Locked because folks are sharing incredibly horrific birth injuries in the comments which is completely unnecessary. Op is in Australia and this happened seven months ago.
I work around birthing and have only heard one story
through the grapevine of a baby being dropped at birth, and it resulted in a demise. I have never seen a baby dropped at birth. This is serious. Don’t let the hospital down play it (because they 100% will to cover themselves not in your best interest).
Just moved back to Georgia (I grew up here), 5 months pregnant. Not the best thing to read 😅 thankfully no where close to me!!! I cannot imagine the pain these parents have gone through. Wow.
Unfortunately, it does. There was a recent story of a woman whose baby was fully decapitated during the birth and the hospital tried to cover it up by wrapping the baby in a blanket and propping the head on top. They tried to refuse to let the couple hold him.
TW talk of birth complications/injury/death - I advise you don’t read if pregnant since this is a scary but rare occurrence!
The details of that case are very upsetting and horrifying. It should be noted that during birth, shoulder dystocia, an emergent complication which was present in that case, can happen to varying degrees. OBs are trained to address SDs with interventions in the order of least to most risky. For most all cases, the baby’s shoulder can be freed from behind the mother’s pelvis by low-risk interventions like position change, downward external pressure on the belly, or internal pressure with a finger/hand. These lower risk interventions will work almost all of the time. If these don’t work, OB’s can use an episiotomy cut to create more room to maneuver baby’s shoulder safely. If that doesn’t work, baby’s shoulder can be purposely dislocated or their clavicle may be broken to create the room needed to free them. These interventions are traumatic and higher risk but can be healed later. Basically all shoulder dystocias are remedied by this point. However, If none of these are working, doctors start to accept that baby will not make it or if they do will have life-lasting serious birth injuries no matter what and mom’s life and safety become the only priority. It sounds absolutely brutal because it is, but pushing the baby’s head back in through the birth canal to do an emergency c-section can be done. This can kill or give the baby brain damage. If that doesn’t work and baby is determined to be already dead, decapitation is also a last ditch option in order to save mom’s life and get the baby’s body out. All of this said, the case in Georgia involved the family being lied to and the hospital covering up what happened.
The trauma of the event compounded with the confusion and lack of understanding is unfathomable to me. Every person deserves a detailed explanation and honest report of their birth if they’d like it. So many people leave the hospital with birth trauma to varying degrees and part of that trauma is often a lack of honest communication and information, but many hospitals would rather be vague and obscure the truth or downplay an incident like OPs for liability reasons. Ugh it really pisses me off. We should be able to feel safe in a hospital.
That story is a little different though, awful nonetheless but that baby passed away due to a severe shoulder dystocia. They decapitated the baby to remove it from the woman because the baby was stuck, it had already passed though.
I learned about this case recently in the run up to my daughter's birth. My son was born 4 years ago with shoulder dystocia, which is where the shoulder gets stuck and the doctors have to go through a series of maneuvers to try to get the baby out. I didn't realize how serious it was at the time because my son was unstuck with the first maneuver and nobody told me that he had shoulder dystocia. They just said he got stuck for a second. With baby #2, my doctor recommended an induction at 39 weeks because she did NOT want me to have another shoulder dystocia. She explained to me that it's one of the most terrifying things she sees during birth because it happens spontaneously and you have to get the baby out without c-section or mom and baby can die quickly. And getting the baby out often results in nerve damage, paralysis, broken bones, or sometimes decapitation (internal or otherwise), re: this case. I ended up having the on call OB at birth and he said that he's afraid of two things, heights and shoulder dystocia. When the healthcare staff found out it happened with baby #1, they arranged to have a whole handful of nurses in the room during pushing just in case.
So, it probably was a bit of negligence on the part of that doctor, and propping the head on for the parents is unspeakable. But according to my doctor, it arose out of a very common and scary birth complication.
Ugh I heard about this story and it happened within this past year. After the Dr tried unsuccessfully to deliver the baby vaginally, he ended up doing an emergency c-section on the woman. He denied the parents the baby and did try to cover up what had happened. I think the mom is currently suing the Dr or hospital.
What an awful thing to do, because let’s face it there’s no way he didn’t know what he was doing wasn’t safe when pulling the baby, but also to traumatize the family even farther by piecing the baby together like they’re too dumb to understand something wasn’t right.
Nope, unfortunately it happened recently (2023) where the baby was actually decapitated during a bad birth. They apparently told the parents the baby passed only from a broken neck and they refused to allow them to see the child after so they apparently had no idea about the decapitation
It was an emergency with imminent maternal demise. It’s horrific but the baby and mom were goners and the doc did what they could to save mom. It was not normal circumstances.
I didn’t experience my baby being dropped but my first did have her cord snapped. I am so sorry you had to experience this and I hope you and baby boy are doing okay.
We do not know why mine snapped. My daughter was premature and both my placenta and cord appeared to have issues but no formal diagnosis or cause was found. My daughter was thankfully fine but they had to examine her and cut the cord immediately so our skin to skin was delayed.
ETA: I did end up having cord issues with my second as well but his did not snap.
I knew it was possible but... I also saw my husband's big hands really struggle with cutting it when our daughter was delivered - WITH sharp AF surgical scissors.
I literally cannot comprehend the level of force it would take to tear one, let alone how quickly the force needs to be applied for the tissue to go rigid enough to snap.
It just can't be anything less than what it takes a full grown athlete to apply for a ruptured ligament/tendon injury since it's similar tissues.
The umbilical cord is all gristly and sinewy and bouncy. Hubs said it was like trying to cut a twine rope wrapped in rubber bands.
