With her long eyelashes and black hair, Alexandra was, says her mother Beatrix, ‘the most beautiful thing I could imagine’. The newborn, who weighed 9lb 4oz, had been conceived through IVF after five years of trying (which had involved both parents undergoing surgery) and was a much longed-for child.
So her arrival last June should have heralded a time of joy. Yet her parents are grieving for their daughter, who died when she was just three days old.
‘The saddest moment of my life was when I took Alexandra’s blanket from Beatrix’s hospital bag, knowing there was no longer any need for it,’ says her father, Dr Craig Campbell, a university psychologist.
Her voice breaking with emotion, Beatrix says: ‘To walk out of a hospital that had destroyed my strong, healthy child was just devastating.’
For Alexandra died as a result of severe injury to her spinal cord inflicted during a forceps delivery that went wrong – ten hours after her parents had repeatedly begged the obstetric team to deliver the baby by Caesarean.
The couple were later told by their doctors at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh’s Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health that Alexandra had been ‘unlucky, very unlucky’.
However, they believe she was the victim of medical arrogance and a determination to reduce the rising Caesarean rate.
As a result, thousands of babies every year are being delivered using forceps – yet this instrument is deemed so risky many obstetricians no longer use it. Unfortunately, few women are told of the potential dangers.
‘NHS websites talk about “the slight risks associated with forceps delivery”, citing temporary problems such as bruising or scratches,’ says Beatrix, 32, a researcher.
In fact, studies since the Eighties have reported high rates of damage to mothers and babies through forceps use. Recent research confirmed this poses a higher risk of birth injury than other interventions, including Caesareans.
Over the past decade, there has been a decline in the use of forceps worldwide – the instrument is consigned to medical history in most U.S. maternity hospitals.
Using forceps safely requires a high level of skill and expertise, which ‘means that the outcome is always uncertain, even for experienced surgeons,’ says leading U.S. surgeon Atul Gawande, head of the World Health Organization’s Safer Surgery initiative.
‘If you’re seeking the safest possible delivery of every baby, you have to take notice of the steady reports of terrible forceps injuries to babies and mothers, despite the training that clinicians have received,’ he says.
Experts are particularly concerned about a type known as Kielland’s forceps, which were used to deliver Alexandra… [Read More]
Chicago Birth Injury Attorney Jay Paul Deratany has won millions for his clients. If you or someone you know has been the victim of a birth injury as the result of a negligent medical professional, contact a Chicago Lawyer at The Deratany Firm today.
Chicago Personal Injury Attorney Kara Skorupa has won millions for clients across Illinois & Florida. Concentrating in Brain Injury, Medical Malpractice, Birth Injury, Car Accident & Accident / Injury cases, The Deratany Firm's compassionate lawyers are aggressive advocates for your rights.
