Although most of us are aware that pregnancy and childbirth do not always go as planned, it may take a birth injury affecting your child to make you fully understand just how catastrophic these events may be. One serious, but thankfully rare, birth injury which affects a small number of babies born in San Diego is shoulder dystocia. Although most cases of this injury will heal before the child is a year old, negligence on the part of the medical professionals involved can lead to permanent disability. If their case of shoulder dystocia was particularly severe, your child may even have been fatally injured during delivery.
When your child’s health and wellbeing have been severely affected by the negligence of your physician or other medical professional, a San Diego shoulder dystocia attorney could use their extensive legal knowledge and expertise to recover monetary damages on your behalf.
While we cannot undo the pain and suffering inflicted on your child, and the emotional anguish and turmoil this, in turn, causes for you and your family, we can ensure that you are not also forced to endure financial hardship as a result.
Although Simpson Law Group shoulder dystocia lawyers are not trained medical professionals, we are familiar with this, and other, birth injuries thanks to our years of experience in successfully handling lawsuits on behalf of affected families.
Shoulder dystocia occurs during the second stage of birth, when the baby’s head has already been delivered and the shoulders, rather than following as they should, become stuck behind the mother’s pelvis. Depending on the baby’s position, either the front or rear shoulder may become lodged as they begin to turn to allow their shoulders to be delivered. A slow and difficult birth is likely to follow, alongside infant injuries such as:
The mother is also at risk when shoulder dystocia occurs, and may suffer from one or more of the following complications:
As you will know, there are numerous potential complications which may arise during labor and childbirth, and some which may increase the risk of shoulder dystocia include:
While complications may not be avoidable, medical negligence may be present where the healthcare professionals involved have not acted in an appropriate manner. For example, our San Diego lawyers have seen cases where shoulder dystocia occurs due to errors when using instruments such as forceps, or where an inexperienced physician made a mistake
If you believe that your child’s shoulder dystocia occurred due to an error or medical negligence, you need expert legal representation.
Schedule your free initial consultation with a San Diego shoulder dystocia attorney today by calling us at 619-293-5035.
