Birth injuries can result in severe and lifelong disabilities for children. But, they also cause tremendous emotional distress for parents who may worry about a range of issues from how their child will develop physically and intellectually to how they can help him or her live independently in the future. In some cases, that may never be possible because of the child’s severe disability.
If your child’s birth injury was caused by medical negligence, incompetence or carelessness, you may be able to file a birth injury lawsuit against the obstetrician, doctor, nurses, hospital, technicians or other parties. Here are three important facts parents of children with birth injuries would be well advised to keep in mind.
1. It is important to understand the difference between birth injuries and birth defects.
If your baby was injured during the labor and delivery process, it is crucial that you have a good understanding of whether your child suffered a birth injury or if he or she has a birth defect. What’s the difference between a birth injury and a birth defect? Birth defects are congenital issues that lead to abnormalities and/or deformities in your child such as heart defects or cleft palate. These conditions are typically not caused by any external factors. They are often not preventable with the exception of some acts of medical negligence such as prescribing harmful drugs to the mother during pregnancy.
Birth injuries on the other hand are preventable and are often caused by poor prenatal monitoring, inadequate fetal monitoring or improper use of birth-assistive tools such as vacuum extractors and forceps, etc. Some of the most common types of birth injuries include, but are not limited to, brachial plexus injury or Erb’s palsy, cerebral palsy, hypoxia or oxygen deprivation, etc.
2. Your child’s birth injury does not have to be severe for you to consider or file a birth injury lawsuit.
Parents of children with birth injuries tend to believe that their birth injury lawsuit will prove unsuccessful if their child is said to have a “mild” injury or if he or she does not face lifelong consequences. The fact remains that even a so-called mild birth injury can have a devastating effect on your child’s and your life. You should never underestimate the severity of the birth injury or the impact it can have on your family. One of our clients recovered a settlement of $2,500,000 for a “mild” birth injury.
As a parent, it is important that you are fully aware that your baby may suffer as a result of even minor developmental delays. When your child goes to school, not being able to participate in sports, games or going out to play during recess may have a devastating emotional impact on your child. Even though your child may be able to stand up, walk or talk, it might affect his or her ability to fit in to the environment, find gainful employment and enjoy life.
3. Watch how your child develops and collect crucial scientific evidence.
When your child is born, his or her health is judged based on what is known as the APGAR scoring system, which essentially evaluates the child based on pulse, appearance, activity and breathing. This is an important number to watch out for. Also crucial is the acidity level of the child’s blood at birth. Discuss any abnormalities or irregularities with your pediatrician.
Parents should closely keep track of their child’s developmental markers such as when they are able to lift their heads up, crawl and walk. If your child is behind on any of these milestones or if your child’s walking is abnormal, there might be a problem.
If Your Child Has Been Injured
If your child has suffered a birth injury as a result of medical negligence, 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 arm injury case (Erb’s palsy) that was reduced by the appeals court to $1,850,000 because the verdict was so large. This was the highest amount upheld by the appellate courts in an Erb’s palsy case 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.
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 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.
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1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
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