For the parents of babies with birth injuries, their early days with their babies may involve visiting their baby in the NICU, pumping breast milk when they planned to nurse, and preparing themselves to not see their babies hit their first developmental milestones for a long time, if ever.
Unfortunately, this scenario happens far too often. Approximately 29 out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States are affected by birth injuries. Keep reading to learn more about the causes of birth injuries and what you need to prove you have a case.
6 Causes of Medical Malpractice
The following are the most common causes of birth injury lawsuits. If your baby’s injury was caused by any of these conditions, you may be able to file a lawsuit.
Poor Training and Overworked Staff
When hospital staff is poorly trained, physicians are overworked, or nurses have to take on too many patients, babies can pay with their lives. Babies can be injured when medical professionals can’t perform their jobs correctly due to problems with the hospital’s policies. This can be a result of staff being asleep or spread too thin to pay attention to monitors or react to complications.
Failure to Properly Monitor a Fetus
Fetal monitoring lets doctors and nurses know if a baby’s heart rate is too high or too low, which can be a sign that your baby is being deprived of oxygen. Your baby could suffer lifelong consequences if medical professionals fail to adequately interpret the readouts from these monitors or if they fail to make necessary interventions.
Failure to Medicate the Mother Correctly
Epidurals and spinal blocks or induction with Pitocin can interfere with the second stage of labor, leading to an increased risk that labor will be prolonged. When this happens, the baby is put at an increased risk of experiencing fetal distress and all of the risks that are associated with it. These include oxygen deprivation and increased fetal heart rate.
Improper Use or Malfunctioning of Hospital Equipment
One example of the improper use of hospital equipment are doctors using too much force when they are trying to guide the baby through the birth canal with forceps or vacuum extraction. This can cause brain bleeds and other injuries to a newborn. When a hospital fails to properly maintain their equipment or allows it to become old and outdated, this can also lead to injuries.
Failure to Adequately Inform About Risks
Doctors have a duty to adequately inform their patients about the risks involved with any medication they use to induce labor or to manage pain. They are also required to inform their patients about the risks of any interventions they perform during labor and birth, including the risks involved in a c-section. When they fail, patients may end up agreeing to something they never would have consented to had they known the true level of risk.
Proving Who Was at Fault
To prove that a medical facility was responsible for your baby’s injury, you’ll need to collect as much documentation as you can. You may also want to reach out to a lawyer to learn more about the resources that are available to your family.
According to advice from Florida Cerebral Palsy Lawyer, if you are wondering whether or not you have a viable lawsuit, an attorney can review the facts of your case and advise you of the steps to take next.
