Some of the most devastating injuries that infants can suffer occur during labor and childbirth. Some of these traumatic injuries are due to medical practitioners’ negligence and miscommunication.
This article discusses how to deal with medical malpractice leading to birth injuries legally.
An Insight into Birth Injuries
A birth injury is physical harm to an infant which happens due to some occurrence during labor and childbirth. Although birth injuries are uncommon and only occur in six to seven births per 1,000 births, they are always devastating and traumatic. They affect the infants and families financially, emotionally, and physically.
Birth injuries happen in varying degrees, ranging from minor to more significant. Examples include bruising, swelling, spinal cord harm, and brain injuries. Sometimes, these injuries cause mortality.
How Medical Malpractice Leads to Birth Injuries
While medical practitioners work diligently to ensure their patients’ well-being, there are rare occasions when they drop the ball during labor and delivery. Miscommunication can happen during labor and childbirth among midwives, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, obstetrical nurses, and obstetricians.
Similarly, a medical practitioner can miss or misinterpret test results during pregnancy, serving as a catalyst for injuries to a mother and baby. For instance, it is a fatal medical error to fail to identify irregular fetal heart rate patterns or elevated blood pressure during pregnancy.
Most medical errors do not lead to injuries. However, failing to order or perform a critical test can hamper the ability to intervene and stop the injury.
The Most Typical Causes of Birth Injuries
Typical prenatal causes of birth injuries usually entail the failure to diagnose or manage situations that happen in pregnancy, like gestational diabetes and high blood pressure. These conditions put the infant at risk during delivery.
In such situations, screening and testing are required to make the proper diagnosis. The healthcare provider will manage the conditions vigilantly to prevent the mother and fetus from adverse situations.
For instance, gestational hypertension can cause neurological and kidney damage to the mother and restrict the growth and weight of the fetus at birth. These conditions can serve as the premise for more threats for neurological injuries.
Also, the lack of management of diabetes that develops during pregnancy puts the child at risk for shoulder dystocia and macrosomia during birth. It can also lead to hypoglycemia after birth.
Failure to identify the signs and relieve developing fetal acidemia from hypoxia is a typical cause of birth injury during labor and delivery. Uteroplacental insufficiency, premature placental separation, and nuchal cords are the underlying conditions that trigger the minimized oxygenated blood flow to the fetus. The lack of timely intervention can cause brain injury in the infant, depending on the cause and magnitude of the underlying condition.
Sometimes, bleeding under the scalp or more severe bleeds in the skull can happen from operative delivery with a vacuum or forceps. Neurological injury can happen in some contexts.
If the child’s shoulder becomes stuck behind the pubic bone of the mother and the baby cannot slip under it, it can lead to shoulder dystocia in vaginal delivery. Healthcare providers are experts in conducting various maneuvers to safely dislodge the shoulders and allow the mother to expel the child. If the medical practitioner fails to identify dystocia or pulls the baby’s head to pull it out, it can lead to stretching or rupturing the nerves in the neck, injuring the arm.
Legal Recourse of Birth Injury Due to Medical Negligence
State courts have the authority to adjudicate medical negligence claims. However, a federal court will assume jurisdiction in some cases. The plaintiff must have a medical basis for their claim, proving the medical practitioner deviated from the required care standard.
Therefore, you need a birth injury lawyer to analyze the medical records and see if the medical practitioner has a case to answer.
“You must connect the medical error to the injury and establish that the physician’s medical negligence is directly responsible for the birth injury. After establishing liability and causation, you can demand compensation for past and anticipated healthcare for the baby, pain and suffering, and the parents’ emotional damage. The compensation can run into millions of dollars for a severe injury,” says attorney Eric H. Weitz of The Weitz Firm, LLC.
The Right Step Before Legal Battle
Parents of an injured child should first focus on getting the best possible care for their child. The child may need pediatric neurology care if they sustain a brain injury for brain cooling immediately after birth. If the child cannot feed themselves and needs feeding via tube, they may also require gastroenterology care.
You may also visit physicians and rehabilitation medicine experts to give therapy to minimize spasms and enhance the child’s musculoskeletal health.
You Need an Attorney
Contact a local birth injury attorney after ensuring proper care for the child. Your lawyer will help you gather relevant information and evidence to prove medical negligence. It is also crucial to keep track of every physician visit, medical costs, and expenses for the child’s unique needs.
Your legal representative will assess the medical information and plan carefully before launching a legal battle with the defendant.
