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Birth Injury Resource Center
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If your child suffers from cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy, PPHN or any other birth related injury, please fill out this form or call us at 1-800-682-9443 for a free case evaluation.
Medical Negligence
The process of labor and delivery can be hard on a tiny, fragile baby. Occasionally during childbirth, an infant may suffer physical injury that is unavoidable. This type of birth injury can result from factors such as a large baby, premature delivery, advanced maternal age, or multiple births, and cannot be prevented.
However, sometimes a birth injury is a result of carelessness on the part of the physician and other providers that care for a woman during her pregnancy, labor and delivery. Medical negligence, or malpractice, occurs when a doctor strays from normal, accepted standards of medical practice and consequently causes harm to a patient. Birth injuries can be caused by medical negligence in a variety of scenarios, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Failure to accurately interpret fetal ultrasounds or heart rate monitors
- Failure to identify and respond to fetal distress in a timely manner
- Failure to perform a cesarean section (c-section) when warranted
- Failure to expedite delivery of the baby
- Excessive force applied by obstetrical and operative devices such as forceps and vacuum extractions
- Improper use of Pitocin, a drug which is used to induce or facilitate labor
- Applying excessive force to a baby's neck or shoulders during delivery
- Failure to adequately resuscitate or care for the newborn after delivery
A provider may also be considered negligent if he or she fails to properly manage complicated pregnancy and delivery situations such as:
- abnormally large babies
- prematurity; babies born before 37 weeks
- abnormal maternal bleeding or fetal bleeding
- compressed or prolapsed umbilical cord
- prolonged labor
- abnormally large fetus
- underweight or premature fetus
- abnormal birthing presentation, such as breech
- detached placenta
- inadequate pelvis size for vaginal delivery
- maternal infections
Contact a Birth Injury Lawyer
Proving that a birth injury was caused by medical negligence is difficult. Different parties may be held liable for medical malpractice, depending on a variety of factors such as where in the country the injury occurred.
An experienced birth injury lawyer can help you determine who is responsible for your child's injury. If it is proved that medical negligence or malpractice caused your child to be injured, a birth injury lawyer may be able to help you obtain compensation for emotional suffering and the costs associated with your child's medical treatment and therapy.
If you think your child is suffering from a birth injury as a result of medical negligence, contact us today to receive a free legal consultation. Our birth injury lawyers will help you understand your rights under the law and determine a course of action that's right for you and your family.