Birth Injuries

The most exciting time in a couple’s life is awaiting the birth of their child. It can be both elating and terrifying at the same time, especially if this is the first child. Many parents worry that something could go wrong during the pregnancy or birth that could leave their child seriously injured or ill. This is why parents rely on medical professionals to closely monitor the pregnancy and to be alert and fully aware during labor and delivery of any signs of distress for mother and baby.

In the majority of births, the baby is born healthy. But tragically, thousands of babies suffer birth injuries each year because of medical negligence. National statistics show that 27 out of every 1,000 births involve some form of birth injury. There are certain standards that every obstetrician and midwife need to abide by when treating pregnant women and failure of doing the following can result in devastating consequences.

Checking for Vital Signs

During each prenatal visit a woman goes to, the doctor or midwife should check all of her vital signs. This includes temperature, blood pressure, and weight. These simple checks can quickly indicate if there are any issues that could indicate an issue with the health of the mother and/or baby. Failure to perform these tests could result in conditions developing that could both their lives at risk.

For example, symptoms of gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, or high blood pressure show up during these simple but vital tests. These conditions put both mother and baby in a high-risk category where special precautions need to be taken. Obstetricians and midwives owe a duty of care to their patients of the same degree of care, skill, and diligence that a reasonable competent midwife or doctor would provide under similar circumstances.

Under the law, similar circumstances include the area of obstetrics and the level of facilities and medical equipment available.

If the doctor or midwife fails to notice signs something is wrong or disregards these symptoms during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, the mother and baby could suffer serious and life-threatening injuries. Some of the more common our birth injury attorneys handle includes:

• Confusing the infant’s heart rate with the mother’s during monitoring
• Failure to identify and treat conditions like Rh incompatibility, maternal or fetal infection, gestational diabetes, etc.
• Failure to respond to complications appropriately or in a timely manner during labor or delivery
• Miscalculating the size of the baby, resulting in a traumatic delivery
• Oxygen deprivation

Contact a Birth Injury Attorney Today

If your baby suffered birth trauma and you suspect negligent medical care was the cause, contact a birth injury attorney today. They will schedule a case evaluation and determine what kind of financial compensation your family may be entitled to.