How Can Medical Malpractice Cause a Birth Injury?

The birth of your child should be an exciting, joyous occasion, but if you were a victim of medical malpractice, you might have had a very different sort of experience. Medical malpractice occurs when medical practitioner or healthcare facility fails to provide adequate medical care, usually by making some mistake or acting negligently. Childbirth can be a complex process, and if your hospital or birthing center was not prepared to provide you with the medical attention you required, it may have resulted in a serious birth injury.

Birth injuries can be extremely devastating, especially if they result in long-lasting or permanent damage. If your child was harmed during or after birth due to someone else’s negligence, find out if you have a medical malpractice case on your hands.

About Birth Injuries

The chaos of labor and delivery can be quite a lot for new parents to handle and it can be difficult to focus on anything other than the upcoming birth. During this time, hospital staff, nurses, and doctors are responsible for keeping the mother and baby safe. Nurses usually hook the new mother up to a fetal heart monitor to track the baby, while doctors sweep by periodically to check on the mother’s condition, look for signs of distress, and provide medication and medical advice as needed. If the nurses or doctors make any mistakes during this time, it could lead to serious birth complications for both the baby and the mother.

Some of the most common medical mistakes that lead to birth injuries include:

• Failure to monitor fetal heart rate. If the nurses or doctors fail to properly monitor the unborn baby’s heartrate, they could overlook serious complications, which might harm the baby. If the baby is in distress and nobody is monitoring the heart rate, the baby could lose oxygen, resulting in brain injuries like cerebral palsy or birth asphyxia.
• Improper use of birth instruments. Sometimes a natural birth requires the help of forceps, a vacuum, or other specialized tools to help the baby through the birth canal. However, if the doctor or midwife uses these tools incorrectly, it could result in serious injuries to the baby. Pulling on the arm or shoulder could result in brachial plexus injuries, like Erb’s palsy, while pulling too hard on the head could cause brain damage, intracranial hemorrhages, or spinal injuries. Sometimes these injuries might even occur without the use of birthing tools if the doctor handles the baby too roughly.
• Delay in ordering a C-Section. In some situations, it is in the mother and baby’s best interest to have a Cesarean Section rather than a natural birth. If the doctor delays ordering a C-section for too long, or if he or she fails to order one altogether, it could cause serious harm to the baby and mother and could even result in death.
• Improper use of epidurals and other drugs. There are several different types of drugs that may be used to help along labor or to dull the pain of delivery. However, if a doctor prescribes the wrong dosage or fails to call for the correct medication, it could make the birth process unnecessarily difficult.
• Failure to diagnose or treat other medical problems. If the mother shows signs of medical complications and the doctor fails to order the appropriate tests and treatments, the results could be dangerous and deadly. The doctor might not notice that the baby is in distress, could fail to recognize the signs of infection, overlook a placental abruption, or any other number of serious conditions. By failing to diagnose or treat these issues, both the baby and the mother could be seriously injured.

Let Our Firm Help You

If your child was injured during or after delivery, make sure you find out if you have a medical malpractice case on your hands. When a doctor or medical professional’s negligence causes serious harm to you or your child, you may have a right to seek compensation for the resulting damage.

Contact Goodman Acker P.C. today to get started on your Detroit personal injury case.https://www.goodmanacker.com/images/blog/pregnancy-medical-doctor.jpg