Birth Trauma

Medical providers are responsible for giving adequate care to pregnant mothers and unborn children. This responsibility extends throughout the pregnancy and during labor delivery.  When a child is born with a birth injury, the family can be faced with complicated, expensive and prolonged care for that child. Many parents do not know the cause of their child's condition and oftentimes, it goes undetected for months and years. Sometimes the injury was not the result of a birth defect but could not have been prevented with proper medical attention. 

For example, anesthesia-related complications are the sixth leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States. Studies have revealed that human error is responsible for 82% of preventable anesthesia related injuries. Anesthesia-related problems are only one kind of mistake that can be made by medical providers that cause injuries to children or their mothers. Other examples include: failure to treat conditions in the mother during pregnancy, failure to order specific tests during pregnancy and/or not interpreting these test results correctly once performed, failure to deliver via cesarean section if there is a problem during the birth, inadequate monitoring of the baby during labor, overuse of vacuum extraction, administration of too much labor-inducing medication, the failure to respond to the changing condition and position of the unborn baby during labor, as well as other factors.

Many times a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain or a trauma to the baby’s head during labor and delivery can result in cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a term that describes a group of disorders that affect control of movement. Cerebral Palsy can be acquired after birth as a result of damage to the brain in the first months or years of life.  Signs that a child may have cerebral palsy include blue or dusky skin at birth, floppy limbs at birth, poor sucking after birth, need for resuscitation at or shortly after birth because the child is not breathing, and seizures that develop within 24 to 48 hours of birth.

An example of another injury that can be caused at birth is Erb's palsy, also known as brachial plexus palsy, or shoulder dystocia. This occurs when too much lateral traction is applied to the fetal neck region during delivery causing the child's nerves to be torn resulting in a limp arm or permanent paralysis of the arm.

The attorneys at Duce Bastian Peterson have the experience to help identify if you have a viable claim for injuries to your child.  Give one of our attorneys a call to discuss your case and receive a no charge initial consultation.