Birth Injuries are Preventable

Becoming a new parent may be one of the most exciting and frightening times in someone’s life. For nine months the child was carried by the mother, plans for the near future were made, and everyone who knows the birth is inevitably close have been looking forward to hearing the news. However, one of the last hurdles the child and parents must endure before being welcomed into the world is the actual birth. Most of the time, the birth will go just as planned. Yet there are occasions where the birth is not an occasion for joy, but of sadness and disbelief.

Birth injuries and trauma will have devastating effects on the families and loved ones that may last for a very long time. Physical, emotional, and financial hardship may result from the birth of an injured child. The child may have permanent disabilities or even die from injuries sustained. And, while immediate treatment and detection can increase the child’s chances for some kind of recovery or avoid death, many children who survive will require long term care.

The central focus of preventable birth injuries is negligence on the part of the hospital, doctors, and others who helped deliver the child. Common causes of birth trauma and injury include:
• Abnormal presentation, including shoulder dystocia
• Medical problems or infections in the fetus
• Medical problems or infections in the mother
• Rh incompatibility
• Fetus size miscalculation
• Failure to perform a timely C-section
• Pre or post mature delivery due to improper dating
• Improper use of delivery instruments
• Failure to give oxygen to newborns when needed
• Failure to monitor the fetus and respond to fetal distress
• Administration of improper medications during pregnancy and/or delivery

Types of birth injury
Birth injuries include injury to the body, brain, or both. They can range from mild to severe, or death, as well as be temporary or permanent. Common preventable birth injuries include:
• Brain injury (including Cerebral palsy)
• Brachial plexus injuries (including Klumpke's Palsy or Erb’s palsy)
• Infections
• Facial paralysis
• General paralysis
• Untreated jaundice
• Spasticity
• Seizures
• Bruising from forceps
• Skull fractures
• Bleeding inside the skull
• Bleeding beneath the scalp
• Excessive bleeding
• Meconium aspiration
• Spinal cord damage
• Soft tissue injuries
• Clavicle fractures
• Cranial nerve trauma
• Skin irritation
• Stillbirth

If you suspect that your child may have suffered a birth trauma or birth injury, seek medical attention for your child immediately. Your child’s best hope is in getting the best treatment available, and those treatments can be expensive. Getting the compensation you need, and deserve, may be the only way to provide the care your child will need and can make the difference between recovering from a birth injury and permanent disability.