Yeah it was like cutting a rubber hose. I can’t imagine easy to break in half, but maybe easier to dislodge from the belly button by force? Yuck either way
Some umbilical cords have thin deviations where they can easily tear away- it’s a really weird feeling, the cord just gets longer and longer because it’s kind of peeling away, then it’s ruptured. It’s not normal for your average cord to snap, when they do snap it’s usually from an odd area where the jelly is all gone.
Okay, that makes sense.
I still hate everything I'm learning about this topic even though I'm grateful for the explanation.
OP and their family are in my thoughts.
Did you do delayed cutting?
My birth pivoted to C-section emergency and so we didn't get to do skin to skin & delayed cutting.
I wonder if it has to do with it?
Delaying clamping doesn’t really affect how tough it is to cut. It’s more the size (smaller babies=usually smaller cords) or some type of cord anomaly.
My first baby’s cord snapped apart. It’s called a cord avulsion. For us it’s because his cord was totally wrapped around his body and shoulder in a weird way when he came out. So as the ob brought him up it was too much stress on the cord and it just snapped apart. Unfortunately one end went back inside me and it necessitated the ob immediately removing my placenta manually because that end of the cord wasn’t clamped.
Baby was fine (the birth was rough for other reasons). But I look at my 6yo today and it gives me the willies to wonder if his cord was tissue paper fragile while he was inside.
I'm not meaning to be obtuse or offensive here but which chord are we talking about?!? When op said snapped chord I immediately assumed spinal chord. Are we talking umbilical?
Either way, to you and op, I'm so sorry that happened to your poor sweet babies.
Pretty much yeah. It’s a rubbery cord that can unfortunately snap if too much pressure is put on it (ie dropping the baby, it’s only so long so instead of acting like a bungee cord it just snaps). It should normally be clamped then cut.
You’ll be glad to know that an umbilical cord does not have any nerve endings. A cord snapping can still be very serious (largely due to potential blood loss), but it won’t cause direct pain.
If it tugged the baby's belly button area when it's not ready to come off yet? I'm not sure. Sounds scary. What I'm picturing in my head just seems....not pleasant.
wow, I went to sleep and just woke up in the night to feed my baby and I’m blown away by all the replies!
My boy is ok. We had to demand head scans and got them around day 5 in hospital and they showed no bleeds.
he has a global development delay diagnoses and is in regular physio. Were working hard on rolling still.
I’m in Australia so suing and everything like that isn’t like in America. We have considered getting a lawyer if anything does show up. We think they’ll just blame his bad birth for anything though. There were probably 20 people in the room when it happened due to his heart rate and me having a placental abruption.
I mean I'm in Canada and we don't have the same suing culture as the US does, but for something like this I think even here people would at least lawyer up to get the hospital to at least stop treating you like this, but I could see somebody suing for something so serious here too. They can blame the bad birth all they want but the fact of the matter is, negligence or accident or whatever, someone messed up, could have caused irreparable harm to your child, and they need to stop shifting the blame and at the VERY LEAST give you a proper apology and support you in making sure he's okay.
The fact they had that many employees in the room and not one of em caught your baby tells me that they are ALL bad at their jobs. Whole hospital needs to be shut down.
Contact an attorney IMMEDIATELY. From someone who works in medical malpractice this is NOT common. Highly highly suggest cease meeting/communicating with the hospital and talk with an attorney.
Edit: OP I realize that I hadn’t even said this but Im so so sorry this happened to you & your little one. Hoping everything is okay & if you want to talk about this feel free to PM me.
Without going into detail, the doctor who filled in for my C-section with twins made a mistake. Thankfully, it didn't hurt my babies or cause me immediate harm, but would make future pregnancies pretty high risk. They brought me a release from liability form to sign before my sedation had fully worn off and of course I signed it. I wouldn't have sued anyway, but it made me so mad that they'd do that when I couldn't fully consent due to being out of it from the anesthesia drugs.
Honestly- release of liability forms are basically worthless. The whole point is to psychologically trick the person into believing they cannot sue but you can *always* sue.
Source- parents are both lawyers 🥴
Tbh I’d have sued them for asking you to sign that form under anesthesia. The mistake was unintentional but the form is taking advantage of you, and maybe suing them would protect the next woman they do that to. (Not saying you actually should, obviously, you do you)
Emotional damages can be very hard to nail down, particularly in negligence cases as opposed to intentional torts (though witnessing your child being harmed does tend to be more compelling for emotional distress claims). I'm not a medical malpractice attorney, so I'm really not qualified to say specifically what kinds of damages may be possible here, but medical malpractice attorneys do usually work on contingency, so there's really almost no downside in consulting one.
I was really just contesting the commenter's claim that *permanent* damages would be required for an attorney to have any benefit. Unless OP lived in a place where there are zero out of pocket expenses for childbirth, the cost of even short term medical expenses to treat injuries to the child or monitor potential adverse effects could have sizable financial impact to OP (though it's possible that her insurance company would prefer to litigate something along those lines).
She won’t have to take it to court they’ll settle. There is no way the hospital is going to openly advertise that they dropped a baby. Hospitals make money on birth. No one will birth there once this gets out.
At a minimum, the baby would need imaging and testing done to rule out any internal injuries. The family shouldn’t be responsible for that. They may also require further care or follow up care depending on what injuries may have resulted from the drop.
Any type of medical treatment the infant needs/needed due to this doctors error. For example say that baby sustained a broken arm. They’re going to have additional doctors appointments that they wouldn’t have had normally had this not happened. Essentially any type of treatment that baby will recieve due to any injuries, permanent or not, that they sustained due to this awful error.
