Could Your Baby’s Birth Injury Have Been Avoided?

We strive to be the best parents we can be, shielding our children from harm as much as possible. We expect the people trusted with their healthcare needs to do the same. However, that doesn’t always happen. Our children can be born with injuries caused by those responsible for their care. While some birth injuries are unavoidable, healthcare providers can make some of the following mistakes: 

Incorrect Tool and Instrument Use

Medical professionals can choose from many tools and instruments to help deliver babies safely. However, law experts like The Tinker Law Firm PLLC often meet with stressed parents whose physicians misused medical equipment and harmed their children. 

Vacuum extractors and forceps are among the most common equipment misused. Improper use of forceps can result in bruising and skull fractures. Incorrect vacuum extractor use can sometimes cause hematoma, hemorrhaging, and jaundice. 

Failure to Provide Oxygen

Challenges during the birthing process can sometimes result in babies being unable to breathe. Medical professionals must use their monitoring equipment and experience to detect when oxygen supplementation is required. 

However, some doctors can get it wrong. They don’t always provide oxygen before the baby is born, while they’re being delivered, or once they’ve entered the world. Known as birth asphyxia, this failure can result in life-changing injuries that result in a child having a permanent disability. 

Using the Wrong Medication

Many pregnant women experience uncomfortable or unmanageable symptoms. To alleviate their pain or discomfort, doctors often prescribe specific medications. Medication can also be used to induce labor when: 

• You’re past your due date
• Your placenta has separated from your uterus
• Your water breaks
• Your baby has stopped growing
• You have health problems 

You expect your doctor to provide safe medication, but that doesn’t always happen. Some medicines might be misused, resulting in tragic outcomes like premature birth or sudden death. 

Inadequate Monitoring

Many women plan a stress-free birth where their children are born healthy and strong. They know that their care provider will monitor their baby before it’s delivered to allow this to happen. In some cases, medical providers can fail in their duty. They might not have responded to a baby in distress or didn’t monitor the baby appropriately in the first place. In some cases, care providers don’t diagnose delivery issues, resulting in injuries or lifelong disability. 

A Series of Failures Resulting in Health Complications

Sometimes, it’s not a single failure or mistake that results in health complications for a child. It can be multiple failures that start when a woman is pregnant and continue until her child is born. 

Countless medical mistakes can result in serious childbirth injuries like cerebral palsy, infections, fetal stroke, and even stillbirth. Having children with special needs can take a financial and emotional toll on families, especially when a healthcare provider is to blame. 

Not all births are straightforward. This is why medical professionals have tools, medical equipment, and medication to allow for safe baby delivery. When these aren’t used appropriately, babies can be born with severe and permanent injuries. In such situations, legal intervention can be required to ensure your child gets the help they need. 

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