Although not really related to this case, my father still has possession of his great-grandfather's decapitation hook. My great-great-grandfather was a physician in the period before and after the Late Unpleasantness (Civil War), and this instrument was used to remove the dead baby's body in two or more pieces to save the mother's life.
The decapitation hook is probably not a part of a modern obstetrician's armamentarium due to modern technology.
There is a reasonable question about whether or not a cesarean section was required prior to this incident. It sounds like dismemberment was later required (the mother is still alive).
We have only the plaintiff's lawyer's opinions in this case. It would be interesting to hear what was actually told to the family (at least the physician's and hospital's point of view. We will likely never know since a case of a decapitated baby will raise great sympathy among probable jurors and the case will likely settle (without regard to the facts of the case).
What I understand from the article, the childbirth was complicated by shoulder dystocia (when the head is out, but the shoulders get stuck in the pubic area). This article lists a number of maneuvers that are used to deliver if the complication occurred.
(Please pay attention to "heroic maneuvers". You can Google "images" of each of them. There may be complications.)
However, the situation is unclear as untrauterine fetal death is associated with a higher rate of shoulder dystocia, so if they said that the baby died inside, and then shoulder dystocia happened when delivering a dead fetus, it might be also true.
So, I can't say for sure what happened here. It is plausible that the fetus died before labor, there were no heartbeats, so the hospital proceeded with vaginal delivery, but due to shouIder dystocia the baby had to be extracted via both c-section (body) and vaginally (head). JMO - I suspect this is what had happened. I assume, though, that the doctor should have said to the mother that there was no heartbeat heard before the delivery. In fact, they monitor heartbeats, so she should have heard/seen that there were none.
Less possible, but not totally excluded is shoulder dystocia in the process of initially normal childbirth, then some maneuvers attempted that didn't work, and eventually, fetal death. It is less likely, IMO, but statistically, fetal death as the result of shoulder dystocia is 0.4%. While very rare, it might happen. Fetal anoxic brain injury in cases of shoulder dystocia is 0.5-23% (I think the wide range is explained by how long it takes to deliver after dystocia happened.) Please pay attention that shoulder dystocia is a subjective diagnosis, as they write. What it means to me is when one doctor might think he still can deliver the baby safely, another will view it as an emergency and act faster.
Either way, lack of communication with the family clearly took place. I hope the family, and the public, too, can receive the explanation. Wishing the family closure.