It’s tragic when health care providers that we trust to bring our precious offspring into the world, make mistakes that cause lasting harm. Doctors, nurses, midwives, and other medical professionals have an ethical and legal duty to adhere to standard practices for birth and delivery. When they fail to meet these standards, they can be held liable for the injuries they cause to innocent newborns. If your child is suffering due to the negligence of the health care professionals responsible for bringing your child into the world, you should speak to an experienced personal injury attorney about your legal rights.
Causes of Birth Injuries
Most birth injuries are caused by the failure of medical providers to properly handle complications during labor and delivery. The saddest part is how many of these birth injuries could have been avoided with proper prenatal diagnosis of risk factors including gestational diabetes, breech presentation, and hypertension disorders such as HELLP Syndrome and preeclampsia. These are some of the most common scenarios that cause birth injuries:
- Delay in diagnosing or reacting to fetal distress;
- Delay in ordering c-section upon diagnosis of fetal distress;
- Excessive force when performing vacuum suctioning or using forceps;
- Failure to diagnose infections;
- Failure to diagnose and properly treat problems with the umbilical cord.
An experienced personal injury attorney can review your child’s medical records to determine whether there was negligence during labor or birth.
Birth Injuries Caused By Negligence
Improper labor and delivery procedures can cause long lasting severe health problems or deformities. Some of the most common serious birth injuries are:
- Brain damage caused by fetal asphyxia
- Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
- Shoulder dystocia injuries
- Erb’s Palsy
- Fractured bones
- Facial Scarring
These serious injuries can cause pain, suffering, and emotional distress for both the child and their family. Some birth injuries are catastrophic, requiring extremely costly round the clock medical care and accommodations. This is why the law provides victims with the ability to make a claim for monetary damages. Collecting compensation can help families support their injured child with the best care possible.
Choose The Right Personal Injury Attorney
Not every California personal injury attorney has experience handling birth injury cases. This narrow specialty requires knowledge of the acceptable standards for prenatal care, labor, and delivery. Before you hire a personal injury attorney, it’s important to ask whether they have handled birth injury cases before successfully. If your child was injured as a result of improper prenatal care and/or mistakes during labor and delivery, it’s important to have a consultant with an experienced California birth injuries attorney to discuss your legal rights to compensation.
Find Out How We Can Help
At Silva Injury Law we promote healing through compassionate advocacy. With each case tailored to the individual, we look our for your best interests by evaluating your unique circumstances. Contact us today for a FREE in person or remote consultation.