Your Newborn Is Injured Shortly After Birth

Mothers and soon-to-be newborns are very vulnerable after and during childbirth. It’s traumatic when something happens to your newborn. Most times birth injuries happen even when professionals use the utmost care. However, it’s unfair if your child suffered a serious injury due to the negligence of a medical professional. They should’ve acted with a standard of care. It’s unfortunate that this can happen to any new mother. When dealing with this type of situation it’s important to know who you can make a claim against for a medical malpractice lawsuit. These people include anyone who contributed to the injury of your baby. This can be the obstetrician that helped to deliver the baby, the facility where the birth had taken place (can be a hospital or birthing center), pharmaceutical companies who may have misprescribed, or even other medical staff who also were liable in the injury of your baby. When you bring a medical malpractice lawsuit you must know when you can take legal action as well as common causes, due to negligence, of birth injury.

When to take legal action

Medical malpractice cases must establish the medical standard of care. This is the customary practices of the average physician, that they would do in a similar situation, taking into account the medical information they have on the mother. You must show how this standard was breached. What did your physician do that other physicians in the same situation and same knowledge wouldn’t do? One scenario that is often seen in the hospital or birthing center in the response rate of the physician. If they’re put in a situation where they have to act fast in order to save the baby or prevent injury and they fail to, then this may be considered medical negligence. One example of this would be if the baby was in danger in the womb from not having enough oxygen and the medical staff doesn’t react quick enough to get the mother a c-section. Medical professionals can also be liable if no complications were predicted to happen to the baby after birth and the baby comes out with a physical injury.

Common Causes of Birth Injury

There are several common causes to birth injury. The first being a problem with the medication. This would be if a medical professional prescribed medication to the mother-to-be that put the baby at risk for a birth injury. Another common cause of birth injury would be human error. This would be if any one or more persons on the medical team made a mistake during the whole process. An example of this would be failing to monitor the fetal heart rate. Improper manipulation of the baby during the delivery is also a common cause of birth injury. This can be anything from breaking a baby’s bone to other conditions like “caput succedaneum” caused by vacuum extraction. Another common cause of birth injury is the medical professional’s failure to monitor correctly. They didn’t monitor the women and baby close enough.

When something happens to your newborn is extremely scary. You expected all the medical professionals to uphold a high standard of care. Their negligence has caused your baby to have an injury. It’s not fair. You probably haven’t even given thought to what would happen if your baby was injured. A San Diego birth injury attorney from the Simpson Law Group can provide you the legal representation you need. They will fight for your rights. Schedule a free initial consultation today at 619-236-9696 or fill out this contact form.