Many families who seek damages from hospitals and obstetricians in medical malpractice lawsuits do so because their child has developed one or more birth injuries as a result of conditions linked to hypoxia and other trauma during the delivery process. These are often attributed to negligence, but some healthcare facilities are working to reduce this possibility.

Issues regarding a lack of oxygen (hypoxia) can be found with monitoring of saturation levels in a child’s blood. Florida doctors in Lee County have added a test that measures this to their protocols during the first day a newborn is alive. They say that among other benefits, it catches four out of five heart defects and other congenital conditions with technology already in place in most hospitals.

However, this is not the common procedure in all hospitals and unfortunately it is best used to diagnose problems once they already exist. More useful, birth injury lawsuit attorneys often allege, is the use of fetal heart rate monitors that can detect distress based on changes in pulse rate. This can help obstetricians identify potential problems such as a kinked umbilical cord, shoulder dystocia and other conditions that can lead to hypoxia.

However, recent birth injury lawsuits have alleged that OB/GYNs and other hospital staffers do not necessarily monitor those monitors, or if they do, can make mistakes through negligence or ignorance. Some congenital conditions occur because a child’s heart rate has jumped, not relative to standard expectations but compared to previously recorded information. This can lead to problems with limb deformities in the case of shoulder dystocia and brain damage that would not have occurred without alleged negligence causing congenital conditions.

Parents of children who were born with disabilities related to a birth injury may be able to pursue compensatory damages for their family. Learn more about your legal options by filling out the form on this page or clicking the “Get a Free Case Evaluation” button below.