Is a Birth Injury Preventable?
Posted on July 29th, 2019 by Oddo & Babat, P.C.
Birthing a child into this world can feel like one of the most important, albeit exciting, moments in a parents’ life. Unfortunately, this moment can take a turn for the worst and leave you feeling frightened and unsure about the future of your baby. It is certainly possible for complications to occur during pregnancy, the delivery, or after the birth. Sometimes these are natural and unpreventable; however, negligence or a medical error can also cause problems. If you are the parent of a child who was injured or died during birth, pre, or postnatal care, please consult a birth injury lawyer to explore your legal options.
Is a Birth Injury Preventable?
As a birth injury lawyer, we would like to point out that some birth injuries are difficult to avoid, but in other instances, it could have been prevented. For this reason it is important to ask a birth injury lawyer to review the circumstances of your case to help you understand the nature of the situation and whether or not you should pursue a legal investigation and claim.
Determining whether or not your child’s birth injury could have been avoided will largely rest on whether the medical professionals adhered to their duty of care. This care refers to the service and skill that would be implemented by a medical professional of a sound mind, and with the same or similar background or experience. To better understand, a birth injury lawyer might assess the situation and ask questions such as:
- Were any foreseeable, or unreasonable mistakes made?
- Would another doctor, nurse, or staff member have made the same decision?
- Was there anything that could have been avoided?
- Was the birth injury unpredictable or sudden?
To determine if the injury could have been prevented, your birth injury lawyer will almost certainly need to gather all medical records and consult a broad range of experts. Due to the risk of evidence being lost, destroyed, or even tampered with, it is important to act quickly.
Examples of A Birth Injury
As a birth injury lawyer, our firm has handled a broad range of cases that have involved:
- Failure to diagnose a birth defect that was correctable
- Faulty or unhygienic medical equipment
- Medication errors
- Failure to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy
- Failure to diagnose HELLP syndrome
- Failure to diagnose any medical condition
- Failure to perform a c-section in time
- Ignoring fetal distress
- Forcep or vacuum injuries
The aforementioned injuries are only some of those that could occur during the birth of a child. Whether you were told a mistake was made at the time of birth, or you feel that something happened and it is being hidden from you, it is recommended to discuss your case with a birth injury lawyer. Bear in mind these cases tend to be rife with challenges which is why it is important to turn to experienced lawyers who understand personal injury lawyer, birth injuries, and medical terminology.