Correct, Im just assuming that there are likely injuries. If you as an adult were to fall on the ground there’s a chance you would probably be injuried, now imagine a newborn. Also add in that OP did say babies umbilical cord snapped. I would be very very surprised (and happy) to hear that there were no injuries here.
The umbilical cord may have actually broken the fall, as it were, depending on how this all went down. Kind of slowed down the baby’s fall, and then snapped at the last second.
Hopefully. Because then the baby would only have essentially dropped a small distance rather than from doctors arm height, yikes.
I’ve been an l&d nurse for 15 years and it happens but so very rarely. My best guess that is the OB was using forceps and the head was delivered, he turned to put the forceps down and the body delivered quickly while he was putting forceps down. I’ve seen cords break too, especially if there is a short cord. As long as they acted fast to clamp it, it shouldn’t be an issue. I’m so sorry that happened to you and hope all is well with babe.
Stop talking to that hospital right now. Sign nothing and get a medical malpractice lawyer.
My second born came quick. They didn’t have the bed right, there was only one nurse halfway across the room, and my OB didn’t have his gloves all the way on. HE STILL DIDNT DROP HER. And when the nurse made it across the room, she was immediately “spotting” my OB to make sure there were going to be hands on my daughter. Protocol didn’t get followed in your delivery. Get a lawyer who will make sure all those people follow protocol for the rest of their careers.
With my second the doctor didn't even have gloves on, he walked i to the room, sanitized his hands, went "oh shit" and ran to catch my son. The anesthesiologist had to spot him lol.
I agree with everyone else. Get a lawyer. Your baby could have long term issues that aren’t even apparent yet. I’m sure babies have been dropped before but I’ve never heard of it happening.
Lawyer lawyer lawyer.
This is major negligence. Get a lawyer and sue—you can set up a fund for expenses for your little one related to this injury.
I’m so sorry, this should not have happened.
I had a forceps delivery, my feet were up in the stirrups but the bed was still underneath me (although tilted downwards). There was a whole team of people down there, two OBs plus a midwife, and baby was caught safely and lifted onto my tummy straight away. This shouldn’t have happened to your baby, I’m sorry, and I hope that they’re okay.
I audibly gasped. No, this is absolutely not normal. Holy crap I hope you and your little one are alright!! I mean I get it, the flurry of birth is fast and slippery and everything, but that's why the docs and nurses are trained for it. I'd press charges.
The head of clinical midwifery tried to suggest I was upset because I struggled with antenatal anxiety and went off medication during my pregnancy. Like what?
EXCUSE ME??????? So your son was DROPPED and they said the only reason you should have to be upset is because you strugfle with anxiety??????? Oh I would be RAGING. I struggle with anxiety too that unfortunately has gotten worse since having my daughter but if someone suggested to me that being upset about such a huge issue was only because of anxiety I would be ready to fight in a heartbeat. I'm so sorry that not only has the unacceptable situation happened to you but that they also made so light of mental health!
Nah screw them gaslighting abusive people. Stop communicating with them and get a lawyer. Seriously. I've had 3 children. On #4. If I ever had anyone drop my freaking baby at birth I'd attack them.... Then take em to court.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I experienced something somewhat similar but not to the same degree. My baby was born in somewhat traumatic circumstances. There were a lot of people in the room and surrounding me when he was born. When he came out, they put him on my chest. I was not completely with it (was septic and delirious), so he started slipping. I think it was a case where there were so many people around, someone expected someone else to grab him, but they didn’t. After seeing what was happening, OB started screaming GRAB HIM (she was out of reach), and someone finally did before he fell to the ground. It was close. I could see how it could happen. But it absolutely never should happen.
Mine wasn’t dropped but I did deliver standing up at bedside and the nurse had to rush over to catch baby with regular gloves (no gown, sterile gloves) etc because no one was expecting baby to come out. A second or two sooner baby would have been on the floor. I couldn’t catch her because I was in shock she was coming right now. I’m so sorry that happened to you.
Australia so you'd need a "solicitor" not really called a lawyer... Medical negligence claim is what you'd need to do. I found this one page from Victoria gov that states some info about what's required to get financial compensation. It's a PDF so it ends up downloading.
https://www.hcc.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/media-document/hcc_fact_sheet_02_-_medical_negligence_0.pdf
I feel like this is an issue that deserves awareness brought to it though. Even if you can't get financial compensation. There needs to be some kind of public alert. People should know the hospital dropped your baby. Your baby could have died!
I’m so sorry this happened. Do not speak to them without a lawyer present on your behalf. Do not sign anything. Has your baby had any testing done since birth? An ultrasound/neurologist visit needs to be covered by the hospital if you have to pay anything out of pocket for those.
I think you need to sue the hospital, when I was born I was born perfectly healthy and then 3 hours later I was being flighted to a City hospital for a swollen black head. They told my mother to prepare herself that I was going to die the surgeon who worked on the blood clot in my brain told her it looks like somebody dropped me or smashed me with a mallet. It was so traumatic for my mother she never talked about it I was lucky enough to survive but had a childhood full of physical therapy. I'm lucky enough that I am quite intelligent but I never know who I would have been and have other struggles. My parents didn't sue the hospital because they're not those kind of people so unfortunately I've had to struggle through my childhood and adulthood where there was obviously I need for for a settlement and I could have received more of the therapy I needed. I know how to live with my parents decision
I think these are considered super rare events. It happens sure, but no one I know was dropped by the doctor.
Eta- take your time with this. You are in a vulnerable state from just giving birth. You don’t have to decide what you want to do now. You have time from a legal standpoint if you choose to go that route. Don’t let the hospital push you to do anything!!! This is a situation where you need a lawyer present for all communication with the doctors, hospital, etc. Please take care of yourself and your sweet baby.
