Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can be fatal or they may mean permanent disability for your child. The birth of a healthy child changes your life forever. When a child survives birth injuries, the joy of raising a family is accompanied by unforeseen hardships that can include the early death of your child. Birth injuries are often preventable, and the result of medical malpractice. When that is the case, the compensation that you are entitled to can help you pay for the treatment your child needs and may even enable your child to make a full recovery.
Common Birth Injuries
Birth injuries range in severity. What most of them have in common is the need for immediate attention. Detecting and responding to them quickly and properly can mean the difference life and death or a lifetime of disability.
In some cases, a very simple but timely intervention is all it takes to save a baby’s life and avoid permanent injury. Others will need very expensive, cutting edge treatments just to have the best chance of survival or possibly a normal life.
Some common birth injuries include:
- Brain injury
- Brachial plexus injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Skull fracture
- Clavicle fracture
- Soft tissue injury
- Cranial nerve trauma
- Bleeding beneath the scalp
- Bleeding inside the skull
- Bruising from forceps
- Spasticity
- Paralysis
- Facial paralysis
- Inhaling first feces (meconium aspiration)
- Untreated jaundice
- Seizures
- Excessive bleeding
- Infections
- Skin irritation
- Stillbirth
Common Causes of Birth Injuries
All too often, birth injuries are the result of medical malpractice. Some of the common causes of birth injuries are:
- Infections in the mother
- Infections in the fetus
- Other unaddressed medical problems in the mother or fetus
- Giving inappropriate medications to the mother
- Inappropriate use of Pitocin to induce or speed up labor
- Rh incompatibility
- Inadequate monitoring of fetus
- Failure to respond to fetal distress
- Failure to perform a timely C-section
- Abnormal position of fetus
- Miscalculation of the size of the fetus
- Miscalculation of due date resulting in premature or post mature delivery
- Improper use of delivery instruments
- Excessive force or haste during delivery
- Dropped baby
- Failure to give oxygen to newborns when needed
- Malfunctioning or improperly applied respiratory support
- Failure to respond to problems in newborn such as seizures, jaundice, or infections
More Information
If you or a loved one is in need of legal assistance, call Wobbrock & Lane Trial Lawyers, P.C. at 503-228-6600. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to handle your case, we will work on a contingency fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary recovery of funds. In many cases, a lawsuit must be filed before an applicable expiration date, known as a statute of limitations. Please call right away to ensure that you do not waive your right to possible compensation.