Infant Hematoma Brain Bleed Birth Injury Lawsuits

Our lawyer handle brain bleed birth injury lawsuits in Maryland and around the country.

During childbirth, if getting the infant out of the mother’s womb is challenging, the doctors sometimes use a vacuum to extract the child. Misused, a vacuum can cause lifelong injuries to the child. One of the potential injuries is a brain bleed called a subgaleal hematoma.

Infant Hematoma During Delivery

A subgaleal hematoma is blood that accumulates between the skull and the scalp. The brain needs blood, of course, but this blood sits outside of the blood vessels. Every newborn faces a risk of a brain bleed. The risk is higher in premature babies and children delivered with a mechanical instrument.

A hematoma like this can happen from a lot of different things, but most subgaleal hematomas that occur within the first 72 hours of a child’s life are caused by a birth trauma that can often be the result of medical malpractice.

What often happens in these cases is that the delivering doctor will misuse the vacuum extractors or forceps. Most of the time, the doctor gets it right. Hematomas result in only 1% of babies born where the doctor needs to use vacuum extraction or forceps but to a much smaller degree and for different reasons. What often happens is that it becomes apparent that a c-section is required because the vacuum is not working and the fetus is in real distress. But the doctor, particularly during what is called a high canal birth, just wants to give it one or two more tries with the vacuum than good medical care warrants.

There are also situations where the doctor uses a vacuum in cases where it is not warranted. For example, if the child is less than 34 weeks, the doctor knows there is a concern the child has bleeding or bone disease, or when multiple attempts have been made for fetal scalp electrode placement, vacuum use is not recommended. In all but the rarest of circumstances, using a vacuum under these conditions violates the standard of care and constitutes medical malpractice if the child suffers a brain bleed.

In other situations, it is not the choice of the vacuum that is the problem but how it is used. For example, good medical practices require that the use of the vacuum should be stopped when there are three disengagements of the vacuum (called “pop-offs”). The vacuum should also be discontinued when more than 20 minutes have elapsed or when three consecutive pulls do not get any result. Less frequently, some doctors, often inexperienced OB/GYNs, do not use the device correctly or with the appropriate level of suction, which can put the scalp at risk for an injury that can cause a hematoma.

For parents, if you hear that your child had a subdural hematoma, cephalohematoma, or a subgaleal hemorrhage, your child has suffered a brain bleed. If you were not told your child has a brain bleed but received blood products, that order could have resulted from a brain bleed. Is the brain bleed a result of medical malpractice? It really depends on the specific facts of the case. There is no magic test. But the child’s brain MRI will tell you a great deal.

• More about intracranial hemorrhages and settlement and verdicts in these cases

Settlement Value of Infant Brain Bleed Cases

Birth injury malpractice cases involving infant brain bleeds have a very high potential settlement value. Birth injury cases in general are some of the highest-value medical malpractice cases because they often involve injuries that leave a child permanently disabled. Injuries with a permanent life impact have the highest settlement value because plaintiffs can get economic damages for lost future earning potential and future medical expenses.

Infant brain bleeds are usually some of the most devastating types of birth injuries that can occur. When an infant suffers a brain bleed during childbirth there is rarely a good outcome. As a result, infant brain bleed malpractice cases are at the very top end of the settlement value range.

Sample Verdicts and Settlements in Infant Hematoma Cases

Below are summaries of settlements and verdicts from birth injury cases involving infant brain bleeds resulting from medical negligence during the labor and delivery process.

