Cephalohematoma is the medical term for a swollen bump on the head filled with blood. They’re caused by trauma to the vessels between the scalp and the skull. An infant should never have to experience one of these at birth, but some do and it may be a sign of medical malpractice.
A Chicago infant cephalohematoma attorney can find out if your doctor harmed your baby during birth. Your child may be eligible for compensation through a malpractice lawsuit. Our Chicago birth injury lawyers are ready to help you get answers.
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Assistive Devices May Have Caused Your Child’s Injury
Babies are often born with slightly misshapen heads caused by the forces of birth, but a cephalohematoma is different. Those are caused by trauma, but what could have hit your baby’s head during birth?
Assistive devices are the most common cause of cephalohematoma in babies. Forceps and vacuum extraction devices help doctors pull babies free if they’re stuck in the birth canal. They can be useful in emergency situations, but if they’re used incorrectly, they can create cephalohematomas.
Vacuum extraction devices are the worst because they attach firmly to the scalp of the baby to give doctors a way to pull them out by the head. The suction and pulling easily damages the blood vessels under the scalp and can create a cephalohematoma.
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Does Infant Cephalohematoma Carry Risks?
If you’ve ever had a bump on the head, you might think it’s not a serious problem. It may hurt and last a while, but they aren’t dangerous, right? For babies, they can be and that’s why we have infant cephalohematoma lawyers in Chicago who specialize in this condition.
A baby’s head is small and these bumps can be far larger than you think. In larger versions, the change in blood flow can create anemia in a baby. It can also create jaundice when byproducts of healing the wound build up in the blood. Infection can happen if the bump breaks open. This could be life-threatening without treatment.
Larger infant cephalohematomas are also at a greater risk of calcification. Sometimes the body will not absorb the blood. Instead, the bump turns into a bone-like mass. Removing it will require surgery and hospitalization.
These complications put unnecessary burdens on families. Why should you pay for an injury that could have been prevented? You shouldn’t, and our birth injury attorneys in Illinois will make sure that you don’t.
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Seek Damages for Your Baby With Our Help
You don’t have to pay for the extra costs you have to bear because your doctor caused a cephalohematoma. You can seek damages with the help of our Chicago infant cephalohematoma lawyers through filing a malpractice claim or a lawsuit.
We can investigate what happened to your baby and see if it meets the standards of malpractice for the medical profession. In brief, we have to see if your doctor acted beyond the standards of care during your baby’s birth and caused an injury. We also have to show how you and your baby were harmed, whether physically, emotionally, or financially.
If we can prove to the insurers that your doctor committed malpractice, they are obligated to pay you financial compensation to cover what you’ve suffered. If they refuse to do it or offer too little, our lawyers will take them to court and fight for justice there.
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Compensation You Could Receive
You may be owed much more compensation than you realize. That’s a major benefit of hiring a lawyer to help you with any personal injury claim. The insurance companies will prey on your ignorance to offer a settlement lower than you should get, or try to prevent you from claiming anything at all.
Through a lawsuit, our lawyers can help you get the money to pay for your baby’s medical care and any out-of-pocket expenses you’ve suffered from the injury. This includes lost wages from taking time off work, transportation costs to specialists, and much more.
Your baby has also experienced pain and suffering from their cephalohematoma, and may also have some deformity from the bump after it heals. The law recognizes that some negative experiences after injuries deserve extra compensation. These are called non-economic damages. Most cases qualify for these.
Illinois Malpractice Laws to Know About
One question clients ask us is if there are malpractice caps in Illinois. There used to be over a decade ago, but the Illinois Supreme Court ruled those unconstitutional. You don’t have to worry about the law taking away some of your money after you’ve won your claim in this state.
Parents have until their child’s 8th birthday for an injury suffered at birth. This is the statute of limitations for birth injuries. You must start a lawsuit before this date or the law will dismiss your court case and you will get nothing. This is not a factor in most cephalohematoma cases since they heal quickly.
If your case must go to trial, we will need to get an affidavit of merit from a medical expert to file your claim. This is a document proving that a medical professional has reviewed what happened and agrees that there is reasonable cause to suspect that malpractice harmed your baby.
Contact a Chicago Infant Cephalohematoma Lawyer
If you notice an unusual bump on your child’s head after birth, don’t let a doctor brush it off. Find out if it’s a cephalohematoma and then contact the Birth Injury Lawyers Group. You can get a free consultation about what happened and get answers about whether your baby suffered from malpractice.
If we believe you have a case and you agree to hire us, we will work for you without cost until you win compensation. Should your case fail, you will owe us nothing for our services. Call us to learn your legal options before your child’s bump disappears.
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