Areas of Practice
Birth Injuries
Birth injuries like Cerebral Palsy and Erb’s Palsy can have lasting effects. Girones Law helps families secure the compensation they deserve.
Leading birth malpractice firm
The most common symptoms of birth trauma in a newborn infant are:
- Cerebral Palsy caused by brain damage which occurs due lack of oxygen at the time of delivery. Cerebral palsy can also be caused by blunt trauma to the head and brain.
- A Brachial Plexus Injury, which may result in paralysis or a loss of function in the affected arm.
Causes of birth trauma
- The baby is in an abnormal position (the baby should ideally be positioned head-down for the delivery)
- Labour is induced or artificially sped-up
- The labour and delivery happens very quickly
- The labour stalls or is very prolonged
- Forceps or a vacuum is used to assist the delivery.
The consequences of a birth injury can be devastating to you and your entire family. At Girones Lawyers, we understand that you are facing unexpected challenges and expenses due to birth trauma and its long-term effects. Let our expert birth trauma lawyers provide you with the legal advice and representation that you need to obtain compensation for your damages. Protect your legal rights and those of your child by consulting a lawyer as soon as possible.
Types of Birth Injuries
Cerebral Palsy is a condition that occurs when the motor-control centre of an infant’s developing brain is injured. This can occur during pregnancy, delivery or after birth until the child reaches age 3. Cerebral Palsy is one of the more common birth injuries that may be a result of medical malpractice. It can be caused either by a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain during or after delivery, or by physical trauma to the brain.
The symptoms of cerebral palsy vary from individual to individual but often include abnormal muscle development and control, problems with coordination and balance, muscle spasticity or seizures, and speech and language problems. The symptoms experienced by any particular child, and their severity, will depend on the severity and the location of the injury to the brain. Those with mild cerebral palsy may show very few symptoms while those with severe cerebral palsy may be unable to walk, unable to control their movements, unable to speak, have difficulty eating, suffer incontinence, have intellectual and learning disabilities and develop painful skeletal abnormalities.
It can be extremely difficult to determine what caused a child’s cerebral palsy. If your child has cerebral palsy, consult the experienced cerebral palsy lawyers at Girones to preserve your child’s legal rights. It is possible that your child’s condition was a result of medical negligence on the part of a doctor, nurse or midwife in attendance during your delivery. Our lawyers will seek an opinion from a qualified medical expert to determine if you may have a legal claim for medical malpractice.
Brachial plexus injury, also known as Erb’s Palsy, is a birth injury that occurs when the brachial plexus nerves in the baby’s shoulder are damaged during delivery. Damage to these nerves can result in total paralysis of the arm, a lack of control over the arm, hand and shoulder muscles, or a lack of sensation in the arm, hand or shoulder. This damage is generally caused when the nerve is stretched, torn, compressed or becomes inflamed by mechanical injury during the birthing process. Shoulder dystocia, where the baby’s shoulder becomes lodged on the mother’s pelvic bone after the delivery of the baby’s head, is the most common cause of injury to the brachial plexus nerves at birth.
While your doctor or midwife may not be able to prevent shoulder dystocia, there are certain conditions that may increase the risk that you and your baby will experience this complication during delivery. If your healthcare providers failed to detect the presence of a risk factor, or failed to react properly to resolve the shoulder dystocia, then you and your child may have a claim for medical malpractice.
Depending on the severity of the damage to the nerves, this condition may resolve on its own. It may, however, require surgeries and extensive physiotherapy and may leave the child with permanent impairment in the shoulder, arm or hand. A child with a severe brachial plexus injury may require long-term therapies and help performing daily activities. The financial costs of caring for a child with a brachial plexus injury may be significant. In addition to the cost of therapies, a parent may be unable to return to work or may lose out on employment opportunities if the child requires specialized care or extended hospital stays.
The delivery of a new baby can be a very exciting time, but it can also be very frightening if things don’t go according to plan. Sometimes the fetus may become distressed during labour and delivery, which will require that he be delivered immediately, either by emergency cesarean or by assisted vaginal delivery. In most cases there will be signs that the fetus is in distress. The fetal heart rate may drop or increase to an abnormal level. Excessive bleeding from the mother or signs of meconium may also indicate that the fetus is in distress.
Your health care providers should be watching for signs of fetal distress throughout your labour and delivery. Failure on the part of your health care team to watch for or to notice signs that your fetus is in distress may constitute medical malpractice. Fetal distress often occurs when the fetus is no longer receiving the oxygen that he requires. This may be due to an obstruction of the umbilical cord or a problem with the placenta. If your health care professionals fail to properly assess and respond to fetal distress, the results can be devastating. A lack of oxygen to the fetus for even a few minutes can result in permanent brain damage or death. Babies who suffer from a lack of oxygen during delivery are often diagnosed with cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and other debilitating conditions that will affect them for life.
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