Murraysville Birth Injury Lawyer

Medical Malpractice Law Firm Servicing the Coast of North Carolina

A parent’s joy of bringing a child into the world can be tainted by experiences of potential medical malpractice during pregnancy, delivery, and postnatal care. Obstetricians, gynecologists, neonatologists, and other medical professionals are responsible for the well-being of a baby and are liable when they act carelessly or negligently. At Daniel, Holoman & Associates, we partner with people to hold providers accountable when reasonable care is not afforded to patients and their families.

Contact us today to review the details of your claim with a birth injury attorney.

What Is a Birth Injury?

Some birth injuries are generally unavoidable because they are part of normal birth. Others are preventable yet occur as a result of insufficient medical care.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) distinguishes the following between birth defects and birth injuries:

1. Birth defects usually occur during pregnancy, but can also be caused before pregnancy by medications, a health condition, or lifestyle factors. Birth defects can also occur after pregnancy if an infant is exposed to substances like lead or mercury in the environment, although this causes fewer birth defects than in the womb.
2. If a birth defect is caused by a health care provider’s clean negligence, it may be considered a birth injury that could result in financial compensation for the victim. This is not true if a baby is born healthy and develops a birth defect due to genetic imperfections, pre- or postnatal injuries, or other issues outside of a doctor’s control.

Birth Injury Statistics

In 2013, approximately 28,000 babies born in the United States each year sustained a birthing injury and another 2,000 were born with birth-related brain injuries. Birth injuries are relatively rare but affecting 7 out of every 1,000 it is still a concern that parents should be aware of. Birth injury rates range from a frequency of about 6% in high-income countries, to approximately 11% in low-income countries. Understanding the risks can help parents better advocate for quality healthcare during pregnancy and delivery.

Mother’s advancing age, pre-existing medical conditions like diabetes, a history of C-sections or assisted vaginal labor, carrying more than one fetus, excessive vomiting and restricted growth, and fetal size, position, and fetal distress can commonly be at a higher risk of child injury at birth.

Types of Birth Injuries

Brain Injuries

Brain injuries are often the most significant and serious types of birth injuries. They are responsible for some of the long-term disabilities associated with childbirth, such as epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Facial Nerve Injuries

Facial nerve injuries are usually caused by head trauma during birth and are often apparent at the time of delivery. Paralysis of the facial muscles, drooping of one side of the baby's face, one eye that can't be closed, inability to completely close the eyes, absence of movement from one side of the mouth, mouth being pulled in one direction, inability to suck properly—these are all symptoms that your child may be born with a facial palsy injury.

Fractures (Broken Bones)

Fractures often occur in large babies or in difficult deliveries. They are usually mild and will heal rapidly.

Some fractures may need to be treated with gentle manipulation and a splint or cast. These fractures often heal well with no long-term problems.

Clavicle fractures (collarbone fractures) are the most common fractures following a difficult delivery. These are usually discovered in the delivery room and heal well with gentle mobilization, use of a clavicle strap or brace, or simple arm immobilization with the arm on the affected side. The most significant long-term complication is usually shortening (tilting) of the broken clavicle, making a bump on the shoulder that can be permanent.

It is rare to have a fracture of the arm bones (humerus, radius, and ulna, in decreasing likelihood of occurrence during a difficult delivery. These often require immobilization but usually heal without any long-term difficulties. Occasionally, nerves or blood vessels can also be injured. The nerves can be monitored regularly and will usually recover slowly but completely. Vessel injuries are very rare but can be severe.

Head and Spinal Cord Injuries

Head and neck injuries are the most common causes of birth injuries in the United States. While infants have certain allowances for head movement in the birth canal to protect from brain injuries, there is still a significant risk of head trauma and cerebral palsy from rough handling, incorrect pressure on the baby's head during labor, and physical force. High forceps placement or extraction and vacuum extraction carry the highest risks of causing head and brain trauma.

Perinatal Asphyxia

Perinatal asphyxia can be caused either by a lack of oxygen in the baby's blood or by low blood flow to the baby's brain. All tissues will die if they are deprived of oxygen and blood for too long, which may cause permanent organ damage or disabilities.

Erb’s Palsy

Erb's palsy is a disorder that is caused by damage to the nerves in the neck and shoulder known as the brachial plexus nerves. The result is a loss of movement or weakness in the arm, as well as paralysis or numbness.

Cephalohematoma and Caput Succedaneum

Cephalohematoma is a condition characterized by bleeding below one of the cranial bones. Caput succedaneum, on the other hand, occurs when the newborn's scalp becomes swollen due to vacuum extraction and sharp tools used in a C-section or because of the pressure on the skull during delivery.

