Birth Injury – Cerebral Palsy, Asphyxia – Wrongful Death Lawsuit
While the rates of birth injury have declined considerably over the last decades, about 7 percent of babies sustain injuries while transitioning from the uterus to the outside world. In many cases, injuries are minor and result from the forces of contraction, compression and traction involved in the process of vaginal birth. Common birth complications include bruises and tissue swelling, which typically completely subside within a couple of days or weeks. In addition, a large number of newborns have subconjunctival hemorrhage – red rings around the eyes' irises caused by perforated blood vessels. This condition also resolves within a couple of weeks and does not affect the newborns' vision.
In some cases, however, babies sustain more serious birth injuries that can negatively affect the development of proper motor functions, speech, and thinking and memory patterns. One of the more serious conditions affecting child development is cerebral palsy. In the majority of cerebral palsy cases, this condition develops before the baby is born. In rare occasions, however, injuries sustained at birth can lead to the development of cerebral palsy. Birthing events linked to the onset of cerebral palsy include head injury and severe asphyxia (lack of oxygen during birth).
Cerebral palsy is rarely apparent immediately after birth. The most common signs of this condition – improper movement coordination, abnormal muscle tone, walking on the toes and mental retardation – become noticeable as the child reaches the age of several months. However, the diagnosis of cerebral palsy is often not confirmed until after the child is two years old. Unfortunately, currently there is no cure for cerebral palsy. While therapy and medications can improve the child's quality of life, they do not treat the underlying problem, abnormalities in the brain. Therefore, although the child's muscles and nerves are healthy, due to the brain's failure to effectively coordinate their functions, proper development of movement, speech and thinking is hindered.
Other birth injuries that can cause permanent damage include nerve injury and spinal cord injury. The risk of these injuries increases if the baby is very large (over 4,000 grams) and/or if the mother is of small stature as these factors make the baby's passage through the birth canal more difficult. As a result, the newborn's spinal cord might become overstretched, causing permanent paralysis below the injury site. Nerve damage sometimes occurs due to difficulty delivering the baby's shoulders. The nerves to the arms and diaphragm might become bruised or torn, rendering the baby unable to move his or her arms and obstructing breathing.
The advances of modern medicine have made birth injuries very rare as doctors are able to continually assess the baby's development and birthing process by using ultrasound and other monitoring devices. However, sometimes medical professionals fail to carry out their duties and act negligently, causing the newborn to sustain birth injuries. The most common examples of negligence include failure to recognize improper birth position, administration of wrong medications and failure to recommend and perform cesarean section in cases of prolonged labor.
These and other actions can not only cause major birth injuries but they can also lead to a wrongful death of a newborn. While this is an extremely tragic event, parents who suspect medical malpractice should seek legal help to hold the negligent medical personnel responsible. While no dollar amount can ease their suffering, compensation can cover the costs of lengthy psychological therapy and other rehabilitation programs. In addition, lawsuits often result in revoked medical licenses, barring negligent doctors from harming other babies.