personal injury lawyer, they’ll begin a full investigation into your case. At this stage, your lawyer has two goals — to prove negligence and establish case value.
To prove negligence, a lawyer will investigate the accident and collect as much evidence as possible to show how the other person’s negligence led to your injuries. They’ll also collect evidence of medical bills, lost wages, and any other costs related to your accident. A lawyer uses this evidence to identify your case value or how much money you should recover from the insurance company.
Finally, a lawyer will submit a claim to the insurance company. If it’s accepted, they’ll begin negotiating your settlement.
Negotiating a Settlement
Negotiating a settlement is the process of identifying how much an insurance company will pay for your claim. You need a skilled personal injury attorney to negotiate on your behalf to recover a fair settlement.
Insurance companies have teams of skilled corporate lawyers working to keep claim payouts small. The negotiation process can take time, but an experienced personal injury lawyer won’t agree to a settlement until the offer is fair, given your injury costs.
Litigation Process
The personal injury legal process often ends at the negotiation stage. However, in some cases, negotiation doesn’t have a successful ending. Sometimes, an insurance company tries to deny responsibility or won’t offer a sufficient settlement. Your final option is to file a lawsuit and take the case to court for a verdict.
If your case goes to court, your personal injury lawyer represents you and keeps you updated on how the case is proceeding. Lawsuits often make a case take longer, but skilled trial attorneys usually recover more compensation than you would have received through negotiation alone.
Compensation in Personal Injury Claims
Personal injury damages are composed of costs and losses in a few different categories. Economic damages compensate for the injury costs that have a dollar value. Examples of these include:
- Medical bills
- Therapy costs
- Surgery costs
- Medical device costs
- Attendant care costs
- Lost wages and benefits
- Funeral and burial costs
If your injuries are permanent, you can also recover compensation for future medical costs and future wages you would have earned if the accident had never occurred.
You can also recover non-economic damages for serious injuries. This provides you with compensation for the mental and emotional impact of the injuries. Examples of these include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional anguish
- Diminished quality of life
- Embarrassment and humiliation
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Loss of companionship
In some personal injury cases, you may also recover punitive damages through a court order. These are awarded in addition to compensatory damages in cases involving extreme negligence or intentional harm.
How the Personal Injury Lawyers at Bachus & Schanker Can Help You
The experienced personal injury lawyers at Bachus & Schanker have a reputation for being leaders in Colorado personal injury law. Our award-winning trial attorneys have recovered over $1 billion in settlements and verdicts for the injured clients we represent.
Our Elite Litigation Group places a special emphasis on catastrophic injury and wrongful death. We understand the devastating impact these types of accidents have on victims and their loved ones. Our team prioritizes compassionate support for victims at every stage of the legal process.
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Vacuum Extraction
Vacuum extraction entails using an extractor device to assist with a complicated delivery. Statista reports that medical professionals used vacuum extraction in 2.5% of births in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
What are vacuum extractors?
A vacuum extractor is a medical device with a ventouse, or suction cup, connected to a mechanical or electrical suction device. Cups can be made of hard or soft plastic or metal and may have a bell or mushroom design.
- Bell-shaped cups are the widest at the opening that attaches to the baby’s head.
- Mushroom-shaped cups narrow at the opening and then widen before narrowing again.
A tube connects the suction cup to the vacuum pump, which has a gauge to monitor pressure when in use.
Why are vacuum extractors used in delivery?
Vacuum extractors provide traction and help the baby pass through the birth canal. The vacuum extractor helps expedite the delivery while allowing a vaginal birth. Some reasons medical professionals recommend vacuum extraction include the following:
- Awkward positioning of the baby
- Baby’s heart rate is unstable
- Fetal distress
- Mother can’t push because of health issue
- Mother is exhausted
- Labor has stalled
What is delivery by vacuum extraction?
The obstetrician or midwife attaches the suction cup to the baby’s head. Depending on the medical professional’s preferences and the infant’s position, a bell- or mushroom-shaped cup may be used. The obstetrician or midwife uses the vacuum pump to pull the baby gently when the person delivering the baby has a contraction.
