When many of us consider the physicality of giving birth, we fail to recognize what a dangerous event that it can be. There are many things that can go wrong – resulting in devastating effects for both the child and their family.
If your newborn suffered damages due to complications or less-than-optimal natal care, you may face a long road of recovery and recuperation ahead. Both mother and child may require persistent treatment and care. An entire family might face permanent consequences of particularly severe birth injuries.
The Most Frequently Occurring Birth Injuries and Their Causes
Parents of children who have sustained traumatic, severe birth injuries need assistance. After even a routine pregnancy and all that delivery requires from a mother, it can be devastating to realize that your child has experienced preventable harm.
Unfortunately, as infants are very vulnerable, any malpractice or trauma experienced so early in life will tend to result in very severe conditions. Many will remain permanent, affecting the course of the infant’s entire life into adulthood. Others can clear up very quickly – making it difficult, in some cases, to prove that an infant suffered a traumatic event.
Birth injuries can happen at any step of delivery, from adverse events that occur as the baby emerges from the birth canal to mistakes made during the first few moments of an infant’s life. Some birth injuries can even occur prior, if a physician fails to recognize or respond to complications during the mother’s pregnancy.
The most common types of birth injuries include:
- Physical damages due to forceps use – which can include infant bruising and lacerations
- Subconjunctival hemorrhage – blood vessels that have burst in an infant’s eye
- Infant facial paralysis
- Infant fractures
- Swelling or bruising of an infant’s head or scalp
- Infant nerves that have torn or stretched, resulting in motor dysfunction
- Asphyxia – or oxygen deprivation, which can result in brain damage and other severe conditions
- Severe injuries to the mother, including a harmed uterus, hemorrhaging, injuries that force a hysterectomy, or even maternal death
Our attorneys are smart, savvy, and sensitive. If your young family is hurting, we can work tirelessly to get you the tools you need to heal. First and foremost, we’ll work to determine whether a birth injury resulted from medical negligence.
Working to Prove a Birth Injury Claim
As even normal, healthy birthing procedures involve real dangers, malpractice attorneys have to obtain comprehensive proof that the injuries were preventable. To pursue compensation, you will have to demonstrate:
- The expected treatment logically necessary from the known facts about the mother’s pregnancy
- That the mother’s medical care team deviated from the expected treatment or the appropriate standard of care
- That the child definitely suffered an injury relating to birth
- That the child’s injury would not have happened had the mother’s care team adhered to the appropriate standard of care
As the standard of proof is extremely multifaceted, it’s possible that several different parties will share ultimate liability for the birth injury. Tracing culpability in a medical environment can be very complicated. The process of proving direct negligence requires many skills and a lot of specialized knowledge, including:
- Familiarity with medical procedures
- The ability to investigate hospital records effectively
- Experience with understanding the precise nature of an injury, its symptoms, and its causes (as well as its possible prevention strategies)
- The legal expertise required for developing a claim, arguing it aggressively, and pursuing the level of compensation due for familial suffering
As the child may experience complications and suffering their entire life due to a birth injury, you need to consider long-term medical care, therapy, and even future lost wages when seeking compensation. You’ll need to do all of this while supporting your family and recovering from a very difficult event.
Don’t put yourself through that. Leave negotiations and investigations to the experts.
Chicagoland Attorneys Ready to Care for Both Child and Family in the Wake of a Birth Injury
After a birth injury, you need a legal team who can help you take action against responsible parties and pursue compensation to invest in your child’s future.
The Cullotta Bravo Group has empathetic, experienced attorneys who are ready to fight for your family. We have spent years aggressively representing families who have experienced the intense suffering and hardship of a newborn emergency event. Immediately after birth, parents need to be able to focus on recovery – not paperwork, intense meetings, malpractice suits and difficult negotiations with insurance companies. Allow us to help secure your family’s future.
Contact us today at 630-898-7800 to schedule your free initial consultation.
