Although giving birth can be a joyous occasion, joy can quickly turn to immediate concern when a baby endures physical injuries during childbirth. These childbirth related injuries may also be the result of medical malpractice.

Birth-related medical malpractice can make for devastating and heartbreaking discoveries, when parents discover that their babies’ physical injuries may have been averted and avoided. Seeking compensation through a birth injury lawsuit can help compensate families for incidences such as pain, suffering, medical expenses, and more.

Birth-related Medical Malpractice Facts

A baby may be more likely to suffer from birth injuries during deliveries that require vacuum extraction, cesarean section, or obstetrical forceps. Some common birth injuries also include and are not limited to:

• Brachial plexus injuries
• Erb’s palsy
• Mental retardation
• Injuries from oxygen deprivation
• Retinopathy of prematurity
• Klumpke’s palsy
• Cerebral palsy

It is also significant to point out that not all injuries suffered by a baby during childbirth are due to medical malpractice. It’s important that parents who may have suffered from such occurrences seek counsel from a skilled attorney familar with medical malpractice cases.

The two most common types of physical injuries seen in babies are traumatic brain damage and cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a congenital disorder of movement, posture, or muscle tone. These two diagnoses are not always evident right away after childbirth. Both diagnoses can require many years before symptoms become self-evident.

Retinopathy of prematurity is the condition in which there is the formation of abnormal blood vessels in the retina of the premature baby’s eye. Brachial plexus damage is the occurrence of damage to the nerves which function to control the hands and arms of the baby.

Additionally, other birth-related injuries also include bacterial infections, spinal cord injury, fractured bones, and facial paralysis.

Some of these birth-related medical malpractice injuries will improve unaided or individually. However, many of these cases will, unfortunately, cause permanent adverse health effects and other serious complications for the child in question.

Additionally, the care needed to take care of a disabled child can be immense, causing expenses, strain, and difficulty on the family, not only financially, but physically and emotionally as well.

Parents who deal with the results of birth-related medical malpractice will often want answers as to whether these adverse physical injuries could have been prevented. Often, nurses and doctors will refrain from answering these questions.

Typically, moreover, a case brought by a medical malpractice attorney may also compensate for pain and suffering, future loss of earnings, past and future medical expenses, and costs of extraordinary care such as caregivers, physical therapy, special education and training.