Welcoming a baby into the world is a tremendously joyous occasion for most parents. However, some parents unfortunately experience the opposite when a birth injury occurs. The aftermath of a birth injury can be incredibly difficult to navigate, and parents must take prompt action for the sake of their infants.
Medical professionals must provide comprehensive prenatal care to mothers and babies, and their skills are vital in preventing birth injuries. Sometimes, things do go wrong, and it is up to doctors, nurses, and the entire medical team to take the right actions to save lives and prevent injuries.
When these medical professionals are careless and deviate from the appropriate standard of care, significant and long-term injuries may be caused to these infants coming into the world. Read on to understand more about the role that medical professionals have in preventing these serious outcomes.
What Do Medical Professionals Do to Prevent Birth Injuries?
All of the medical professionals involved in prenatal care and the birth process play a huge role in preventing birth injuries. They are tasked with protecting the lives of mothers and babies. Providing proper, comprehensive care is the key and starts with monitoring women and their fetuses from the time that they are detected in the womb through birth.
Doctors and nurses must educate and communicate with families about proper growth and development. For example, if a mother seems to be lacking in specific vitamins, they should make sure that she gets these essential nutrients and monitor her care for the sake of the baby. These medical professionals must also respond to medical issues and any emergencies that may arise.
Proper maternal care helps protect both the mother and baby from complications that could occur, as well as birth injuries. Proper pre- and postnatal care requires medical professionals to provide care that is consistent with the medical standard.
This includes monitoring fetal health and development throughout the pregnancy and during childbirth, as well as making an appropriate response to any complications or emergencies. The goal is to prevent any birth-related trauma and injuries to both mother and baby.
What Is Considered an Appropriate Standard of Care for Pre- and Postnatal Care?
Healthcare professionals need to monitor the health and overall wellness of a mother and her infant throughout the pregnancy as well as during labor and delivery. This will include scheduling regular prenatal checkups where fetal size and position are monitored, conducting ultrasounds and scans when necessary, testing to monitor a mother’s health, and checking for signs of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.
During labor, the position of the baby before delivery must also be monitored. As labor progresses, the baby’s heart rate needs to be monitored throughout the process. Mothers need to be watched too, as complications may come up that require emergency C-section procedures. Interventions will need to be made if the mother has signs of excessive bleeding during labor and delivery.
Once the baby is born, it must be checked for medical conditions, including jaundice or signs of other abnormalities. The newborn needs to be monitored at regular intervals to keep an eye out for respiratory distress. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather, one that highlights some of the important care that needs to be provided during pregnancy, labor, and delivery to prevent birth injuries.
What Causes Birth Injuries?
Birth injuries are often caused by a failure by healthcare professionals. When doctors, nurses, or the facility itself deviate from the medically-accepted standards of care or they behave with malicious intent, they put both mother and baby at risk. This can lead to devastating life-long medical complications or even death for the baby, the mother, or even both of them, creating a painful loss for the family at a time when they were preparing to celebrate new life.
Birth injuries are commonly caused by failing to provide proper monitoring of the mother and child at any point from pregnancy to birth, failing to properly use medical equipment, ignoring fetal distress, and delaying delivery.
When doctors or nurses provide insufficient monitoring or care, they may neglect to monitor fetal heart rate during labor and delivery or fail to diagnose these abnormalities. Ignoring fetal distress or, once the baby is born, leaving it unattended for too long are other ways that care may be lacking.
Additionally, when things take a turn for the worse and mom and baby are suffering, a c-section needs to be conducted quickly to prevent loss of life. Failing to order one and send the mother into the operating room in a timely fashion could have a tragic outcome.
Some hospital staff handle infants too forcefully while those in labor or delivery may improperly use forceps or vacuums for extraction. There are many ways that these birth injuries can occur, and when they do, the children they impact could have physical and mental development delays as well as disabilities that last a lifetime.
What Should Doctors Keep an Eye on During Pregnancy?
Pregnant women need to be able to count on their doctors to help ensure their health as well as the health of their baby. Doctors must monitor the mother and baby for the warning signs that can indicate fetal distress and other birth complications. In childbirth, premature or prolonged labor can cause serious complications, as can gestational diabetes. Doctors need to know the signs when a vaginal birth will be too dangerous and order a c-section to be performed promptly.
Fetal distress is the biggest reason for a vaginal birth to turn into an emergency C-section. It happens when the fetus isn’t getting enough oxygen, which requires prompt action to prevent serious complications.
When doctors are doing their part and abiding by proper medical standards, they will teach their patients to note any decreases in fetal movement and report them immediately. They will also tell them to watch for vaginal bleeding or note if they’ve experienced excessive weight gain or loss.
During checkups, doctors will look for abnormal heart rates, and in labor, if meconium, the baby’s first bowel movement, is in the amniotic fluid, it is another urgent sign that the baby is in danger. Naturally, any unusual activity is upsetting for mothers who are likely even more sensitive to these things due to fluctuating hormones.
When doctors are doing right by their patients, new moms can feel confident and comfortable that they will take care of them and their newborn babies.
What Should You Do If Your Infant Experiences a Birth Injury?
Unfortunately, not all doctors and nurses uphold the right standards, and this leads to birth injuries such as bone fractures, brachial plexus injuries, and facial nerve paralysis, among many others. If your baby suffered birth injuries, you should know your rights and the steps to take.
Contact a Birth Injury Attorney
While any personal injury attorney can help, those who specifically represent victims with birth injuries are best. They will have the legal and medical knowledge necessary to determine whether what you experienced was due to a subpar standard of care, maliciousness, or even if the doctor did everything any other doctor would do when faced with a similar situation.
Document the Incident
Give your attorney all of the medical records and other documents related to your prenatal care as well as anything related to labor and delivery.
Prepare Your Case
If you have a valid claim, your attorney will start with negotiations, using the evidence and medical expert testimony as leverage. However, the responsible parties may not agree, and you will need to file a lawsuit with the courts.
Understanding the Statute of Limitations for Birth Injuries
Every state has a statute of limitations on personal injury cases. For Indiana, birth injuries have a time limit of two years from the date of injury. In some cases, the birth injury may not be discovered right away. The state allows for the clock to start ticking once that injury is discovered.
What Compensation Can You Receive in a Birth Injury Case?
When a case for birth injury either settles out of court or wins a verdict at trial, the plaintiff may receive compensation for medical expenses as well as any future care costs, which can be hefty when the baby’s injuries will pose lifelong impacts. Additionally, it is also possible to seek lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other damages that directly relate to this incident.
Why You Need an Attorney for a Birth Injury Case
Birth injuries and cases of medical malpractice are some of the most complex personal injury cases. They hinge upon whether the standard of medical care was not properly followed, and proving that on your own while you’re already dealing with so much can be daunting. An attorney can take care of every aspect of your case and help you fight for a favorable outcome.
