The mother of baby Olivia Coats has been awarded $10.3M in damages, after claiming her infant daughter died as a result of an ‘unsafe’ forceps delivery.
Rachel Melancon is reported to have ‘broken down’ as a Texas court jury returned a verdict of 10:2 in support of her claim that baby Olivia died as a result of negligent practices, including the unsafe use of forceps during her delivery.
Little Olivia was born in January 2014, but passed away shortly after, having spent days on life support.
Ms Melancon later claimed that the doctor who delivered her baby, Dr George Backardjiev, refused to perform a Caesarean section. After opting instead to use a forceps, the doctor is said to have struggled with the equipment, at one point even placing his foot on the bed to try and ‘pull’ the baby out.
The devastated mother later brought the lawsuit against Dr George Backardjiev and the Medical Centre of Texas.
The jury found the doctor 95 percent culpable for Olivia’s death, with the remaining 5 percent placed on the nurses who helped with the delivery.
Our hearts go out to Olivia’s family at this difficult time.