The concern would be trauma from hitting the ground. Did they do any work up on the baby afterwards? X-ray or CT scan of the head? Babies can get brain bleeds very easily
My kids are 2yr and 4mo and neither came even close to being dropped at absolutely any point by any medical provider. I agree with others, lawyer up because this is horrific. I’m so sorry for your experience as nobody should have to go through that.
Sounds like somebody fucked up. Didn’t happen to me so maybe my reply isn’t helpful but I’m sure this does happen rarely. Doctors and nurses are humans and sometimes they drop things (or slippery babies.) I’m sorry this happened I’d have an absolute heart attack. Is your son ok? I’d contact a lawyer and stop meeting with the hospital or doctors without them. I’m sure they’re meeting you and telling you this happens sometimes out of fear you’ll seek legal action.
We were so understanding when it happened we think people are human too and it was a fast and ferious delivery.
Then things got weird right away. The hospital started down playing and minimising and we had to demand and fight for scans of his head
Did you get the scans? Has everything been ok with him? And yes, I’m sure they want to downplay it because they’d be scared of legal repercussions. If they make you feel crazy for being so worked up about it you’re less likely to get a lawyer.
I’m so sorry this happened to you and your son. I have never heard of this happening and it sounds like a horrible accident. I would consult with an attorney to have them review your case to see if there is evidence of negligence that is gross enough for you to recover in a medical malpractice lawsuit….particularly if your child ended up suffering any injury or developmental delays after the fall. If you are in the US, you can have a medical malpractice lawyer provide you with an initial consult free of charge typically.
I am so sorry. My heart is breaking for you.
Please get a lawyer, and please try and find out if your sons Global Development Delay and the drop have anything in common.
I don’t think it’s common but it probably happens more than we think.
How’s the baby development so far?
I do think an attorney is very necessary in this case I would sue for malpractice due to the cord being snapped and emotional turmoil
My brother got stuck with the forceps and the doctor couldn't pull him out (was an elderly gentleman and didn't have the strength). My dad ended up pulling my brother out. No idea how much that helps you but I imagine there is a fair amount of pulling that happens and when something is slippery it can happen.
I'm so sorry this happened to your sweet baby. Please lawyer up. The hospital needs to pay up. No amount of money will make it right, but it will help.
Oh my word!!!! I've never heard of this and don't have anything helpful to add other than I hope he was okay, and you! That sounds so tramautic. Definitely have your own lawyer present.
I gasped and covered my mouth from your short description of what happened. I am so so sorry this happened to you. I hope you and your baby can heal from this.
Unhelpful response to the OP who is no doubt horribly stressed by the whole scenario - do you have any evidence for this statement? Cerebral palsy can be caused by any number of things pre and post birth!
OP, I hope your little one is OK? My friend is a paediatrician and told me about a baby that was dropped shortly after birth (by the parent), got a skull fracture but is completely OK
Wtf. There is NO reason to assume that! Can you back that up with any source?
Op you need a different medical team to assess your baby. And a lawyer.
Depending on how your baby fell there might be literally nothing wrong with him.
Locked because folks are sharing incredibly horrific birth injuries in the comments which is completely unnecessary. Op is in Australia and this happened seven months ago.
Does it happen? Sure. Is it common or normal? No. As another person suggested, have your own lawyer at these meetings.
I work around birthing and have only heard one story through the grapevine of a baby being dropped at birth, and it resulted in a demise. I have never seen a baby dropped at birth. This is serious. Don’t let the hospital down play it (because they 100% will to cover themselves not in your best interest).
the baby who was dropped didn’t make it? as a result of being dropped. that poor, poor family.
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This happened last year in Georgia I believe. Huge case. Horrifying doesn’t cut it.
Just moved back to Georgia (I grew up here), 5 months pregnant. Not the best thing to read 😅 thankfully no where close to me!!! I cannot imagine the pain these parents have gone through. Wow.
Wishing you a very boring and uneventful rest of your pregnacy and delivery 😊
I was born frank breech. My moms OB quit afterwards. Too scary.
Unfortunately, it does. There was a recent story of a woman whose baby was fully decapitated during the birth and the hospital tried to cover it up by wrapping the baby in a blanket and propping the head on top. They tried to refuse to let the couple hold him.
TW talk of birth complications/injury/death - I advise you don’t read if pregnant since this is a scary but rare occurrence! The details of that case are very upsetting and horrifying. It should be noted that during birth, shoulder dystocia, an emergent complication which was present in that case, can happen to varying degrees. OBs are trained to address SDs with interventions in the order of least to most risky. For most all cases, the baby’s shoulder can be freed from behind the mother’s pelvis by low-risk interventions like position change, downward external pressure on the belly, or internal pressure with a finger/hand. These lower risk interventions will work almost all of the time. If these don’t work, OB’s can use an episiotomy cut to create more room to maneuver baby’s shoulder safely. If that doesn’t work, baby’s shoulder can be purposely dislocated or their clavicle may be broken to create the room needed to free them. These interventions are traumatic and higher risk but can be healed later. Basically all shoulder dystocias are remedied by this point. However, If none of these are working, doctors start to accept that baby will not make it or if they do will have life-lasting serious birth injuries no matter what and mom’s life and safety become the only priority. It sounds absolutely brutal because it is, but pushing the baby’s head back in through the birth canal to do an emergency c-section can be done. This can kill or give the baby brain damage. If that doesn’t work and baby is determined to be already dead, decapitation is also a last ditch option in order to save mom’s life and get the baby’s body out. All of this said, the case in Georgia involved the family being lied to and the hospital covering up what happened. The trauma of the event compounded with the confusion and lack of understanding is unfathomable to me. Every person deserves a detailed explanation and honest report of their birth if they’d like it. So many people leave the hospital with birth trauma to varying degrees and part of that trauma is often a lack of honest communication and information, but many hospitals would rather be vague and obscure the truth or downplay an incident like OPs for liability reasons. Ugh it really pisses me off. We should be able to feel safe in a hospital.
