Did Negligence Lead to My Child’s Birth Injury?

Scartelli Olszewski P.C.

If the doctor who delivered your baby later tells you that a serious birth injury occurred, you’ll likely go through a series of emotions. As you are sorting through these, you may start to wonder exactly how the child birth injury happened. Did the doctor make a negligent medical mistake?

If the doctor does not admit negligence regarding your baby’s injury, you or a family member may want to look for signs of this type of error. We’ll discuss some of what may indicate a medical malpractice situation that injured your newborn.

Common Signs of Negligence in Birthing Injuries

Here are some common signs indicating a potential error by the medical professionals that led to your newborn’s injuries:

The baby needed emergency medical care or was transferred to a higher level facility.
You noticed swelling in the baby around the head, on the face, or on the shoulders.
You saw bruising on the baby’s face or upper arms.
You notice that one side of the baby’s face is drooping.
You believe you are seeing paralysis on one side of the newborn’s body.
The baby is having seizures at the hospital or after you take the baby home.

If you notice any of these signs, it’s important to alert medical professionals immediately. Through quick intervention, medical professionals may be able to reduce any long-term effects of the child birth injury.

Developmental Delays May Occur With Some Birth Injuries

You might not notice signs of a potential birth injury until weeks or months after you bring the baby home. A newborn who suffered birth injuries may show developmental delays in the future instead. If you cannot find any other reason for the developmental delays, perhaps you can trace them back to an injury that occurred during the birth.

What Are Some Common Birth Injuries?

Another key step in determining whether negligence occurred is having a diagnosis of the exact child birth injury. If your baby does not have a health problem that’s commonly associated with malpractice during delivery, proving that the doctor did something wrong is challenging.

According to Stanford Medicine, the most common birth injuries include:

Cerebral palsy
Brachial palsy
Brain injury
Brachial plexus
Bruising marks on the face or head
Cephalohematoma, where the baby has bleeding between the skull and the skull’s fibrous covering
Bone fractures, especially in the collarbone
Facial paralysis

If your baby has any of these injuries, consider asking a birth injury lawyer whether you have a malpractice claim.

Why Is a Finding of Negligence Necessary in a Birth Injury Claim?

In any kind of personal injury lawsuit, including the most common medical malpractice claims, proving negligence is important. You and your medical malpractice attorneys have to show that a mistake by a doctor or someone else in the delivery room caused the baby’s injuries. If no one is at fault for the injuries, no defendant exists to be the target of the lawsuit.

Call Our Child Birth Injury Lawyers Today for Help

At Scartelli Olszewski, P.C., we understand that learning your newborn suffered a birth injury is a nightmarish scenario. Your baby might have lifelong health complications. It’s important to remember that you, as the mother, did nothing wrong. By holding the doctor responsible through an injury lawsuit you may be able to recover the past and future medical bills associated with the child birth injury.

If negligence was present, you could file a lawsuit to seek financial compensation for the doctor’s error that led to the newborn’s injury. Reach out to our child birth injury lawyers today for help proving negligence. Call us today at (570) 346-2600 or contact us online.