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Altoona Birth Injury Attorney
Frischman & Rizza, P.C.
Altoona Birth Injury Attorney
Sadly, about seven out of every 1,000 babies born this year will experience a birth injury. If your child suffers from an injury during childbirth, speak with our Altoona birth injury attorney at Frischman and Rizza for advice on how to proceed. Our team is happy to investigate the facts of your case and provide recommendations on whether medical negligence was the cause of the injury.
Types of Birth Injury Medical Malpractice
Our team frequently comes across cases of birth injuries, either during pregnancy, just before birth, during labor and delivery, or just after birth. Of course, some injuries occur as a natural part of the birthing process, but negligence by healthcare professionals causes unnecessary and often avoidable injuries.
Head injuries are the most common types of birth injuries in the United States and could result in bleeding around the brain or blood clotting. Facial injuries, bone injuries, and nerve damage can also occur during birth. Some of these are unavoidable, but others are caused by or exacerbated by medical neglect.
Negligence by hospital staff includes failure to prevent or control bleeding of a mother or child, forceful pulling and twisting of the baby, and failure to detect fetal distress. These cases often result in lifelong conditions for the child and insurmountable medical costs for the family. It might include brain and head injuries, spinal cord injuries, and nerve damage from the trauma caused by negligence during childbirth.
A legitimate medical malpractice suit must prove:
1. Negligence on the part of the hospital staff
2. The negligence resulted in the injury to you or your baby
When to Hire an Attorney
First, you will need to ensure safe care and treatment for you and your newborn. Then, when you’re ready, call Frischman & Rizza as soon as possible when you suspect you or your child may have sustained an injury as a result of medical negligence.
Serious Effects from Birth Injuries
Many injuries during birth are unavoidable as part of the labor and delivery process. Babies also suffer scratches that clear up on their own with a couple of days of healing. However, more serious effects of birth injuries lead to a lifetime of medical treatment for your child, brain damage, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, and Erb’s palsy.
Erb’s Palsy
Erb’s palsy (brachial plexus palsy) is partial or total paralysis or decreased range of motion in the arm. While adults who sustain an injury from the extreme downward force on the shoulder can suffer from Erb’s palsy, it is more commonly diagnosed in infants injured during birth.
Symptoms of this nerve damage will be apparent right away, however, the extent of the injury may not be fully known for a few months. Erb’s palsy results from excessive pulling or stretching of a baby’s arm or neck during childbirth.
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is the result of brain damage that affects your child’s balance, coordination, and motor control. The brain damage often happens just before or during childbirth but is only typically diagnosed around 18 months of age because a baby’s movement is naturally limited in the early days.
Newborn Cephalohematoma
Newborn cephalohematoma is the result of the forceful use of forceps or vacuum extractors during childbirth. The condition is a brain bleed caused by an injury to your child’s head. Sometimes, the bleed resolves itself on its own, but the child may need surgery to repair the damage.
Meconium Aspiration Syndrome
Meconium, the dark greenish color, sterile fecal material that a baby produces in his or her intestines while still in the womb and is often found in amniotic fluid. It is comprised of proteins, fats, mucous and bile. In essence, meconium found in the amniotic fluid represents the baby’s first bowel movement.
A potentially life-threatening or life-altering condition that can occur to the baby from the passage of meconium in utero is Meconium Aspiration Syndrome. This occurs when the baby breathes meconium into his or her lungs either by gasping while still in utero or when the baby takes his or her first breaths after delivery.
When the meconium is aspirated, it floods the baby’s lungs and can block the airway. If the baby’s airway becomes partially blocked, air will only reach a portion of the lungs and that air which is breathed in cannot be effectively exhaled.
This can lead to fetal asphyxia resulting in a severe and disabling brain injury. The meconium also can irritate the lungs, which can cause a significant inflammatory response, infection, and fetal morbidity.
Birth Injury Medical Malpractice Resolutions
Working towards a resolution in a personal injury case is an emotionally challenging task, and professional support can be invaluable. All you want to do as a new parent is take care of your child and family.
If you would like to explore the ramifications of events or decisions that caused you or your child injury, contact the law firm of Frischman & Rizza. We have a 98% success rate.
The personal injury law attorneys at Frischman & Rizza will work tirelessly with medical experts if we take your medical negligence case. Call Frischman & Rizza’s Altoona birth injury attorney today at 412-291-9377.
