On June 27, 2025, a Philadelphia medical malpractice jury returned its verdict in the amount of $5.6 million for the family of a baby who suffered a catastrophic brain injury during birth resulting in near blindness. The family claimed that the medical staff attending to the mother during labor and delivery negligently failed to the detect brow or OP positioning abnormalities that led to the baby’s head and skull being compressed and crushed during each contraction. The baby was born with a misshapen head.
After the birth, the defendant midwife who had delivered the baby reportedly posted on her personal Instagram page personal information about the incident along with the headline, “Jellybean head, courtesy of malpresentation (brow and OP),” which resulted in many comments.
The parents medical malpractice lawsuit against the midwife, the hospital, and others alleged not only medical negligence in delivering the baby but also claims for invasion of privacy and breach of confidentiality. The mother stated after the verdict, “We’re so grateful the jury acknowledged all that our daughter has gone through since the day she was born. Our daughter suffers from permanent birth injuries due to negligence, and, to make matters worse, her privacy was violated by someone we should have been able to trust.”
The family’s lawyer stated, “Although nothing can ever undo the negligence this child suffered, this was a landmark ruling by the jury ensuring that patient privacy is always protected.”
Occiput Posterior (OP)
Ideally, the fetus is head down, facing the birth mother’s back, with its chin tucked to its chest. This position is called cephalic or occiput anterior presentation, which is the safest fetal position because it carries the least amount of risk to both the birth mother and the fetus. It is very common for a fetus to turn into this position naturally by the 36th week of pregnancy.
In occiput posterior position, the baby’s head is down, but it is facing the mother’s front instead of her back. While it is safe to deliver a baby facing this way. it is harder for the baby to get through the pelvis. If a baby is in this position, sometimes it will rotate around during labor so that the head stays down and the body faces the mother’s back (OA position).
The mother can walk, rock, and try different delivery positions during labor to help encourage the baby to turn. If the baby does not turn, the medical provider may use forceps or a vacuum device to help get the baby out. If the baby stays in the OP position during labor, there is a higher risk of needing to deliver the baby by cesarean delivery (C-section).
If you or your baby suffered serious harm during pregnancy, labor, and/or delivery in Pennsylvania or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your birth injury medical malpractice claim for you and represent you and/or your baby in a birth injury medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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