Are vacuum extractions safe?
The concept of vacuum extraction dates back to the 1700s, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that vacuum extractors became standard medical tools for complicated deliveries. Although millions of births over the last seven decades have involved vacuum extractors, there are risks of vacuum delivery.
Vacuum delivery complications can affect the mother or the baby. Some complications are short-term side effects, while others are long-term health problems stemming from vacuum extraction.
Reasons for complications with vacuum extractions include:
- Too much suction
- Cup detaches from the baby’s head
- Vaginal tissue is caught in the cup
Vacuum extractions should only be used under specific conditions. Vacuum extractors should not be used for premature babies. Medical experts must also ensure the baby is low in the birth canal before using a vacuum extractor.
Side Effects of Vacuum Extraction
Side effects affecting the baby after vacuum extraction include:
- Bleeding beneath scalp
- Brain bleeds
- Bruised, swollen, or misshaped head
- Severe jaundice
- Swollen head
- Lacerations
- Weakness on one side of the body
Side effects affecting the mother after vacuum extraction include:
- Anemia
- Blood clots
- Incontinence
- Vaginal tears
Types of Injuries Caused by Vacuum Extraction
Infants and mothers may suffer severe injuries, including long-term or permanent birth injuries, when a vacuum extractor’s used during delivery. Parents have grounds to pursue a medical malpractice case if there’s evidence that negligence or medical errors caused the vacuum extractor injuries.
Severe, long-term, or permanent health conditions suffered by infants during vacuum extractor deliveries include:
- Bleeding disorder
- Brain damage
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Cerebral palsy (CP)
- Erb’s palsy
- Facial nerve palsy
- Hearing loss
- Kernicterus
- Shoulder dystocia
- Skull fractures
- Stroke
Mothers may suffer a severe birth injury after a vacuum extraction. Severe, long-term, or permanent injuries may include:
- Chronic pelvic pain
- Infection
- Infertility after uterine rupture
- Pain during intercourse
- Pelvic organ prolapse
- Scarred perineum
Treatment for Vacuum Extraction Complications
The time needed to heal from vacuum extraction complications varies based on the nature of the complications. Mothers typically experience bleeding after a vacuum extraction delivery and can expect it to take up to six weeks to recover from typical side effects. Severe injuries may take months to heal, and some complications, such as pelvic organ prolapse, may require surgery.
It can take a baby’s head up to 14 days to round out after a vacuum extraction delivery, and it’s normal for babies to need 14 to 21 days to recover from jaundice. Severe injuries may take months of treatment or be permanent, life-altering injuries.
Alternatives to Vacuum Extraction
In some cases, medical professionals may use forceps instead of vacuum extractors. Forceps are a safer option for babies that haven’t reached 36 weeks.
Cesarean sections are another option for challenging deliveries. A C-section is the best option if the birth canal is narrow and the baby’s head won’t fit through.
Should you seek legal compensation for a birth injury due to vacuum extraction delivery?
A life-altering injury claim seeks to give the claimant compensation for injuries that significantly impact a person’s life. A birth injury could alter your quality of life if you suffer chronic pain after a vacuum extraction delivery or need multiple surgeries to repair internal damage. Severe injuries could even cause infertility.
You may also have unexpected expenses stemming from long-term or permanent injuries to your child. Instead of struggling physically, mentally, and financially, you can turn to a birth injury attorney and file a birth injury lawsuit seeking financial compensation.
Contact our birth injury attorneys for a free case evaluation to discuss your options. When you hire our Colorado birth injury lawyers, you’ll get professional legal guidance and support from experienced attorneys who understand the trauma of coping with a birth injury. We’ll fight to get you the financial, medical, and expert help you need to address the challenges stemming from your vacuum extraction complications.
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You Deserve Fair Compensation
Don’t let the insurance companies intimidate you into accepting less than you deserve. We’re ready to fight for you.
