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Dr Odile Bagot (Gynecologist-obstetrician)
In the United States, a couple filed a complaint against a hospital for a more than traumatic cause: during the young woman’s delivery, the midwife allegedly decapitated the unborn baby by using too much force during the extraction. Is it possible ? Dr Odile Bagot brings us her analysis.
Horror at its height in a delivery room. According to the today publicized testimony of an American couple, in the middle of vaginal delivery, the couple’s child had his head dissociated from his body due to violent manipulations on the part of the midwife. A month after losing the baby, the couple is now suing the hospital.
A fatal decision for the baby
On July 9, Jessica Ross, 20, presented herself with her husband at the maternity ward of the Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, to give birth to her first child. The young woman’s water broke, labor began, but as the hours passed, the baby did not come down. We then diagnose baby dystocia, that is to say a baby stuck in the mother’s pelvis. A rare emergency, which requires an obstetric maneuver, or a cesarean section to free the baby quickly.
It is then that things degenerate, according to the explanations of the African American couple: rather than considering a cesarean section and calling the obstetrician on call, the midwife pulls more violently on the head and neck of the child, in vain, for several hours. It is too late for the baby whose heart is no longer beating. When the medical team arrives, the horror emerges: the baby’s head has been delivered vaginally, dissociated from the rest of the body, removed by cesarean section.
Dystocia requires a strong but precise maneuver
How can such a situation occur when the hospital in question denies the facts (but not the death of the baby)? We asked the question to Dr. Odile Bagot, medical and obstetrician gynecologist, and member of our expert committee. According to her, accidents in the event of dystocia are possible, but going so far as to decapitate a baby seems difficult to believe. She explains the mechanism to us:
“When baby comes out, he first presents the occiput, that is to say the back of the head, which will start to come out, before turning to the left side most frequently. We then help the baby by placing one hand on the right ear, one hand on the left ear in order to take it out while lowering the shoulder, because the baby’s shoulder must pass under the pubic symphysis. It’s quite impressive, we feel like we’re literally pulling the baby’s head. But when you have shoulder dystocia because the baby is too big, the precise action requires pulling hard enough to quickly free the baby.”
A gesture however adapted to the baby, which if done too brutally can have serious consequences: “If done incorrectly, the gesture can in fact break the child’s neck. This is very rare, but unfortunately I have already seen it happen. But tearing off the head, given the tissue, seems impossible to me” continues our expert.
Yet another news story about the health of African American women
Whatever the real cause of death, the sudden death of this baby seems linked to an inadequate action. A situation that parents now wish to publicize and bring to justice. For the victims’ lawyer, this news item would in fact be the consequence of a lack of care or consideration around African-American mothers.
An argument confirmed by the figures: according to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women of color are in fact three times more likely to die from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth than Caucasian women.