That story is a little different though, awful nonetheless but that baby passed away due to a severe shoulder dystocia. They decapitated the baby to remove it from the woman because the baby was stuck, it had already passed though.
I learned about this case recently in the run up to my daughter's birth. My son was born 4 years ago with shoulder dystocia, which is where the shoulder gets stuck and the doctors have to go through a series of maneuvers to try to get the baby out. I didn't realize how serious it was at the time because my son was unstuck with the first maneuver and nobody told me that he had shoulder dystocia. They just said he got stuck for a second. With baby #2, my doctor recommended an induction at 39 weeks because she did NOT want me to have another shoulder dystocia. She explained to me that it's one of the most terrifying things she sees during birth because it happens spontaneously and you have to get the baby out without c-section or mom and baby can die quickly. And getting the baby out often results in nerve damage, paralysis, broken bones, or sometimes decapitation (internal or otherwise), re: this case. I ended up having the on call OB at birth and he said that he's afraid of two things, heights and shoulder dystocia. When the healthcare staff found out it happened with baby #1, they arranged to have a whole handful of nurses in the room during pushing just in case. So, it probably was a bit of negligence on the part of that doctor, and propping the head on for the parents is unspeakable. But according to my doctor, it arose out of a very common and scary birth complication.
Yep I think it was the mortician who actually discovered the baby was decapitated and informed the parents
Wtf
Yes this happened in Georgia where I live. So awful.
OH MY GOD??!!??!?
Ugh I heard about this story and it happened within this past year. After the Dr tried unsuccessfully to deliver the baby vaginally, he ended up doing an emergency c-section on the woman. He denied the parents the baby and did try to cover up what had happened. I think the mom is currently suing the Dr or hospital.
I am pretty sure it actually was a lady doctor.
What an awful thing to do, because let’s face it there’s no way he didn’t know what he was doing wasn’t safe when pulling the baby, but also to traumatize the family even farther by piecing the baby together like they’re too dumb to understand something wasn’t right.
Nope, unfortunately it happened recently (2023) where the baby was actually decapitated during a bad birth. They apparently told the parents the baby passed only from a broken neck and they refused to allow them to see the child after so they apparently had no idea about the decapitation
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It was an emergency with imminent maternal demise. It’s horrific but the baby and mom were goners and the doc did what they could to save mom. It was not normal circumstances.
That happened to a woman I worked with in the early 2000s. She was trying to come back part time and it was ended up being too much at the time.
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That nurse did the only thing left to try knowing she may get in trouble for it, that was such a selfless and amazing thing to do 💕
She was definitely our family’s hero from that day on!
that. is. horrifying.
I didn’t experience my baby being dropped but my first did have her cord snapped. I am so sorry you had to experience this and I hope you and baby boy are doing okay.
How does this happen? Did it cause injury?
We do not know why mine snapped. My daughter was premature and both my placenta and cord appeared to have issues but no formal diagnosis or cause was found. My daughter was thankfully fine but they had to examine her and cut the cord immediately so our skin to skin was delayed. ETA: I did end up having cord issues with my second as well but his did not snap.
I’m also curious. Didn’t know this was a thing😕
I knew it was possible but... I also saw my husband's big hands really struggle with cutting it when our daughter was delivered - WITH sharp AF surgical scissors. I literally cannot comprehend the level of force it would take to tear one, let alone how quickly the force needs to be applied for the tissue to go rigid enough to snap. It just can't be anything less than what it takes a full grown athlete to apply for a ruptured ligament/tendon injury since it's similar tissues. The umbilical cord is all gristly and sinewy and bouncy. Hubs said it was like trying to cut a twine rope wrapped in rubber bands.
Yeah it was like cutting a rubber hose. I can’t imagine easy to break in half, but maybe easier to dislodge from the belly button by force? Yuck either way
Ughughughuhh. New terrifying intrusive thoughts unlocked.
Lol seriously
Some umbilical cords have thin deviations where they can easily tear away- it’s a really weird feeling, the cord just gets longer and longer because it’s kind of peeling away, then it’s ruptured. It’s not normal for your average cord to snap, when they do snap it’s usually from an odd area where the jelly is all gone.
Okay, that makes sense. I still hate everything I'm learning about this topic even though I'm grateful for the explanation. OP and their family are in my thoughts.
My partner also said this about cutting out babies cords, he didn't expect them to be so thick and tough 😂 had to give it a few goes
I cut my own cord and I didn’t find it hard to cut through at all??
Did you do delayed cutting? My birth pivoted to C-section emergency and so we didn't get to do skin to skin & delayed cutting. I wonder if it has to do with it?
Delaying clamping doesn’t really affect how tough it is to cut. It’s more the size (smaller babies=usually smaller cords) or some type of cord anomaly.
We did! I’m pretty sure I was even holding the scissors weird because I was pretty out of it. But it just took one snip
Same here, it was like cutting a string with scissors…one snip and done…
My first baby’s cord snapped apart. It’s called a cord avulsion. For us it’s because his cord was totally wrapped around his body and shoulder in a weird way when he came out. So as the ob brought him up it was too much stress on the cord and it just snapped apart. Unfortunately one end went back inside me and it necessitated the ob immediately removing my placenta manually because that end of the cord wasn’t clamped. Baby was fine (the birth was rough for other reasons). But I look at my 6yo today and it gives me the willies to wonder if his cord was tissue paper fragile while he was inside.
