When a vaginal delivery becomes complicated, a cesarean section (C-section)
may be the best option for the mother. In some emergency situations, a C-section — where the doctor makes the decision to speedily deliver the baby through incisions in the stomach and the uterus — may be the only safe option for the mother as well as the baby. Often, C-sections are scheduled in advance, especially when the mother is at risk of complications such as breech birth (where the baby is in a feet first position instead of head-first) or when the mother is delivering two or more children. But, sometimes, emergency C-sections become essential procedures that save the baby’s life or prevent serious, disabling injuries.
Common Reasons for Emergency C-Section
If you need an emergency C-section, that means your doctor has determined that you or your baby are in distress and that an immediate delivery is the best way to prevent serious birth injuries or worse. Some possible reasons for an emergency C-section include:
Fetal distress: This happens when your baby is not receiving enough oxygen. Without proper intervention, fetal distress can lead to the baby breathing in amniotic fluid containing meconium (the baby’s fecal matter). This can make it difficult for them to breathe after birth, or they may even stop breathing. Fetal distress may occur sometimes during pregnancy, but it’s more common during labor.
For example, we often see cases of shoulder dystocia, where the baby becomes stuck against the mother’s pelvic bone, leading to fetal distress. If the baby is not extricated promptly with an emergency C-section, he or she may suffer several serious consequences including receiving insufficient oxygen that causes brain damage or brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy).
Prolapsed umbilical cord: When this occurs during labor or delivery, the prolapsed umbilical cord is compressed between the fetal presenting part and the cervix. This may result in loss of oxygen to the fetus and can lead to irreversible brain damage or even death.
Placental abruption: This is a condition where the placenta peels away from the wall of the uterus. Placental abruption may potentially deprive the baby of oxygen and nutrients and may cause heavy bleeding in the mother. Because this situation is extremely dangerous, an emergency C-section should be performed.
In some cases, your doctor may decide to perform an unscheduled C-section, which means it is still urgent, but mother and baby are not in life-threatening situations. Some common causes for unscheduled C-sections include:
• When labor is not progressing as expected.
• The contractions are too weak.
• The baby is not tolerating labor.
• The baby is sideways or in breech position when labor commences.
During an emergency C-section, time is of the essence. The primary purpose is to get the baby out as soon as possible and avoid serious injury or stillbirth. The time from the beginning of the surgery to when your baby is delivered may be as short as a minute with this procedure.
Failure to Perform a C-Section
When serious complications such as those that lead to birth injuries are detected during labor, it is critical that the doctor and the medical team take quick action and perform timely C-sections. Failure to do so may result in serious birth injuries to the child including brain damage and cerebral palsy from oxygen deprivation.
If you have been injured by medical professionals who fail to perform a C-section or make a mistake while performing a C-section including not performing the procedure in a timely manner, it is important that you contact an experienced New York birth injury lawyer to obtain more information about protecting your legal rights.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
The experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. One of our clients secured a $2,850,000 verdict in an Erb’s palsy (brachial plexus palsy) case that was reduced by the appeals court to $1,846,000 because the verdict was so large. This was the highest amount upheld by the appellate (appeals) courts for many, many years. In addition we recovered $1,400,000 for a newborn who lost motion in the arm during birth due to doctors applying incorrect force on the baby’s head. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
We have seen many cases where New York City Health and Hospital Corporation facilities deliver babies who are born with cerebral palsy or brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) stemming from negligence (carelessness), and/or medical malpractice in the labor and delivery etc. of the children.
The following list identifies some of these hospitals (operated by New York City Health and Hospital Corporation):
• Jacobi Hospital aka Bronx Municipal 1400 Pelham Parkway South Bronx, New York 10461 718-918-5000
• Lincoln Hospital 234 East 149th Street Bronx, New York 10451 718-579-5000
• North Central Bronx Hospital 3424 Kossuth Avenue Bronx, New York 10467 718-519-5000
• Coney Island Hospital 2601 Ocean Parkway Brooklyn, New York 11235 718-616-3000
• Kings County Hospital 451 Clarkson Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11203 718-245-3131
• Woodhull Hospital 760 Broadway Brooklyn, New York 11206 718-963-8000
• Bellevue Hospital 462 First Avenue New York, New York 10016 212-562-5555
• Harlem Hospital 506 Lenox Avenue New York, New York 10037 212-939-1000
• Metropolitan Hospital 1901 First Avenue New York, New York 10029 212-423-6262
• Elmhurst Hospital 79-01 Broadway Elmhurst, New York 11373 718-334-4000
• Queens Hospital Center 82-68 164th Street Jamaica, New York 11432 718-883-3000
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
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