A birth injury, especially one that results in a traumatic brain injury or permanent brain damage to a newborn baby can be one of the most devastating events parents can experience. A doctor's negligence may cause a variety of serious and permanent birth injuries to an infant, including injuries resulting from trauma or lack of oxygen or blood flood to the brain of the baby. A doctor's negligence can be caused by direct action from the doctor, such as causing a trauma injury to the baby by misusing the forceps or vacuum to help extract the infant during a difficult delivery, or by the lack of action, such as failing to perform a C-section when necessary.
Medical malpractice lawyers must explain to a jury how a normal birth delivery is supposed to occur; and why in a medical malpractice case involving a birth injury, where medical negligence caused the birth injury to happen. If for example an umbilical cord prolapses or the placenta doesn't function properly, causing a restriction of blood flow or oxygen flow to the infant, the doctor needs to take immediate action to protect the baby. If the doctor fails to pay attention to the warning signs from the fetal heart rate monitor, and the baby is born with permanent brain damage, an experienced medical malpractice attorney will be able to demonstrate to a jury exactly how the delivery process went wrong and where the doctor was negligent.
If in the example above, the umbilical cord wraps around the baby's neck, cutting off the blood and oxygen supply to the baby's brain, a mid-brain injury can occur, leading to cerebral palsy. Since there is no cure for cerebral palsy, the child will suffer from the disorder for the rest of his or her life. In this example, the baby will have normal cognitive functions but suffer from permanent paralysis.
The fetal heart rate monitor can warn the medical staff of a variety of emergencies that require immediate medical attention. If the doctors or nurses react quickly enough, the birth injury may be averted. Or the difference in reaction time can prevent a minor birth injury from becoming a severe or catastrophic injury, including death of the infant. The fetal heart rate monitor may be signaling to the medical staff that the infant's heart rate has dramatically dropped to a dangerous level. If the problem can't be immediately corrected, an emergency cesarean section may be required. If the medical staff fails to see the warning or ignores the warning, and in this situation, fails to perform the C-section, the baby may be born with severe and permanent brain damage. When the birth injury could have been prevented, but the doctor or nurse failed to take the proper action, then the parents of the injured baby should contact a leading medical malpractice attorney who specializes in birth injuries, as they may have a medical malpractice case.