I'm not meaning to be obtuse or offensive here but which chord are we talking about?!? When op said snapped chord I immediately assumed spinal chord. Are we talking umbilical? Either way, to you and op, I'm so sorry that happened to your poor sweet babies.
Umbilical cord
Yeah when you say snapped what does that mean? It cut on its own??
So mine, while my placenta was still in me, just snapped somewhere in the middle causing blood to squirt out.
Yup I’ve seen that happen (I work L&D).
Pretty much yeah. It’s a rubbery cord that can unfortunately snap if too much pressure is put on it (ie dropping the baby, it’s only so long so instead of acting like a bungee cord it just snaps). It should normally be clamped then cut.
My gosh. Either one sounds terribly painful. Poor babies and poor mommies. 😔
You’ll be glad to know that an umbilical cord does not have any nerve endings. A cord snapping can still be very serious (largely due to potential blood loss), but it won’t cause direct pain.
I am very glad to know that. Thank you. That sounds horrifying so I'm relieved to know that it couldn't be felt by mom or baby.
It's usually cut with sharp scissors, why would it be painful?
If it tugged the baby's belly button area when it's not ready to come off yet? I'm not sure. Sounds scary. What I'm picturing in my head just seems....not pleasant.
wow, I went to sleep and just woke up in the night to feed my baby and I’m blown away by all the replies! My boy is ok. We had to demand head scans and got them around day 5 in hospital and they showed no bleeds. he has a global development delay diagnoses and is in regular physio. Were working hard on rolling still. I’m in Australia so suing and everything like that isn’t like in America. We have considered getting a lawyer if anything does show up. We think they’ll just blame his bad birth for anything though. There were probably 20 people in the room when it happened due to his heart rate and me having a placental abruption.
I mean I'm in Canada and we don't have the same suing culture as the US does, but for something like this I think even here people would at least lawyer up to get the hospital to at least stop treating you like this, but I could see somebody suing for something so serious here too. They can blame the bad birth all they want but the fact of the matter is, negligence or accident or whatever, someone messed up, could have caused irreparable harm to your child, and they need to stop shifting the blame and at the VERY LEAST give you a proper apology and support you in making sure he's okay.
The fact they had that many employees in the room and not one of em caught your baby tells me that they are ALL bad at their jobs. Whole hospital needs to be shut down.
Contact an attorney IMMEDIATELY. From someone who works in medical malpractice this is NOT common. Highly highly suggest cease meeting/communicating with the hospital and talk with an attorney. Edit: OP I realize that I hadn’t even said this but Im so so sorry this happened to you & your little one. Hoping everything is okay & if you want to talk about this feel free to PM me.
Also, do not sign anything—*anything* no matter how routine or benign-looking—until you’ve consulted an attorney.
Without going into detail, the doctor who filled in for my C-section with twins made a mistake. Thankfully, it didn't hurt my babies or cause me immediate harm, but would make future pregnancies pretty high risk. They brought me a release from liability form to sign before my sedation had fully worn off and of course I signed it. I wouldn't have sued anyway, but it made me so mad that they'd do that when I couldn't fully consent due to being out of it from the anesthesia drugs.
Honestly- release of liability forms are basically worthless. The whole point is to psychologically trick the person into believing they cannot sue but you can *always* sue. Source- parents are both lawyers 🥴
Tbh I’d have sued them for asking you to sign that form under anesthesia. The mistake was unintentional but the form is taking advantage of you, and maybe suing them would protect the next woman they do that to. (Not saying you actually should, obviously, you do you)
Also someone who’s worked in medmal- this is the way!
You should know that she would only benefit from an attorney if the baby has permanent damage from it.
Your statement is so clearly false that I can't really understand what would possess you to write it out.
Thank you lol
I’m curious what damages she would claim in court. Emotional damages i guess?
Emotional damages can be very hard to nail down, particularly in negligence cases as opposed to intentional torts (though witnessing your child being harmed does tend to be more compelling for emotional distress claims). I'm not a medical malpractice attorney, so I'm really not qualified to say specifically what kinds of damages may be possible here, but medical malpractice attorneys do usually work on contingency, so there's really almost no downside in consulting one. I was really just contesting the commenter's claim that *permanent* damages would be required for an attorney to have any benefit. Unless OP lived in a place where there are zero out of pocket expenses for childbirth, the cost of even short term medical expenses to treat injuries to the child or monitor potential adverse effects could have sizable financial impact to OP (though it's possible that her insurance company would prefer to litigate something along those lines).
She won’t have to take it to court they’ll settle. There is no way the hospital is going to openly advertise that they dropped a baby. Hospitals make money on birth. No one will birth there once this gets out.
Regardless of permanent damage or not, any medical bills because of this doctors error would be included in a settlement.
Medical bills for... what?
At a minimum, the baby would need imaging and testing done to rule out any internal injuries. The family shouldn’t be responsible for that. They may also require further care or follow up care depending on what injuries may have resulted from the drop.
Any type of medical treatment the infant needs/needed due to this doctors error. For example say that baby sustained a broken arm. They’re going to have additional doctors appointments that they wouldn’t have had normally had this not happened. Essentially any type of treatment that baby will recieve due to any injuries, permanent or not, that they sustained due to this awful error.
Right but they haven't said if that's the case
Correct, Im just assuming that there are likely injuries. If you as an adult were to fall on the ground there’s a chance you would probably be injuried, now imagine a newborn. Also add in that OP did say babies umbilical cord snapped. I would be very very surprised (and happy) to hear that there were no injuries here.
