If you, or someone you love, have been diagnosed with a birth injury, you may be able to file a legal claim against the party(s) responsible due to medical malpractice and collect significant financial compensation.
Our first trauma may be birth itself. The trauma may be extreme with obvious damage. But even an apparently gentle birth can cause some problems.
The tiny infant is extremely resilient; able to withstand tremendous pressures as they are squeezed through the birth canal, and forced to take their first breath. This first breath infuses the tissues with life, and expands the body to ready itself for the world.
Although birth injuries can occur through means other than negligence, birth injuries such as Erb's palsy, cerebral palsy, and brain injury can also be the result of medical malpractice on the part of the doctor, nurse, or other health care professional.
Causes of Birth Injury
There are several complications that can lead to birth injury:
1. Kidney or urinary tract infections in the mother during pregnancy can go undetected and lead to trauma to the fetus.
2. The shortage of oxygen to the brain that occurs when the umbilical cord is wrapped around the infant's neck during delivery can cause brain damage if undetected by medical professionals.
3. Shoulder dystocia - a condition in which the infant's shoulder is caught behind the mother's pelvic bone. Shoulder dystocia can cause a shortage of oxygen to the infant's brain. In addition, if the doctor does not correctly treat shoulder dystocia during birth it can lead to a condition known as Erb's palsy, in which the nerves leading from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arms, and wrist are damaged due to excessive stretching during birth.
Two kinds of birth injury that often result from complications during birth are, as mentioned above, Erb's palsy and cerebral palsy. These two conditions can usually be avoided with proper medical care. In cases where these injuries occur due to medical negligence, the parents of the child have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Birth injuries may also arise from complications during pregnancy. The mother may have taken a medication that contributes to birth defects or other problems. Today, 1 in 200 babies is born with some form of birth injury, and many of these cases may have been caused by negligence.
If your baby suffered a birth injury, you should consider inquiring about your legal options. In times of grief, it is obviously difficult for family members to understand the importance of a prompt investigation of the circumstances of the injury, preservation of evidence and identification of responsible parties. However, the large compensation from a lawsuit is often necessary to cover the extensive medical bills that will accrue in the years to come.
Today's prenatal testing with blood work, ultrasound and chromosomal analysis allows for the identification of a number of birth defects and abnormal fetal conditions. Such information may be important to parents who may not want to carry an abnormal pregnancy to term or to a fetus who may require prenatal treatment to avoid more significant injury during development. Congenital conditions such as Down's syndrome, anencephaly, hydrocephaly, holoprosencephaly and spina bifida can be identified prior to birth so as to allow a mother a choice regarding the pregnancy. Other abnormal conditions, such as placenta previa, placental abruption, intrauterine growth retardation and macrosomia, need to be identified so that they can be managed to lessen the risk of injury to the child. Birth injury cases often have very large settlements, and therefore require the highest level of legal expertise. Often the multi-million dollar verdicts are necessary to care for a lifetime of medical bills stemming from the accident. But more than financial compensation, families will look for justice; and a way to prevent negligence from harming another baby
Birth injuries can be divided into three categories:
BRACHIAL PLEXUS PALSY
Better obstetric management has led to a decrease in severity of Brachial Plexus Palsy but there are still two babies affected in each 1000, born. Stretching or tearing of the brachial plexus occurs usually because of a forcep delivery, a larger than average baby, a breach birth, shoulder dystocia or prolonged labour.
The Erb-Duchenne(C5,6) type affecting the elbow wrist or hand is the least disturbing. The Klumpke (C8,T1) type presents a worse prognosis than the above.
The Total Plexuscondition is the most disturbing of all.
In 90% of cases the problem resolves without surgical intervention. Surgery would be indicated however, if there’s a lack of bicep function, 3 months after the injury. The surgical options include Latissimus and teres major transfer to the shoulder external rotators, proximal humerus rotational osteotomy, tendon transfers for elbow flexion, releasing contractures or microsurgical nerve grafting.
TORTICOLLIS
This deformity is associated with hip dysplasia and metatarsus adductus, resulting from contracture of the sternocleidomastoid muscle.
Obvious symptoms may include:
- ophthalmologic disorders which cause the child to tilt his/her head to see.
- posterior fossa brain tumours.
- C-spine anomalies
The etiology remains uncertain but studies suggest that it is caused by an intrauterine Compartment Syndrome. Fibrosis of the muscle plus a palpable mass [which appear within 4 weeks] are usually the first signs. The muscles of most affected children respond to ongoing, passive stretching within the first year. If the problem persists surgical release of the muscle distally [or proximally and distally] may be required.
CONGENITAL PSEUDOARTHROSIS OF THE CLAVICLE
This disorder involves the middle third of the clavicle. It does not have an associated fracture callus and almost always occurs on the right side.
Surgical repair is needed if the child suffers severe pain.
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