It’s always a joyful moment for every expectant parent eagerly awaiting their baby’s arrival. Many have envisioned what the body shape of their infant will look like, from the baby’s head shape to other body forms. But this dream gets terminated in most cases due to medical malpractice.
Birth injuries can be physical injuries sustained during childbirth, affecting the newborn or the mother. A birth injury in newborns is known as “neonatal birth trauma.” This injury or medical mistake in newborns can change their lives forever. It dissipates their growth and other activity while growing up.
Although, part of the risk factors that cause birth injury in infants include an abnormal lying positioning of the fetus in the uterus before delivery. However, suppose the medical practitioners didn’t take the delivery process through a Caesarian section or a more appropriate process through the birth canal. In that case, it may result in lifetime disabilities for the newborn child.
This blog will discuss the many types of birth injuries and the necessary steps to take as the victim’s parents.
Common Birth Injuries Types
Contrary to a congenital disability, a birth injury can happen at any stage of the pregnancy, during labor, or after the delivery of a healthy baby. While other birth traumas have disastrous consequences, many birth injuries result in mild physical and mental impairments that can be addressed.
Categories into which common birth injuries occur.
1. Intracranial hemorrhages
Intracranial hemorrhage, also called bleeding brain, is one of the most serious birth injuries. Its causes can be birth trauma—injuries brought on by increased mechanical force applied to the baby’s head or birth asphyxia—an oxygen shortage during or shortly after birth.
There are different kinds of intracranial hemorrhage, namely:
Intraventricular hemorrhage:
Bleeding begins in the brain’s ventricular system, where spinal fluid production occurs. It is the most severe type of intracranial bleeding. It occurs mainly in premature birth delivery and those born with low birth weight.
Cerebral hemorrhage
This type of hemorrhage is blood flow or bleeding within the brain cell caused by a stroke.
Cephalohematoma hemorrhage
This bleeding happens between the skull and its covering skin. It shows as a bump on the infant’s head a few hours after delivery. However, the bump disappears after a few weeks or months.
Subdural hemorrhage
This type of injury results from a rupture in the blood vessels in the subdural area (the area between the thin layer of tissue that separates the brain from the skull).
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
This bleeding occurs in the inner part of the two membranes that protect the brain.
2. Nerve Birth Injuries
Brachial plexus birth palsy
Brachial plexus injuries happen in one to three out of each 1,000 births. It happens when a challenging delivery can stretch, compress, or even tear the brachial plexus nerves apart. Brachial plexus injury can cause irreversible nerve damage and neuropraxic or sensory impairment that lasts up to 12 to 18 months.
Erb’s Palsy
Erb’s palsy is a common type of injury to the brachial plexus and causes motion difficulties in the affected arm of infants.
Cranial nerve and spinal cord injury
This nerve injury associated with spinal cord injuries is connected to inappropriate tugging, excessive stretching, and rotation of the baby at the point of delivery. There are two sub-categories under these:
- Facial nerve palsies: this results in a wrong application of forceps on the face or applying excess pressure to the face. There will be a restriction of movement on the particular face side. Although it tends to resolve naturally when the case is milder, surgery might be the best option in more extreme cases.
- Spinal injury: It is an uncommon side effect of difficult deliveries that causes birth trauma.
3. Bone Fractures & Bruises
Breech births, shoulder dystocia births, or the births of larger infants can increase the risk of fractures. The fracture is frequently done on purpose since it is a well-known treatment option for delivering the baby during a challenging vaginal birth. Fortunately, these fractures usually recover entirely without any lasting effects.
Bruises happen when medical tools, such as forceps, are misused or when an infant’s delicate skin is forced through the birth canal.
4. Head and Brain Injury
Head molding is the pressure given to a baby’s head during delivery that gives shape to the head. However, it does not cause an injury to the baby. Molding has no adverse effects on the brain, creates issues, or needs medical attention. The head form progressively more rounded over a few days.
A brain injury during birth is the most terrible birth injury for any infant and the new parents. It can range in severity from relatively slight to completely incapacitating, just like other birth traumas. Inadequate oxygenation of the brain can lead to cognitive, motor, and emotional problems that are severe and irreversible.
Taking Legal Actions To Prevent Birth Injuries
In most cases, if necessary medical procedures and precautions are adhered to, birth injuries can be prevented, but due to medical malpractice or negligence, they allow such injuries to happen. The aftermath of this negligence during childbirth can leave a gruesome impact on the child’s life.
For the sake of your child and your family’s having legal justice, you must have a knowledgeable birth injury lawyer to work with you and hold the medical and healthcare providers responsible for delivering your child accountable for their negligent actions.
Many parents who could prove that their child’s birth injury could have been avoided were entitled to financial compensation to help cover their child’s lifetime medical expenses.
GET HELP TODAY!
Medical professionals could easily identify and plan for nearly half of all severe birth injuries. However, if you believe the medical staff who delivered your child did it negligently, it’s your right to file a lawsuit for the financial compensation you are entitled to. Please call us at (412) 291-9377 to schedule a free consultation with birth injury attorneys at Frischman & Rizza in Pittsburgh today. We can help you present your case.
