Birth Injuries Very Difficult On Families

Birth Injuries Very Difficult On Families

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A family awaits a new member as a mother is wheeled into the delivery room. All examinations and ultrasounds indicate that the baby is normal and developing right on schedule. However, during the birthing process there are complications and the obstetrician and delivery room personnel fail to recognize and properly address the situation. This could result in an injury to the newborn. Depending on the severity of the injury, it could have devastating long-term effects on both child and family.

Though it is not at all pleasant to think about, there are a number of things that can go wrong before and during the delivery of a baby. Sometimes these things cannot be avoided: the baby may be premature, the mother may have a prolonged or difficult labor or the baby might be in an abnormal birthing presentation, among other things. Delivery personnel do the best job they can in trying to prevent injury, and more often than not in these cases a skillful and experienced delivery staff will be successful in minimizing any damage.

However, there are other instances where negligence on the part of delivery personnel may be responsible for an injury during the birthing process. Some of these include:

Improper use of forceps.
Improper monitoring of the mother during the pregnancy process.
Delivery personnel not giving proper attention to a mother in labor; leaving her unattended.
Delivery personnel not recognizing the need for a Caesarean section.
Failure to properly deal with an emergency such as fetal distress.
Lack of preparedness for problems that should have been detected during pregnancy.
Rough handling or unnecessary maneuvering of the baby during delivery.

These injuries can have short-term or lifelong effects. Following are some of the damages that can be caused by birth injuries:

Bruising, cutting or swelling around the head from extraction by vacuum or forceps.
Facial damage or paralysis from aggressive or badly-positioned forceps extraction.
Caput succedaneum is swelling or bleeding of the scalp due to a rough delivery.
Cephalohematoma is brusing or bleeding underneath the skull which is sometimes caused by a rough delivery. This can lead to seizures and other complications.
Broken bones. Many times this may involve a shoulder or clavicle due to a rough delivery or inappropriate procedures during a breech or unorthodox birth.
Cerebral palsey is a brain injury that can result from a rough birth or neglect by delivery personnel.

What Can Be Done?

If neglect or malpractice is suspected, families should immediately contact a birth injuries attorney. A good place to start would be to find a medical malpractice lawyer with a good track record. An experienced personal injury lawyer will be familiar with many scenarios surrounding birth injury cases, and will be able to take a family through the claims process step-by-step.

No amount of money can reverse the damage to a child who has been injured at birth due to a mistake or neglectful act by doctors or delivery room personnel. However, compensation awarded to families for birth injury cases will ease the burden if long-term care is needed for an injured or affected child.

About the Author:
Douglas D. Brannon, Esq. of Brannon & Associates, is the author of this article which focuses on the medical malpractice lawyer and the birth injuries attorney. Brannon & Associates is a Dayton, Ohio based law firm specializing in accident claims, consumer protection law, nursing home injuries, and class action lawsuit cases.



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