Brain Injury
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Brain Injury
Brain Injury 
Injury to the brain is often the most serious and devastating birth injury a baby can suffer during the delivery process. It can affect your child’s ability to grow and develop normally. It will have a significant impact on the entire family. Brain injury during delivery is not common and in many instances it is caused by medical negligence. If you suspect that your child suffered a brain injury during the delivery process you would want to know if it was preventable. You will want to find out if the brain injury was caused by the medical negligence of your obstetrician or the staff in the delivery room. Maybe the equipment in the delivery room was not functioning properly? If the injury was caused by medical negligence, you will have a valid claim for compensation. The process is complex, but an experienced medical malpractice lawyer will be able to explain the process and assist you in your claim for compensation.
Obstetricians, delivery nurses and delivery room staff are specially trained to recognize when there might be a problem during childbirth. They are also trained to act appropriately in such circumstances. Unfortunately many health care practitioners become complacent since most births occur smoothly without any complications.
What can go wrong?
During labor your baby’s health should be constantly monitored to detect any signs of complications in oxygen and blood flow. There is usually a window of opportunity in which serious complications can be prevented. The problem occurs when the medical practitioners fail to recognize the signs of a problem, or they recognize the problem but fail to take appropriate action.
The two most common causes of brain injury during birth relates to bleeding in the newborn’s brain and oxygen deprivation.
- A difficult delivery process and incorrect use of delivery tools can cause the delicate blood vessels in your baby’s skull to rupture and cause hemorrhaging, or bleeding, between different layers of the brain’s membranes. Your doctor has special training in the correct use of delivery tools. Failure to act in accordance with this training can amount to negligence. Although there might not be obvious symptoms at first, it can lead to pressure on your baby’s brain. Your doctor is trained to recognize symptoms of pressure on the brain and should pick up signs like lethargy and unexplained seizures.
- Oxygen deprivation is one of the leading causes of brain injury in infants. When the baby’s brain does not receive sufficient oxygen, it can result in the death of brain cells, brain damage, cerebral palsy and other developmental problems. Oxygen deprivation can already occur in the womb, and failure to perform a C-section in time can lead to brain damage. Failure by your doctor to monitor fetal distress, which may lead to oxygen deprivation, can result in brain damage. Or failing to detect umbilical cord or placenta problems and complications can also lead to oxygen deprivation and brain damage. As a trained obstetric care provider, your doctor is aware of the risks and consequences of oxygen deprivation. You have the right to expect him/her to act in a way to prevent this from happening.
Proving negligence: obtain legal assistance
If you suspect that your child’s brain injury was preventable and due to medical negligence, you should contact a medical malpractice lawyer to evaluate your case. It isn’t enough to establish that “something went wrong” during labor, or during a C-section, or after your baby was delivered. You have to show that your medical practitioner’s (the doctor, or the nurse, or the midwife) actions, or failure to act, amounts to medical negligence, which caused the brain injury and harm.
You will need testimony of an expert witness to prove the standard of care expected from your medical team and further testimony to establish that their conduct was in breach of the medical standard expected in the delivery room. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer will know which expert evidence to present. Contact us today to discuss your case if you suspect medical negligence.