You dream of having a happy, healthy baby. You know there are always risks, but you never thought they would come true. Tragically, birth injuries happen every day, and healthcare providers’ negligence causes some of them.
Kademenos, Wisehart, Hines, Dolyk & Wright Co. LPA helps families in Ohio decide if their child’s injuries were due to medical mistakes, and if so, what they should do next.
Call KWHDW at (419) 625-7770 today for a free consultation about possible medical malpractice.
Ohio Birth Injuries & Medical Malpractice
If an infant is harmed during pregnancy or the delivery process, the injuries are often permanent or long-lasting. They can disable the child physically, emotionally, and intellectually. You may need to pay for special care and rehabilitation for years or decades. Few families have health coverage or money to pay for this kind of care.
A birth injury may be apparent or may not be discovered for weeks, months, or even years. Legal action can be taken if the healthcare provider’s care was negligent or committed medical malpractice, which means it was below the standard of care. Anyone involved in your and your child’s care may have been negligent and caused the injuries. It could be a doctor, surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse, radiologist, or paramedic.
Birth injuries typically happen because a healthcare provider fails to respond correctly to a condition that occurs before, during, or shortly after birth. It can also be caused by taking action but doing so with not enough care.
Signs of Possible Medical Malpractice
Here are some indicators that your child was injured before or during birth:
- You had a tough pregnancy that you feel wasn’t handled properly. You might believe you weren’t taken seriously, or your baby was in distress, but the issue wasn’t fully addressed.
- During your pregnancy, you were prescribed drugs that resulted in serious side effects for you or the baby.
- The delivery was very stressful. Those in the delivery room never seemed to handle what was going wrong. They appeared to be over their heads, the child was in distress, and you may have had an emergency Caesarean section – or c-section.
- You were prescribed drugs or underwent a procedure without being fully informed of the risks and benefits. Because of that, you couldn’t give your full consent and wouldn’t have agreed to them if you knew the risks.
- You had a condition or infection during your pregnancy that wasn’t diagnosed or diagnosed too late to prevent harm to your child.
- Those helping you with the delivery failed to provide fetal monitors, or those that were used didn’t work properly, so your child’s injury wasn’t prevented.
- Your physician admitted mistakes were made that resulted in harm to your infant.
Some Conditions Are Likely To Be Caused by Malpractice
Another indication is the type of injury your infant suffered. Some are often the result of medical malpractice:
- Brachial Plexus Injuries: These are also known as Erb’s or Klumpke’s palsy. They happen after an injury to nerves responsible for moving an arm and hand. The infant’s shoulder may have been stuck behind or under the mother’s pubic bone. If the physician pulled too hard or improperly during birth, the brachial plexus might have been injured.
- Facial Paralysis: When too much pressure is put on the infant’s face during delivery, nerve damage can occur. Total or partial paralysis of the face’s impacted side could result, which may be temporary or permanent.
- Brain Injuries: These have the greatest potential for long-lasting, severe harm. The infant may have been deprived of oxygen during delivery, causing cerebral palsy or chronic seizures. During birth: the doctor may have failed to monitor your infant, the umbilical cord may have partially strangled your infant, your infant was in the birth canal too long, and or a necessary c-section was never done or started too late.
- Cephalohematoma: This injury causes bleeding under the skull. Medical tools used during the delivery may have caused it. This usually clears in a few months but may cause jaundice, anemia, low blood pressure, or meningitis.
Call Our Birth Injury Attorneys for Answers
Without a clear picture of what may have happened, you won’t know what to do next. Schedule a free consultation with Kademenos, Wisehart, Hines, Dolyk & Wright Co. We can talk about what occurred and why your baby may have been injured.
If we think it’s justified, we will review your medical records to see if something went wrong. We may also have an independent medical expert review your file to determine if you may have a medical malpractice case.
If so, you can decide whether or not to pursue a legal claim for the rightfully owed compensation for the harm done to your baby and family. You’re under no obligation to file legal action if you talk to us. Call KWHDW today at (419) 625-7770 to discuss what you can expect and your options.