Giving birth to your child is supposed to be one of the most joyous and memorable occasions in an adult’s life. But for some parents, the birth of their baby is not always a happy occasion filled with excitement and celebration. We have all heard medical malpractice horror stories in which surgeons amputate the wrong limb or even perform an operation on the wrong patient. But perhaps the most egregious of all medical mistakes are the ones that leave an innocent, helpless child with an injury that will affect him or her negatively for the rest of the child's life. Birth injury is an all-too-common occurrence in our nation’s hospitals, and we want you to know that if your baby was injured during birth due to medical malpractice or negligence, there is legal help out there for you.
Parents, siblings, grandparents, and other loved ones of a birth injured child face overwhelming physical, emotional, and financial hardships. Children with birth injuries often require a lifetime of medical supervision and twenty-four hour care. Many parents must quit their jobs to care for injured children, making the financial burden of medical expenses, therapy, and special education even more difficult to meet.
Depending on the type of birth injury your child has suffered, he or she may require surgery, medications, or physical therapy. All of these come at great financial expense. Your child’s best hope is in getting the best, most advanced treatment available. If your child has suffered a preventable birth injury, getting the compensation that you deserve may be your only means of providing the care your child needs and can mean the difference between recovery and permanent disability.
Some of the most common birth injuries are:
· Brachial plexus injuries
· Brain injury
· Untreated jaundice
· Infections
· Spasticity
· Paralysis
· Seizures
· Bruising from forceps
· Skull fractures
· Excessive bleeding
· Bleeding beneath the scalp
· Bleeding inside the skull
· Clavicle fractures
· Spinal cord damage
· Cranial nerve trauma
· Facial paralysis
· Soft tissue injuries
· Skin irritation
· Stillbirth
What makes birth injuries so tragic is that they may be preventable in most cases. Knowing that human error is the cause of your child’s lifelong disabilities is just so hard to accept. The following is a list of some of the preventable contributors to birth injuries:
· Untreated infections and undiagnosed medical problems in the mother
· Administration of improper medications during pregnancy and/or delivery
· Rh incompatibility
· Infections and medical problems in the fetus
· Miscalculation of the size of the fetus
· Failure to monitor fetus and respond to fetal distress
· Failure to perform a timely c-section
· Abnormal presentation, including shoulder dystocia
· Improper use of delivery instruments
· Failure to give oxygen to newborns when needed
If your child suffered a birth injury, you may be entitled to compensation to cover medical expenses, future medical needs of your child, and even pain and suffering. Only experienced birth injury attorneys can advise you at this difficult time. Please contact Trief & Olk today to schedule your initial consultation. We represent birth injury victims throughout New York and New Jersey and will fight to get you the compensation your family deserves.
