Birth Injuries

Amidst the joys of pregnancy, every parent’s nightmare is the horror of tragic complications or injury during birth. Worse yet, some families leave the hospital or birth center believing all is well with their infant, only to learn later that a birth injury occurred when symptoms arise days or weeks later. Tennessee families whose children…

A Florida family recently received a $33.8 million judgment for birth injuries to their newborn baby. A federal judge found that the attending obstetrician was negligent in failing to perform a timely cesarean section and leaving his patient unattended for extended periods of time during the labor and delivery process. In December of 2013, the…

The number of home births has yo-yoed over the last 15 years. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, about 35,000 babies are born at home. Parents are justifiably exercising their right to choose. They should be able to able to deliver their child in an environment where they feel healthy and comfortable.…

Maternity wards are among the busiest departments within a hospital. These physicians and nurses are tasked with providing constant care for women in various stages of labor and delivery. With so much happening, staff members sometimes fail to adequately act in the best interest of the mother and child. While there are numerous mistakes that…

Childhood epilepsy is a serious condition, affecting more than three million children nationally, according to KidsHealth.org. While many children outgrow the condition, others deal with the debilitating symptoms their entire lives. Children living with epilepsy have a higher death rate than children without epilepsy, so the recognition and treatment of risk factors is extremely important…

A birth injury does not occur in a vacuum., and when one does occur, it can be a very scary situation. A birth injury might play out something like this. You and your partner are in the delivery room and something seems to be going wrong or maybe things have even been going wrong from…

The use of laborists or OB/GYN hospitalists has been an emerging trend that began in the late 1990s and continues to grow in hospital labor and delivery suites across the United States. Laborists are OB/GYNs who are on staff usually on evenings and weekends or even 24/7 in some hospitals. The American Congress of Obstetricians…

A pregnant mother received a routine pap smear as a part of her prenatal care at Brevard County Health Department. Allegedly, a cytopathologist then examined the test and found cellular changes that were consistent with herpes simplex virus. Despite this finding however, a health department nurse gave the report of the test result as being…

Birth injuries can be the result of medical malpractice, and they can have many different causes and effects. Some birth injuries are simply resolved on their own and have no lasting impact on the child’s life. Others however can have far-reaching consequences on the child’s health and well-being for the rest of the child’s life.…

It is probably safe to say that finding out your newborn has sustained a birth injury is one of the worst nightmares a new parent can face. You showed up to the hospital with a birth plan, but then things went off the rails, and the plan was tossed out of the window. After…

When it comes to childbirth, pain management is crucial. It is the role of the anesthesiologist to manage a mother’s pain. The anesthesiologist plays a vital role in making sure that the dosage is correct and finding that balance between pain relief and safety for the mother and the child. Unfortunately, any slight error in…

Childbirth is a perfectly natural function of the human body, and when it goes the way it is supposed it go, it is often a fairly routine process. Sometimes however, there are unavoidable complications during pregnancy that can put both the mother and the baby at risk. At other times, the negligent actions or failure…

There are many factors that can contribute to brain injury in a newborn, but there are two broad categories for the causes of newborn brain injuries: one is physical trauma to the infant’s head and the other is oxygen deprivation during the birth process. Brain injury in a newborn can have long lasting, negative implications…

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Report (AHRQ), about 6 to 8 out of every 1,000 infants born in the United States is born with a birth injury. When it comes to birth injuries for mothers, the injury rate is highest for those who undergo birthing tool-assisted deliveries, and who are between…

Thousands of babies are born naturally every day without incident making their proud parents very happy. There are, however, certain circumstances under which a fetus is experiencing distress within the mother’s womb and needs to be delivered surgically as soon as possible. A Cesarean section (C-section) is the surgical procedure that is performed to deliver…

There are few things more devastating to new parents than discovering their child has an injury or birth defect. The risks of such injuries and defects are higher in children born prematurely. Prematurity, or babies who are born at less than 37 weeks of gestation, and those who weigh less than 3.3 pounds, have increasingly…