Birth Injury Attorneys fighting for the rights of you and your child.
Bringing a baby into this world is one of the most rewarding gifts that life grants us. There are, however, unfortunate tragedies that sometimes occur during the birth of a child. While it may be something that we give only some consideration to prior to delivery, there are parents who are actually left dealing with the reality of complications from birth-related injuries.
Birth Injury Law
The laws that govern birth-related injuries fall under the category of medical malpractice. These cases involve personal injury claims demonstrating negligence in situations such as, but not limited to:
- Anoxia (lack of oxygen)
- Issues with the Umbilical Cord
- Bleeding (mother or child)
- Failure to Prepare Properly in Anticipation of a Larger Baby
- Failure to Properly Deal with Infections
- Improper use of Forceps or Vacuum Extractors
Negligence can also be found in how a patient is treated prior to the delivery of the baby. There are different harms that can be associated with prenatal care in both the mother and the unborn child. Problems related to prenatal care include, but are not limited to:
- Failure Diagnosing a Disease in the Mother that could affect the Unborn Child
- Failure to Recognize Birth Defects
- Failure to Recognize an Ectopic Pregnancy
There are two main categories which birth injuries fall into:
- Injuries of the Brain; including anoxic brain injuries: This occurs is situations where a medical staffer did not monitor the birth process in a manner in which is reasonable in the industry. This area of injuries results, at times, from failing to move forward quickly in performing necessary cesarean procedures.
- Dystocia: This occurs when a physician fails to guide a baby down the vaginal canal properly during normal birthing procedures. Many times the effects of this type of negligence result in different types of palsy as well as other significant issues.
Birth Injuries and Your Child
Complications and injuries associated with child birth occur more often than a person may think. There are approximately six birthing trauma victims out of every thousand each year. Due to the delicate nature of delivering a new born baby, all steps taken in the process must be done with the utmost care. In the moments before, during or just after birth, many things may go wrong, causing bone, organ, nerve or brain damage to the baby. Some childbirth injuries include, but are not limited to:
- Brain damage
- Birth Hypoxia (lack of oxygen at birth)
- Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE; lack of oxygen-rich blood to the brain)
- Athetoid (ataxic and spastic cerebral palsy)
- Brachial Plexus Birth Injury (Erb’s Palsy)
- Infantile Spasms
- Infantile Seizures
- Skull Crush Injury
- Kernicterus (severe baby jaundice)
- Bruising
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Bone Fractures
- Infant Death
- Maternal Death
Many of the survivors of these listed injuries can and will improve over the course of time. Extensive therapy, medications and possible surgeries may be needed to help in their recovery. The problem remains that certain birth injuries could have been avoided by careful attention and prompt action by medical personnel. When a birth injury is preventable, there is a high chance that birth injury malpractice occurred.
A birth injury can leave someone with questions and concerns. This is why you need to contact a birth injury attorney to go over your case with you. You may be compensated for any loss that you incurred as a result of the hospital, doctor or nurse’s negligence. Our consultation is at no cost to you and we can explain how you can start on the road to receive the compensation you deserve.