Having a baby is one of the most celebrated moments in life, and the vulnerability of a mother and her child are at an all time high. The stress of the process on an obstetrician and medical staff can cause complications, or allow some conditions to go unnoticed. A birth injury can be detrimental to your child’s life in the future, and if your baby had a birth injury it is important to find out exactly what happened and who is responsible.
WHO IS INVOLVED?
There are many people involved in the delivery process, but medical malpractice claims often fall back on the main physician involved. However, it is important to look at labor and delivery nurses as well because they are typically involved in the birthing process far before the doctor even arrives to deliver the baby.
NEGLIGENCE
Negligence can occur when the nurses are monitoring the mother and child for hours before the delivery begins. In some cases even an error in delivering medication during birth can result in a birth injury such as Cerebral Palsy or severe brain damage. It’s important to pinpoint exactly what injury occurred, how it happened, and how it could have been prevented.
BIRTH DEFECT VS. BIRTH INJURY
One of the hardest things to realize when your baby is born, is the difference between what is a birth defect and what is a birth injury. To make it clear a birth defect is something that happens as a direct result to your child’s DNA structure, not something could have been prevented.
Here are some of the most common birth injuries today:
- Improper use of birthing tools such as extraction tools or forceps
- Failure to perform an emergency cesarean surgery (C-section) if it was needed
- Failure to monitor infant properly for regular heartbeat or distress
- Pulling and/or twisting the infant during delivery
Although these are not all possible birth injuries, they are the most common and can cause harm to your child. Medical staff should be properly trained on how to deliver a healthy baby and the problems that can arise that add stress to the delivery. The added stress of a difficult delivery can cause negligence that hurts your child. If you believe your child has been affected by a birth injury it is important to track their symptoms and consult a different doctor for an honest, unbiased opinion of the situation.
At Spector Law, we want to ensure that you and your child are well taken care of if you have been a victim of medical malpractice. Caring for a child with a birth injury that could have been prevented can be a costly endeavor. Our Baltimore personal injury lawyers are fully prepared at Spector Injury & Accident Lawyers to assist in your time of need, and make sure you are compensated for any medical malpractice you may have encountered during the delivery process. Call us risk free today.