Klumpke’s Palsy

Klumpke's palsy is one of two forms of brachial plexus palsy, characterized by the following:

• paralysis of certain muscles that control movement in the forearm and hand;
• partial or full arm paralysis;
• lack of muscle control and lack of control or feeling in the hand and wrist;
• the arm is weak and bent at the elbow and is pressed against the body.

Shoulder Dystocia

This complication of delivery happens when the newborn's anterior shoulder gets trapped under the mother's pubic bone and it may occur after the delivery of the head if the baby's shoulder gets stuck. The infant has difficulty moving down the body canal because the baby's shoulders get stuck against the cartilage or in the pelvis.

This condition poses a problem during delivery because when the baby's head is in the exit of the pelvis, there may be a difficult choice faced by you as the OB.

Delivering the shoulders of the baby that may not be of abnormal size poses a problem because the body canal is usually narrower at the capacity than the point into the body canal.

This means that delivering the infant naturally constitutes the risk of breaking the baby's clavicle bone in the shoulder or causing a brachial plexus injury which leads to Erb’s palsy in the newborn.

Breech Presentation Injuries

Breech presentation happens when the fetus is delivered buttocks first as opposed to the normal head-first presentation, which is the case in most deliveries. Although a breech birth can be handled correctly and safely, it does carry a higher risk of birth injuries. Some practicing OB/GYNs may be unwilling or uncomfortable with performing the more difficult maneuvers that are sometimes needed with a breech birth and may choose to take a Cesarean section—this is done to avoid any possible complications and is valued by an OB/GYN such as the baby's head getting stuck, preventing the child from receiving oxygen and leading to brain damage.

A baby born as a vaginal breech birth is roughly one-half as more likely to injure the brachial plexus than a breech infant who is delivered via C-section. The risk of brachial plexus injury is smaller since there is usually less pressure placed on the plexus nerve bundle, which connects the brain and the arm.

Birth injury claims become of great concern to many people who aren't as well-versed in the practice of obtaining compensation for an injury to a child at birth and an injury to the mother during childbirth.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is the most commonly reported disability for children in the United States. Approximately 10,000 infants born each year will develop cerebral palsy. Babies who suffer from congenital cerebral palsy often have irreversible brain damage that results in little control of movement and coordination. Three of every four children suffering from CP are impaired mentally, one in two is epileptic, one in three is blind, one in four cannot hear, and 25% cannot walk.

 CP is sometimes caused by hypoxia from cord or placenta problems, uterine rupture, or failure to recognize or respond to a birth emergency in a timely manner or at all. Some complications in birth carry the risk of a loss of blood to the baby's brain due to oxygen deprivation.

Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a brain injury due to oxygen deprivation and decreased blood flow to an infant's brain near the time of birth. Oxygen deprivation during birth can cause HIE.

The condition is most common in full-term infants. HIE can happen more often when a baby is not getting enough oxygen at some point near birth. The condition most often occurs before or during labor. It may also occur at the time when the child is to be delivered (during the C-section). A baby is briefly deprived of its blood supply and damages varying brain cells, which can cause permanent interruptions in the baby's brain on its own.

According to a medical malpractice study led by Stanford Law School Professor Michelle Mello, in a study on closed claims by obstetricians, the injuries to babies that accounts for the highest preventing the cerebral palsy conditions from oxygen deprivation while the mother is in labor can also lead to acute asphyxia

Another factor that may lead to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy is an umbilical cord accident because asphyxiation typically happens as a result of the cord being wrapped around the baby's neck, although it may be caused by other cord problems like a cord knot or a placental condition.

HIE may also be induced by:

• The misuse or overuse of labor-inducing drugs;
• A dangerous combination of medications;
• A delay in ordering and providing a C-section, or excessive use of vacuum extraction or forceps;
• A serious maternal infection, such as Bacterial Meningitis, which can cross the placenta and infect a child;
• Severe and low level of amniotic fluid;
• High fever in the mother during labor due to a maternal infection;
• A prolapsed cord (when the umbilical cord falls below the baby, providing compressed or diminished blood and oxygen supply); or
• Failure to watch or improper interpretation of fetal heart monitoring that leads to a delay in ordering and performing an emergency c-section—this is an HIE situation that can generally be avoided with proper care and monitoring of the fetus' heart rate

In some cases, HIE is not immediately evident. It may take several months before the signs of periventricular leukomalacia (brain damage) are clear on an MRI. If any of these medical mistakes lead to your child suffering from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy or another type of birth injury, you may be entitled to financial compensation, and filing a lawsuit will help get justice for you and your family.