• $75,859,000 Verdict (Illinois 2024): The baby was in breech position and the defendant OB/GYN negligently mishandled the vaginal breech extraction delivery causing severe distress to the baby. The baby suffered multi-level injuries to her brachial plexus, a complete transverse fracture of her right humeral shaft, a metaphyseal fracture of her proximal left humerus, scalp swelling, a fracture of her right occipital bone, and intracranial bleeding, including a subdural hematoma, cerebellar hemorrhage, epidural hemorrhage, and subarachnoid hemorrhage.
• $9,995,000 Settlement (California 2022): The defendant in this case was negligent in performing a vacuum assisted delivery with excessive force. The baby was eventually delivered with a clavicle fracture, subgaleal hemorrhage, brachial plexus injury and signs of hypxic ischemic encephalopathy; her hypoxic-ischemic injuries, which were confirmed via MRI, reportedly resulted in cereral palsy, seizures, and profound developmental delays that will prevent her from working and living independently and that will require her to have 24-hour care.
• $33,153,912 Verdict (Florida 2017). A child suffers a brain bleed during the birthing process, which causes a lack of oxygen to the brain. The injuries are catastrophic: the child needs around-the-clock care for the rest of his life. The plaintiff’s birth injury lawsuit alleges that the doctors and nurses should have initiated the delivery earlier with a c-section, that too much Pitocin was given, and child’s fetal heart monitor provided ample evidence that this delivery was in trouble in time to avert the disaster that occurred.
• $4,600,000 Settlement (New York 2016): During a Caesarean section at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, a vacuum extractor was used after the physician rotated the infant from a transverse lie to a cephalic lie. Within the first day of life, the child was diagnosed with focal seizure activity, including a seizure that lasted almost six minutes. He sustained subdural and subarachnoid hematomas and consequently suffers from an ongoing seizure disorder and speech and language delays. His parents sued the physicians, their employers, and Vassar Brothers Medical Center for negligence. The plaintiffs claimed the Defendants were negligent in delivering the baby and the post-delivery care. The plaintiffs alleged Defendant Physicians should not have used the vacuum extractor to deliver the child as it caused trauma to his head. The plaintiffs also alleged Defendant Vassar Medical Center’s staff wrongly placed the infant in the well-baby nursery. Defendants denied liability, claiming all actions were within the standard of care and that any brain injuries were not severe and would have a good recovery. The parties agreed to settle before trial for $4,600,000.
• $2,000,000 Settlement (Massachusetts 2008): A 30-year-old woman, pregnant with her first child, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital with a fully dilated cervix. The fetal heart rate decreased during labor, and the woman was urged to push. After three hours of pushing, the obstetrician advised the woman that vacuum extraction and forceps would need to be used. The woman explained she was afraid of forceps and continued to push for another 45 minutes until the obstetrician returned and performed a delivery using forceps and vacuum. After three attempts to get the baby’s head into the perineum, he was delivered hypotonic and required resuscitation. The next day, after a series of seizures, he was transferred to another hospital where a frontal and subdural hematoma was discovered. He was soon diagnosed with developmental delays. The woman sued the obstetrician and his nurse for failing to timely deliver the child. The parties agreed to settle before trial for $2,000,000.
• $1,100,000 Settlement (New York 2007): A pregnant woman, nine days past her due date, presented to North Central Bronx Hospital in mild labor. She was placed in a room, attached to a fetal monitor, and hospital personnel would perform a perfunctory exam every so often. After about two hours, a nurse midwife took over. The woman’s water broke, and the infant was delivered. Four days into his life, the child appeared fine but was not feeding well. He was later admitted to the neonatal ICU with signs of abnormal extremity movement. A CT scan revealed a subdural hemorrhage, and he was soon diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The mother sued the hospital for negligence. Plaintiff claimed the nurse midwife constantly pulled and tugged during the birth. The Plaintiff’s sister who witnessed the delivery, testified that the nurse midwife had difficulty during the delivery. Defendant denied Plaintiff’s allegations. The parties agreed to a $1,100,000 settlement during mediation.
• $2,450,000 Settlement (California 2006): After experiencing uterine contractions later in her pregnancy, a woman presented to a local hospital’s emergency room. A vaginal exam revealed a complete dilation with an arm in view. The on-duty obstetrician opined the baby indicated a footling breech, and the woman was moved to the operating room for an emergency C-section. The obstetrician, however, ordered the child to be delivered vaginally. While they were able to complete the delivery, the child suffered cranial hematomas that left him with developmental delays and speech problems. The mother sued the medical group for malpractice, claiming the physicians were negligent in the child’s delivery. The defendants denied negligence and contended the extent of the infant’s developmental damages. The parties agreed to settle for $2,450,000 during mediation.
• $1,600,000 Settlement (California 2006): A soon-to-be mother arrived at Alta Bate Summit Medical Center in Oakland to give birth. It was observed that the fetus was high in the mother’s birth canal, and the attending obstetrician elected to use a vacuum and pulling technique. The vacuum detached four times before they could fully deliver the infant. He was found to have a subgaleal hematoma which resulted in severe cognitive defects. He is in the lowest 10th percentile for IQ and will never be employable. His parents sued the obstetrician for medical malpractice. The plaintiffs claimed the fetus was too high in the birth canal for vacuuming, and a C-section should have been performed. Defendants denied Plaintiff’s allegations. The parties agreed to settle before trial for $1,600,000.

Contacting a Maryland Birth Injury Lawyer

Brain bleeds in newborn babies can lead to lifelong injuries, including cerebral palsy. Not every brain bleed causes a severe injury or results from medical malpractice. But too many children were harmed forever and killed because the OB/GYN delivering the child did not follow their training and went down a path that a reasonable physician just would not have chosen.

If you want a lawyer to fight for you and your child, call our Maryland medical malpractice lawyers at 800-553-8082 today or get a free, no-obligation online consultation.

More Birth Injury Reading

• Overview of birth injuries
  • Caput succedaneum (another brain bleed injury)
  • Subconjunctival hemorrhage (eye bleed)
  • Shoulder dystocia
  • Herpes encephalitis
  • Perinatal encephalopathy
  • Uterine rupture
  • Intrauterine growth restriction or retardation (IUGR or FGR)
  • Forceps
  • Pitocin
• Malpractice during pregnancy causing injury to the child or the mother
• Settlement value of brain injury medical malpractice cases
• How birth injury cases are assessed for settlement — get statistics and sample verdicts and settlements
• Financial assistance for victims of brain bleed birth injury cases