The parents of a boy who died hours after birth have filed a lawsuit against Greenwich Hospital and their doctor, alleging a vacuum was used 15 times during the infant's delivery.

The lawsuit was filed July 10 in state Superior Court in Bridgeport by the infant's parents, Danielle Mackenzie and Fabrice Diaz. The complaint names Dr. Jay Mutat, Mackenzie's obstetrician, as a defendant along with Greenwich Hospital, Yale New Haven Health Services and Summit Health.

Representatives for Yale New Haven Health Services, Greenwich Hospital and Summit did not return messages Wednesday seeking comment. The parties have not responded to the lawsuit in court.

An obstetrician who reviewed the medical records of Mackenzie and the infant wrote that the defendants "acted with disregard to the infant's well-being," and should have known the infant was at increased risk of harm after three "pulls" or more than five minutes of applying the vacuum, the lawsuit stated. The doctor wrote that the hospital staff failed to abandon the vacuum procedure in favor of delivering the child through C-section, according to the lawsuit.

Mackenzie went to Greenwich Hospital for her baby's delivery on Feb. 17 when she was 40 weeks and 3 days into her pregnancy, according to the complaint.

About 20 hours after Mackenzie arrived at the hospital, she was fully dilated and instructed to start pushing, the court filing said. But after an hour and 40 minutes of effort, "Dr. Mutat made the decision that he needed to expedite the delivery and recommended to the infant-plaintiff decedent's mother that she undergo a vacuum-assisted delivery," the lawsuit said.

Mutat applied the vacuum to the infant's head 12 times, during which the device popped off the infant's head twice, the complaint said. The mother was instructed to push on her own, then after about 36 minutes of pushing, Mutat applied the vacuum at least three more times before an episiotomy was cut and the child was delivered, the lawsuit said.

Upon his birth, the couple's son did not cry, had poor color, poor tone and poor Apgar scores, the complaint said, referring to a test medical staff perform shortly after birth to assess an infant's health. The baby also was "limp" and had a slow heart rate, the complaint said. He also had swelling of his head consistent with a hemorrhage between his scalp and skull, the complaint said.

The infant was taken to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, then later transferred by ambulance to Yale New Haven Hospital's NICU, "where his condition continued to deteriorate," the complaint said.

On Feb. 18, the infant died at the hospital from "hemorrhagic hypovolemic shock caused by a massive subgaleal hematoma," the complaint said.

The suit alleges that the child's fatal injuries "were caused by the failure of the defendant, Greenwich Hospital, through its agents, apparent

agents, servants and/or employees, including, but not limited to, its obstetricians and gynecologists and/or labor and delivery nurses, including, but not limited to, Jay Matut, M.D., to exercise reasonable care under all of the circumstances then and there present."

The suit claims Mutat used the vacuum "inappropriately," and failed to abandon it, to appreciate or document the lack of fetal descent after he did use it. The complaint notes he failed to recommend a cesarean birth and "ignored the maternal request" for one.

The lawsuit asks the court for money and punitive damages, as well as costs and "such other relief as the court deems just and proper."