The excitement and joy of having a child can quickly turn tragic if the baby is injured or has some type of trauma at birth. It would even be more devastating if the injury was preventable. Injuries during birth are very serious and could even result in death. At other times, injuries sustained at birth can lead to long time medical care or cause a baby to be permanently disabled. The emotional and financial toll a family can endure from a birth injury can be overwhelming.
A birth injury can originally occur well before a baby is born. A common way a baby can be injured is during testing to check the well-being of the fetus. During labor, an injury may occur due to a lack of oxygen to the baby. Once the baby is born, an injury may occur when it is not provided the appropriate care. This can include breathing assistance, conducting proper lab testing and generally monitoring the condition of the baby.
Every parent will usually have the expectation that medical staff can anticipate and foresee potential problems. When a problem is caught in a timely manner, it can greatly reduce the risk of potential harm. When standard care is missed or handled with negligence, it is natural for questions to arise demanding why the injury happened.
Injuries that can happen at birth:
Head trauma during delivery-Damage to the brain and nervous system, including hematomas can cause delays in development or cerebral palsy.
Forcible delivery-When a doctor needs to use medical instruments such as forceps, it can cause brachial plexus injuries or Erb’s palsy.
Delayed Delivery-A miscalculation of the size of the baby or if the baby is breech, it can cause a delay that results in complications.
Oxygen deprivation-When a baby lacks oxygen, brain tissue will begin to die. The baby can suffer brain damage if oxygen is not restored quickly enough.
Premature birth-A baby born premature may be subject to many types of complications that need to be monitored constantly. It can take some time for a premature baby to breath and function on its own without the help of medical equipment.
Birth injuries can be one of the most scary and complicated things a family may have to endure. Birth injuries and birth trauma can quickly turn a time of joyfulness into a time of stress and sadness.
