While the majority of babies enter the world unscathed, this is little consolation to the few parents whose babies suffered birth injuries or trauma.
Birth injuries sometimes occur when obstetricians or other healthcare professionals manipulate the position or movement of the baby at birth. When the baby is improperly grabbed, forced or prodded through the birth canal, the following kinds of birth injuries can result:
- Cerebral Palsy or brain damage due to oxygen deprivation to the baby
- Erb’s Palsy, Brachial Plexus Palsy, or Klumpke’s Palsy, which cause nerve damage affecting movement of the hands, wrists, or arms of the newborn
- Shoulder dystocia, which occurs when the shoulder of the newborn becomes lodged on the public bone of the mother and manipulation is required for correct delivery
- Caput succedaneum, a severe swelling of the scalp caused by improper use of vacuum extraction
- Cephalohematoma, an injury on the head of the infant, which causes jaundice as red blood cells break down
Legal remedies
In coping with these severe injuries, the family can face substantial medical expenses, including physical therapy, doctors, and medical equipment.
If negligence on the part of the healthcare provider caused the injuries and can be proven, the family could receive a financial settlement or jury award that compensates them for the cost of care.
If you believe medical negligence or malpractice caused your baby to suffer birth injuries, you need to seek the help of a medical malpractice attorney promptly as there are deadlines for suing for malpractice.
Dr. Michael M. Wilson is an attorney and a physician who earned his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his legal and medical degrees from Georgetown University. He has focused in the area of medical malpractice for more than three decades and secured more than $100 million in settlements and verdicts on behalf of clients throughout the country. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is listed in America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators.
