Common Birth Injuries Due to Medical Malpractice

Learn the Common Birth Injuries Due to Medical Malpractice to Protect Your Family and Know When to Get Help

Birth injuries are one of the most devastating forms of medical malpractice. This type of medical negligence occurs when a fetus, neonate, infant, or newborn is seriously injured by a healthcare provider’s reckless, careless, or outright negligent conduct. While most birth injuries occur during and immediately after the labor and delivery process, some birth injuries can occur in-utero, or other birth injuries could occur months or even a year after birth. This is because birth injuries are not discovered until the age of one or two, while other birth injuries may be immediately apparent. Anytime you suspect that your loved one has suffered any birth injury, it may be due to medical malpractice, and a trained medical malpractice lawyer should evaluate it.

According to a John Hopkins Medicine study, preventable medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the United States. These preventable medical errors can be caused to babies and children, sometimes manifesting as birth defects (which the CDC finds there to be one birth defect in about every 33 babies) or as obvious personal injuries such as lacerations, broken bones, or other clearly traumatic injuries.

Families who suspect that their child may have been the victim of a doctor, nurse, hospital, or any other healthcare provider’s negligence resulting in a birth injury should contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer like one of ours located here at Medical Malpractice Universe.

Some of the most common birth injuries due to medical malpractice that a family should consult with a birth injury lawyer include the following:

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy, also known as CP, is a potentially catastrophic birth injury that has permanent and long-lasting effects on a victim. Cerebral palsy is defined as a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to properly move and maintain balance, posture, muscle composure, and other related functions. CP is due to abnormal brain development, usually caused by hypoxic injuries to the brain during the labor and delivery process. These hypoxic or deprivation of oxygen injuries can result in lesions on the brain. When these lesions form on the cerebellum and brain stem, it can cause CP.

Medical malpractice can cause cerebral palsy in several ways, including the following:

Failure to monitor for fetal distress
Excessive use of Pitocin or improper use of Pitocin
Delays in ordering a c-section
Excessive use of vacuum extraction
Placenta pervia
Preeclampsia or eclampsia that is not timely treated
Placenta prolapse
Dehydration of the mother due to improper monitoring and hydration
Loss of fluid in the birth sac that is not monitored or treated
Placenta rupture
Traumatic injuries to a baby during or after birth
Dropping a baby
Delays in fetal resuscitation efforts
Delays in NICU referral
Improper insertion of airway tube to a neonate, and
Many other common causes.

Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)

Another devastating type of birth injury is caused by hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy or HIE. This is when there is a deprivation of oxygen (hypoxic) due to decreased blood flow (ischemic) that results in a brain injury (encephalopathy).

HIE can result in several different types of brain injuries, including CP and other hypoxic injuries that could affect language, cognition, thinking, hearing, sight, and virtually all other brain functions. Individuals who suffer from HIE may be victims of a negligent birth injury.

Kernicterus

One of the least commonly known birth injuries, but one of the most catastrophic yet most manageable to prevent, is kernicterus. This condition occurs when the bilirubin in a baby’s flood increases to dangerous levels, where it becomes toxic to tissue such as brain tissue, nerves, vessels, and other vital structures.

The hallmark symptom of this condition is jaundice or a yellowing appearance of skin and the eyes. While most babies get jaundice as their livers begin to work alone for the first time, when that jaundice continues for several days or a week, it can lead to kernicterus. Thus, medical professionals who fail to treat prolonged jaundice are likely to commit medical malpractice.

Brachial Plexus Injuries

Nerve injuries to a baby’s neck and arm are common, typically resulting in a brachial plexus injury. The brachial plexus is a complex network of nerves originating from the spinal cord in the neck (cervical spine). These nerves extend out from the spinal column and form a thick cable at the base of the neck, extending out and to the shoulder before continuing down the arm and into the fingertips.

Although strong, these nerves can be stretched, ripped, torn, or even pulled from their roots in the spinal cord during the labor and delivery process. This can result in decreased sensation, function, strength, physical deformities, and other damage to the arm.

The most common way brachial plexus nerve injuries occur is when a doctor pulls, yanks, tugs, or excessively uses forceps or a vacuum extractor on an infant’s arm—especially if the baby is stuck in the birth canal.

Were Your Baby’s Birth Injuries Due to Medical Malpractice? Consult With One of Our Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Birth injury cases are some of the most complex medical malpractice cases to prove because doctors, hospitals, and other medical professionals blame the “natural consequences” or “natural complications” associated with the labor and delivery process. While it is true that natural complications may cause some congenital disabilities and birth injuries, it is nearly impossible to know this unless an experienced medical malpractice lawyer reviews your claim.

If your child suffered any type of birth injury, including cerebral palsy, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, kernicterus, brachial plexus injuries, or any other damages before, during, or after labor and delivery, contact one of our experienced Birth Injury lawyers located here at Medical Malpractice Universe.