MEDICAL MALPRACTIVE: BIRTH INJURIES

 

Are you the parent of a child suffering with a birth injury? If so, you should call us right away. Parents often believe their child's birth injury just happened and that it could not have been avoided. Unfortunately, the majority of birth injuries can and should be avoided if adequate medical care is provided. Some of those birth injuries could have been the result of poor medical care.

Some examples:

 

• Brain damage due to lack of oxygen

• Cerebral Palsy

• Arm and shoulder injuries (Erb's Palsy and Brachid Plexis Palsy)

• Mental retardation

• Newborn death

• Meningitis in the first few days after birth

 

During pregnancy, good medical care will indicate to the mother's health provider the health of the baby. The health provider will also9 determine what deliver technique should be used to best avoid a potential birth injury. During labor, the fetus heart rates is monitored to determine if the fetus is in danger. Our office has seen too many cases where the doctor or hospital nurse failed to act quickly when a fetus is in distress. One result of their failure was the baby suffered a lack of oxygen causing brain damage. Frequent causes of birth injury:

 

• Failure of medical personnel to respond to bleeding

• Failure to respond to umbilical cord entrapment

• Delay in the doctor ordering a C-section

• Misuse of vacuum extractor or forceps during delivery

• Improper use of the drug Pitocin

• Medical personnel giving poor newborn care

• Medical personnel failing to manage infection in either the mother or the baby

 

Most often birth injuries are apparent within thirty days of birth. However, sometimes birth injuries do not become apparent until the child fails to act like other babies his (her) age during the first eighteen months of life.

 

Oddly, if an infant is not born alive, we can do nothing to help the parents. Why? Because Florida law does not recognize a claim for malpractice unless an infant survives, if for only a few seconds.

 

Do keep in mind there is a Statute of Limitation that applies to claims against medical providers. Failure to file the claim within the statutory period could result in loss of the claim. For further information concerning the Statute of Limitation that applies to this type of claim, be sure to consult an attorney or call us at 1-800-332-1992. Call us for free consultation if you or a family member has a child who suffers from a birth injury.