While the birth of a baby is a joyous time in a family’s life, a certain amount of worry over your unborn child’s health and safety is common. As prospective parents, you depend upon your medical providers to take the appropriate actions and to perform the necessary tests and procedures to ensure that both baby and mother stay healthy and strong. Unfortunately, medical mistakes and errors are all too common, and can result in serious, potentially disabling, and even life threatening harm to your child.

At the Joye Law Firm, our experienced birth injury attorneys provide the compassionate care parents need, while using our legal knowledge and experience to ensure responsible parties are held accountable for the damages they have caused. At a time like this, we know how important it is for you to have a strong legal advocate on your side, fighting to ensure your family’s rights are protected and your future needs are provided for.

Causes and Risk Factors for Birth Injuries

According to Medscape, a leading provider of consumer health information, while infant mortality and injury rates have decreased over the years due to the improved quality of medical care for pregnant women and their unborn children, birth injuries continue to affect roughly 80,000 newborns and their families each year. These types of injuries generally occur during the process of labor and delivery, and can occur due to the use of forceps and other extraction methods, as well as failures in monitoring the fetus or the progress of the labor.

Common risk factors for birth injuries include the following:

• Problems with regulating the infant’s heart rate during labor;
• Slow progressing labors that put increased stress on the unborn baby;
• Induced labors requiring the use of drugs, such as Pitocin;
• Problems with blood flow due to the position of the fetus;
• Cases in which the placenta collapses or becomes wrapped around the baby;
• Problems with the fetus moving through the birth canal.

In addition to the above, preeclampsia is a potentially dangerous condition which can end up resulting in birth injuries as well as trauma for the mother. According to the Preeclampsia Foundation, the condition affects as many as 300,000 pregnant women each year, generally occurring during the second or third trimester. Telltale signs include high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine, and left untreated can result in low birth weights and increased risks for liver and kidney problems as well as blood clotting issues which could put the mother’s life in jeopardy.

It is up to obstetricians and other medical staff to carefully monitor pregnant women and their unborn children both throughout pregnancy, as well as during labor and delivery, to help avoid situations that could result in serious injuries. In addition, while doctors are trained to use the utmost care and discretion in using forceps and other extraction devices, a single error or mistake in the use of these instruments can have long ranging impacts of both the child and their family.