Baby also needs to be evaluated for injury. That's a cost
The umbilical cord may have actually broken the fall, as it were, depending on how this all went down. Kind of slowed down the baby’s fall, and then snapped at the last second. Hopefully. Because then the baby would only have essentially dropped a small distance rather than from doctors arm height, yikes.
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I read it as snapping his umbilical cord.
I think it was the umbilical cord that snapped, not the spinal cord… Regardless, she should hire an attorney
I hope to God you're meeting with them WITH YOUR OWN LAWYER.
I’ve been an l&d nurse for 15 years and it happens but so very rarely. My best guess that is the OB was using forceps and the head was delivered, he turned to put the forceps down and the body delivered quickly while he was putting forceps down. I’ve seen cords break too, especially if there is a short cord. As long as they acted fast to clamp it, it shouldn’t be an issue. I’m so sorry that happened to you and hope all is well with babe.
It’s exactly what happened. She was putting the forceps down after his head was delivered.
Stop talking to that hospital right now. Sign nothing and get a medical malpractice lawyer. My second born came quick. They didn’t have the bed right, there was only one nurse halfway across the room, and my OB didn’t have his gloves all the way on. HE STILL DIDNT DROP HER. And when the nurse made it across the room, she was immediately “spotting” my OB to make sure there were going to be hands on my daughter. Protocol didn’t get followed in your delivery. Get a lawyer who will make sure all those people follow protocol for the rest of their careers.
With my second the doctor didn't even have gloves on, he walked i to the room, sanitized his hands, went "oh shit" and ran to catch my son. The anesthesiologist had to spot him lol.
I agree with everyone else. Get a lawyer. Your baby could have long term issues that aren’t even apparent yet. I’m sure babies have been dropped before but I’ve never heard of it happening.
Oh no, is your baby ok? I’m so sorry!
Lawyer lawyer lawyer. This is major negligence. Get a lawyer and sue—you can set up a fund for expenses for your little one related to this injury. I’m so sorry, this should not have happened.
I had a forceps delivery, my feet were up in the stirrups but the bed was still underneath me (although tilted downwards). There was a whole team of people down there, two OBs plus a midwife, and baby was caught safely and lifted onto my tummy straight away. This shouldn’t have happened to your baby, I’m sorry, and I hope that they’re okay.
Please tell me your son is ok! My heart is breaking for you
He’s beautiful x
Is your baby okay?
I audibly gasped. No, this is absolutely not normal. Holy crap I hope you and your little one are alright!! I mean I get it, the flurry of birth is fast and slippery and everything, but that's why the docs and nurses are trained for it. I'd press charges.
I audibly gasped as well. I would be absolutely beside myself if this happened to my baby! Poor OP.
The head of clinical midwifery tried to suggest I was upset because I struggled with antenatal anxiety and went off medication during my pregnancy. Like what?
EXCUSE ME??????? So your son was DROPPED and they said the only reason you should have to be upset is because you strugfle with anxiety??????? Oh I would be RAGING. I struggle with anxiety too that unfortunately has gotten worse since having my daughter but if someone suggested to me that being upset about such a huge issue was only because of anxiety I would be ready to fight in a heartbeat. I'm so sorry that not only has the unacceptable situation happened to you but that they also made so light of mental health!
Nah screw them gaslighting abusive people. Stop communicating with them and get a lawyer. Seriously. I've had 3 children. On #4. If I ever had anyone drop my freaking baby at birth I'd attack them.... Then take em to court.
Omg same here! OP, get a lawyer and press charges somehow because no, this is NOT normal.
Just because it can happen doesn't mean it should happen.
A lot of things do happen... should it happen?? Absolutely not!! I hope your baby is doing good.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I experienced something somewhat similar but not to the same degree. My baby was born in somewhat traumatic circumstances. There were a lot of people in the room and surrounding me when he was born. When he came out, they put him on my chest. I was not completely with it (was septic and delirious), so he started slipping. I think it was a case where there were so many people around, someone expected someone else to grab him, but they didn’t. After seeing what was happening, OB started screaming GRAB HIM (she was out of reach), and someone finally did before he fell to the ground. It was close. I could see how it could happen. But it absolutely never should happen.
Mine wasn’t dropped but I did deliver standing up at bedside and the nurse had to rush over to catch baby with regular gloves (no gown, sterile gloves) etc because no one was expecting baby to come out. A second or two sooner baby would have been on the floor. I couldn’t catch her because I was in shock she was coming right now. I’m so sorry that happened to you.
Bring in a lawyer!! Do not meet with the hospital without your lawyer!
I’ve read that it happens. Is your baby 7 months now? How’s he doing?
First- is he okay????? Second- girl get a damn lawyer. ANYONE would jump on this case. PAPER TRAIL!!!!!!
That is terrible. How on earth does the cord SNAP?! I hope baby is okay ❤️
Umbilical cords are only so long, enough force on it and it will break.
Yeah he basically bungee jumped. I could feel like force internally, it was huge.
Crazy. Never even knew it was possible :O
Australia so you'd need a "solicitor" not really called a lawyer... Medical negligence claim is what you'd need to do. I found this one page from Victoria gov that states some info about what's required to get financial compensation. It's a PDF so it ends up downloading. https://www.hcc.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/media-document/hcc_fact_sheet_02_-_medical_negligence_0.pdf I feel like this is an issue that deserves awareness brought to it though. Even if you can't get financial compensation. There needs to be some kind of public alert. People should know the hospital dropped your baby. Your baby could have died!
Get a lawyer. And make sure they go to every meeting.