Infection

Some infections can pass from the mother to the fetus during pregnancy and cause birth injury, as well as infections the baby may contract in the neonatal stage.

Postnatal Sepsis

Postnatal Sepsis is an infection of the blood from a bacterial infection. Symptoms of septicemia in the newborn usually start between 24 and 48 hours of life. The baby appears ill, is very tired, and may have a low body temperature. It may be one-and-a-half to two days before symptoms of an infection on the skin or as a brain infection appear. The normally-open soft spots on the baby are also raised and swollen. 

Vigorous rubbing of the skin does not bring back pink color. Most babies are irritable and feed poorly. In late cases, seizures, fusing of the joints of the arms and legs, and unusual behavior can extend the condition. If bacteria get to your baby's brain, other symptoms may occur. This condition is usually treated with intravenous medication after a blood culture has been drawn.

Fetal Death

Birth Injury Lawsuits on Behalf of Children and Mothers

A Murraysville birth injury lawyer at our firm can examine the facts of your case, discuss your legal options, and get started helping you obtain the compensation you deserve. Don't hesitate to speak with an attorney if you believe the injuries sustain to an infant during birth were the result of an underlying condition caused by a GYN no-obstetrician.

Surprisingly Common Mistakes by the Attending Staff

• In healthcare, many have fallen in part due to assumptions or even stupidity. Some doctors and nurses often fail to maintain or update their education and awareness about the most recent safety measures and recommendations for childbirth. We recommend that every parent investigates the experience and history of the OBGYN or midwife that is aiding during pregnancy and delivery, as well as their track record with birth injury, before electing them for assistance on your delivery.
• Should interventions, like umbilical cord and placenta placement into an infant’s mouth or nose, be employed carelessly or negligently by physicians or nurses they may cause significant damage and complications for the baby. One example is the size of a baby that may be first noticeable in early-term ultrasound. Conditions and factors, such as congenital diabetes and gestational diabetes, are known for increasing the risk of large infants which may cause trauma and tear the baby’s shoulder, neck and head in a birth canal delivery. 
• Mothers-to-be are not often rime-aware of these risks and doctors may fail to point them out. Amniotic fluid that has decreased dramatically and is not spotted on a physician test may often obstruct the child from being compressed entirely. An hypersensitive immune system may generate oxygen deprivation in a baby due to easily crossed uterine inflammation.

Are Birth Injuries Preventable?

Birth injuries can occur even under the best of circumstances. However, many times, they are preventable, and the negligence of a medical professional has caused the problem.

• The misuse of labor-inducing drugs or a dangerous combination of medications can cause Oxygen Deprivation to an Infant as excess of labor-inducing drugs stimulation can cause longer oxygen cutoffs than natural contractions during labor;
• Dangerous and high level of medications can induce too much labor, inhibiting the placenta from supplying enough oxygen for the baby, or trigger more efficient but hypersensitive uterine contractions that constrict the umbilical cord's umbilical cord or another condition caused by a pinched or compressed baby causing insufficient or interrupted blood and oxygen to the baby's brain;
• A delay in ordering and providing a C-section or excessive use of vacuum extraction or forceps can lead to uterine rupture and make the child stuck and unable to receive oxygen (also injuring the mother);
• A serious maternal infection, like Bacterial Meningitis, which can cross the placenta and infect a new-born, can lead to oxygen deficiency and lead to brain damage;
• Severe and low level of amniotic fluid can also give the baby insufficient oxygen blood supply during pregnancy;
• High fever in mother during labor because of a bacterial infection;
• A baby is developed in a rather small, or a baby with more weight, will have a somewhat tighter pelvic can equate to resist normal labor and may become stuck during birth if this problem isn't accurately diagnosed and predicted;
• Severe intrauterine restriction of growth and thick meconium staining of liquor, lower than usual fetal heartbeat anomalies, and as yet undetected second twin, which further increase in evidence of a baby's difficulty passing through the important signs of a baby who is struggling during the labor, and that one risk of asphyxia is insufficiently observed or incorrectly translated during the fetal cardiovascular system and the baby's heart rate are being inspected.

Some medical and occurring emergencies are avoidable but with the due care of medical workers that casualties should be minimized and injuries avoided. When a birth injury happens to you or your child because of medical negligence, you have every right to pursue tort remedies through the courts which may include financial compensation. 

It is important for doctors and hospital staff to monitor the mother’s vital signs regularly so that if a problem arises, it can be caught quickly and satisfactorily resolved.

Contact us today to review the details of your claim with a birth injury attorney.