All medical procedures pose a certain amount of risk to the patient. When we talk about delivery cases, the same applies, even if a baby is born naturally. There are many factors that come into play as a child prepares to enter the world. These factors can have an impact on the health and well-being of the mother and her baby. They include blood pressure level and dilation of the mother, the position of the baby, the health of the placenta, and the expertise of the delivery team.
Understanding Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a developmental illness that can develop if the brain sustains certain types of damage. Specifically, it involves damage to the gray matter of the brain, which is responsible for controlling voluntary motor functions. Damage to this part of the brain can lead to a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. Research has shown that cerebral palsy can develop before birth, but many times it is caused by birth-related injuries.
These injuries are sometimes unavoidable, such as if the baby’s brain does not fully develop during gestation as a result of gene mutations. In other cases, however, it can be prevented if the child’s doctor and delivery team take the right corrective actions and perform the right procedures in response to a birth-related emergency.
Other health indicators that correlate with cerebral palsy include the following:
- Blood clots or bleeding in the brain
- Infections that lead to brain swelling
- Head injuries
- The incorrect use of delivery devices
- Excessive pressure on the baby due to high birth weight
- Low birth weight or premature delivery
- C-sections
- Multiple births
- Severe jaundice
If your doctor diagnosed your child as having cerebral palsy, a lawyer can help you initiate the process of determining whether or not medical malpractice contributed to your child’s injuries. If it did, you may be able to file a lawsuit against any negligent parties that treated your child.
Doing this will involve proving that your child’s doctor or care team performed actions or made decisions that did not meet the accepted standard of care while treating your child as established by the medical community.
Your cerebral palsy lawyer will work closely with one or more medical experts to review your case and establish if a doctor, other healthcare professionals, or the hospital were at fault for your baby’s condition. Those expert witnesses will testify on your behalf, showing how the negligence act occurred, why it happened, what should have been done to prevent it, and how it caused the injuries in question. You have to understand that the law allows you to seek damages from all responsible parties and your attorney will see that you receive the proper compensation for what happened to you and your baby.
"If your child was born with a birth injury, or cerebral palsy, we can help."
Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy
The symptoms of cerebral palsy may not be immediately present after your child is born, and it may take months before the parents suspect that their child suffers the physical and mental disabilities associated with the condition.
Depending on the type of palsy your child suffers from, and when you first notice issues, you may observe one or more of the following symptoms:
- Excessive drooling
- Problems with communication
- Speech and language disorders
- Spinal deformities
- Growth abnormalities
- Muscle locking
- An inability to move the limbs in certain ways
- Poor vision and/or hearing
- Developmental disabilities (both physical as well as mental)
Older patients may exhibit the following symptoms:
- Incontinence
- Poor bone density
- Easy and frequent fractures
- Stress
- Emotional and behavioral trauma
- Dental issues
Severe cases of cerebral palsy can render the patient unable to walk or even hold his or her head up straight. Even with mild cases, it can be very difficult for the affected individual to grasp objects, communicate, eat, and perform other basic tasks such as bathing or dressing. These are the reasons why cerebral palsy patients often require life-long care and assistance, even though cerebral palsy usually does not worsen over
time and is medically classified as non-progressive.
Call the Birth Injury Lawyers Group today at (800) 222-9529 to learn more about your rights and legal options.
Rio Rancho Cerebral Palsy Lawyer Near Me (800) 222-9529
Examples of Malpractice and Negligence
Besides natural factors that are beyond the control of a doctor, cerebral palsy can be caused by negligence and birth injuries that are the direct result of the action or inaction of the child’s medical care team. Here are a few examples of how negligence can lead to brain damage and cerebral palsy.
- Insufficient oxygen reaching the baby during birth if the delivery team did not prepare beforehand for a birth complication
- If the delivery team fails to order a specific test during pregnancy
- If tests performed were not read or interpreted correctly
- If the delivery team fails to perform an emergency C-section, if one is required
- If the delivery team fails to properly monitor the baby before, during, and soon after delivery
- If the delivery team does not have the tools or the experience to deliver a baby during a complicated procedure or an emergency delivery
These issues and their causes are usually identifiable. Your child’s care team should have tested and prepared for them beforehand. Once an injury occurs, it is often permanent, and the child and the family will be left to handle the fallout on their own.
"We know first-hand what you are going through."
Our Duty to You
It is important that your child’s doctor correctly diagnoses your child’s cerebral palsy so that they can administer the right treatments. However, it is equally important that you have the ability to pay for those treatments. We work to ensure that our clients are able to deal with and overcome the challenges they face in the aftermath of a birth injury that was unfairly caused to them by the negligent acts of a medical caregiver.
Here is what we can do for you.
- Help you identify the cause and type of your child’s cerebral palsy
- Gather and maintain records as proof of your child’s injuries and the costs that you incurred as a result
- Prove negligence using the testimony of malpractice experts and your child’s care team to ascertain when, where, and how the birth injuries lead to cerebral palsy
A cerebral palsy lawyer can be a great source of help with each step of the legal process. Call the Birth Injury Lawyers Group today at (800) 222-9529 for a free case evaluation and to learn more about your options.
"We are committed to helping families who have suffered medical negligence."