Birth Injury Lawyers in Dallas
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What is a birth injury? Generically, birth injury can be defined as “Birth trauma is any damage to the neonate’s body structure or function due to events during birth. It includes birth asphyxia.” Specifically, when related to medical malpractice, birth injury is an injury “which occur[s] during delivery and is caused by medical negligence…usually, birth injuries occur in situations where a medical professional failed to act or responded inadequately to a complication or medical condition during a birth.” For every 1,000 babies born in the United States each year, six babies incur birth trauma injuries. Birth injuries can range from:
- Scratches or bruises
- Cerebral Palsy– 10,000 babies each year develop Cerebral Palsy
- Erb’s Palsy
- Klumpke’s Palsy
- Brachial Plexus
- Facial paralysis
- Fractures
- Spinal cord damage
- Infections
- Internal bleeding
- Shoulder dystocia
- Infant brain injury
- Hypoxia (oxygen deprivation)
- Caput succedaneum
- Cephalohematoma
- Retinopathy
- Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN)
- Spastic quadriplegia
What can cause a birth injury?
When a doctor chooses an inappropriate delivery method (for example, using a vacuum extraction when a C-section could be performed), fails to promptly treat for lack of oxygen, infection or internal bleeding, fails to monitor a baby or gives a mother or baby a wrong dose of medication- he/she can be held liable for the injuries that result. There are many things that can contribute to birth injury, and these include:
- Abnormal birthing presentation (such as a breech delivery)
- Prolonged labor
- Difficult labor or childbirth (dystocia)
- Cephalopelvic disproportion (the size and shape of a mother’s pelvis is not adequate for a child to be born vaginally)
- Prematurity
- Large babies
- Genetic disorders
- Medication errors
A medical professional can be held responsible if he/she did not interpret prenatal test results properly, did not diagnose maternal infections, did not respond to fetal distress, did not timely perform a cesarean section delivery, used excessive force during delivery, miscalculated a baby’s size or the size of the mother’s pelvis, improperly used forceps or a vacuum extractor or failed to diagnose or treat newborn conditions.
How can you know if your child has a birth injury?
While the following list is by no means comprehensive, any of the following symptoms could indicate a birth injury:
- Unresponsiveness
- Paralysis
- Bruising
- Deformities
- Developmental delays
- Extreme sleepiness
- Excessive crying
- Poor muscle control
Filing a Birth Injury Claim
If injuries are apparent right after birth, you should contact a personal injury attorney. If a child has developmental issues, a physician should examine the baby to see if an injury was sustained during childbirth. While sometimes “complications” do occur during labor- at other times “complications” are the direct result of a physician’s negligence. After a child has incurred severe injuries, parents may be heavily laden with treatment, medication, surgery and rehabilitation costs. Long-term care and the emotional stress associated with it, can take a substantial toll on families.
If a personal injury lawyer and medical experts can show a link between the injuries your child sustained and medical malpractice, your family could be eligible to collect medical and emotional damages, as well as punitive damages. If you can show that the actions of a doctor or hospital were “outrageous” or “reckless,” punitive damages could be awarded.
If you contact Zinda Law Group today, we can help you get to the bottom of your child’s injuries. Was your child rushed away after delivery? Did a doctor or nurse look worried? Did you think your labor took too long or that staff did not check in on you enough? It is imperative that you contact us immediately, so we can review the details of your case and help you file your claim- in Texas; the statute of limitations is two years, so you can’t afford to procrastinate. If your child has been injured because of another party’s carelessness, you deserve the hard-hitting, aggressive legal representation of a Dallas personal injury attorney on your side!