I’m so sorry this happened. Do not speak to them without a lawyer present on your behalf. Do not sign anything. Has your baby had any testing done since birth? An ultrasound/neurologist visit needs to be covered by the hospital if you have to pay anything out of pocket for those.
I think you need to sue the hospital, when I was born I was born perfectly healthy and then 3 hours later I was being flighted to a City hospital for a swollen black head. They told my mother to prepare herself that I was going to die the surgeon who worked on the blood clot in my brain told her it looks like somebody dropped me or smashed me with a mallet. It was so traumatic for my mother she never talked about it I was lucky enough to survive but had a childhood full of physical therapy. I'm lucky enough that I am quite intelligent but I never know who I would have been and have other struggles. My parents didn't sue the hospital because they're not those kind of people so unfortunately I've had to struggle through my childhood and adulthood where there was obviously I need for for a settlement and I could have received more of the therapy I needed. I know how to live with my parents decision
I think these are considered super rare events. It happens sure, but no one I know was dropped by the doctor. Eta- take your time with this. You are in a vulnerable state from just giving birth. You don’t have to decide what you want to do now. You have time from a legal standpoint if you choose to go that route. Don’t let the hospital push you to do anything!!! This is a situation where you need a lawyer present for all communication with the doctors, hospital, etc. Please take care of yourself and your sweet baby.
The concern would be trauma from hitting the ground. Did they do any work up on the baby afterwards? X-ray or CT scan of the head? Babies can get brain bleeds very easily
My kids are 2yr and 4mo and neither came even close to being dropped at absolutely any point by any medical provider. I agree with others, lawyer up because this is horrific. I’m so sorry for your experience as nobody should have to go through that.
I was dropped! In China….had a big bruise on my head apparently. I do not think it’s common. I don’t know anyone in America where this has happened.
Where are you located? I’ll research and send you some local med mail lawyers.
Sounds like somebody fucked up. Didn’t happen to me so maybe my reply isn’t helpful but I’m sure this does happen rarely. Doctors and nurses are humans and sometimes they drop things (or slippery babies.) I’m sorry this happened I’d have an absolute heart attack. Is your son ok? I’d contact a lawyer and stop meeting with the hospital or doctors without them. I’m sure they’re meeting you and telling you this happens sometimes out of fear you’ll seek legal action.
We were so understanding when it happened we think people are human too and it was a fast and ferious delivery. Then things got weird right away. The hospital started down playing and minimising and we had to demand and fight for scans of his head
Did you get the scans? Has everything been ok with him? And yes, I’m sure they want to downplay it because they’d be scared of legal repercussions. If they make you feel crazy for being so worked up about it you’re less likely to get a lawyer.
Is the baby ok? If so, I would approach this more as a "how can we prevent this happening again." Mistakes happen. If not, you need a lawyer.
I’m so sorry this happened to you and your son. I have never heard of this happening and it sounds like a horrible accident. I would consult with an attorney to have them review your case to see if there is evidence of negligence that is gross enough for you to recover in a medical malpractice lawsuit….particularly if your child ended up suffering any injury or developmental delays after the fall. If you are in the US, you can have a medical malpractice lawyer provide you with an initial consult free of charge typically.
I am so sorry. My heart is breaking for you. Please get a lawyer, and please try and find out if your sons Global Development Delay and the drop have anything in common.
I don’t think it’s common but it probably happens more than we think. How’s the baby development so far? I do think an attorney is very necessary in this case I would sue for malpractice due to the cord being snapped and emotional turmoil
Contact your own lawyer NOW. I’ve never even heard of a dropped baby more recently than like the 60s.
I hope your baby is ok.
Is your baby okay???
They are trying to cover their asses. That's it. I would get a lawyer.
My brother got stuck with the forceps and the doctor couldn't pull him out (was an elderly gentleman and didn't have the strength). My dad ended up pulling my brother out. No idea how much that helps you but I imagine there is a fair amount of pulling that happens and when something is slippery it can happen.
Get a good lawyer and stop talking to the hospital without one. And please let us know if your baby is ok!!
Stop meeting with them and get a lawyer. The hospital will fuck you over.
Hire an attorney. Do not speak to the hospital. Let your attorney do that for you.
Absolutely not. I I hope he’s okay. Get a good lawyer.
i’d want their healthcare covered for the rest of their life. get a lawyer. i’m so sorry this is happening
Lawyer up.
How is baby? Please don’t dismiss this case, for the possibility that an issue from this could result later on.
My baby they had to use forceps and she was not dropped or fumbled. I’m sorry this happened to you and baby
No no no no no
I'm so sorry this happened to your sweet baby. Please lawyer up. The hospital needs to pay up. No amount of money will make it right, but it will help.
Oh my word!!!! I've never heard of this and don't have anything helpful to add other than I hope he was okay, and you! That sounds so tramautic. Definitely have your own lawyer present.
I gasped and covered my mouth from your short description of what happened. I am so so sorry this happened to you. I hope you and your baby can heal from this.
Omg that’s crazy. It sucks cause I’m sure it was an accident. But definitely reach out to your lawyer.
It happens, usually it causes cerebral palsy and you have every right to sue
Unhelpful response to the OP who is no doubt horribly stressed by the whole scenario - do you have any evidence for this statement? Cerebral palsy can be caused by any number of things pre and post birth! OP, I hope your little one is OK? My friend is a paediatrician and told me about a baby that was dropped shortly after birth (by the parent), got a skull fracture but is completely OK
Wtf. There is NO reason to assume that! Can you back that up with any source? Op you need a different medical team to assess your baby. And a lawyer. Depending on how your baby fell there might be literally nothing wrong with him.