A birth injury is a heartbreaking event that can devastate the lives of new parents. While some birth injuries are temporary, injury at birth can sometimes mean years or even a lifetime of medical care. Although there is an inherent risk of injury during labor and delivery, when a poor medical decision directly causes your child’s injury, you may have a valid medical malpractice claim.
Common Birth Injuries
Brain damage is one of the most severe forms of birth injury, and it can result from a forced lack of oxygen to the brain or a physical mishandling of the cranium. Cerebral palsy is a debilitating condition that is often caused by both types of brain damage, and results in impaired brain function, lack of muscle control, and body movement issues.
Brachial palsy is a condition occurring when the nerves controlling arm and hand movements become injured at birth. This is commonly caused by shoulder dystocia, a birth injury resulting from the baby’s shoulders blocking its passage through the birth canal. In severe cases, the baby may sustain permanent nerve damage requiring physical therapy and possibly surgery.
Medical Errors Resulting in Birth Injuries
The following medical errors commonly result in birth injuries:
- Failure to anticipate birth complications
- Failure to respond appropriately to bleeding
- Failure to observe or respond to umbilical cord entrapment
- Failure to respond to fetal distress
- Failure to order a cesarean section when necessary
- Misuse of forceps or a vacuum extractor during delivery
- Prenatal care or postnatal care errors
- Failure to properly attend to an infection
If any of these errors have resulted in an injury to your baby, you may be entitled to receive compensation. Our experienced birth injury lawyers can help make sure the negligent medical professionals are held accountable for your baby’s damages.
Experienced Birth Injury Representation
The birth injury lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers have an extensive background in helping parents recover money damages after their infant has been injured. One of the most challenging aspects of handling a birth injury case is estimating the baby’s future medical needs and putting a dollar amount to the unknown. This requires a great deal of skill and experience on the part of your legal team. Our lawyers will employ medical experts to prove negligence occurred and calculate potential medical costs down the road. Our goal is to get you an ample amount of compensation so you are financially prepared for whatever comes your way.
Please contact our birth injury lawyers today to schedule your free initial consultation. Jacoby & Meyers has offices throughout the U.S.