What Causes a Birth Injury?

Medical malpractice causes a birth injury in a number of cases where a newborn experiences serious trauma, and most parents are left in the dark. Attorney Patrick Regan explains what happened in a birth injury case he handled for a family. When parents are told at a hospital that their child suffered birth trauma, they should have a lawyer experienced in medical malpractice review the records.

A birth injury is an injury that occurs to a child, either in the hours immediately before birth, or in the hours right after birth. And the child suffers injuries that will affect his or her development for the rest of their lives. One of the cases that we’re handling right now involves severe injuries to a child that occurred during birth. What happened to this child was that the nursing staff did not recognize that the baby’s heart rate was decreasing. And as a result, the baby was not getting oxygen to the brain. The parents are now coping with this child who has cerebral palsy, requires 24 hour care, and will require care for the rest of their lives.

When we investigated the case, we found that the nursing staff simply was not paying attention to this baby. You could see very clearly on the fetal monitor, which monitors the heart rate of a baby. This is equipment that the hospital had, and they were monitoring the heart rate. And they weren’t paying attention to it. It was clear that the heart rate was decreasing for several hours before the birth. All of which directly caused the brain injury. In this situation, both as a lawyer who’s been doing this for a number of years, and as a father, this should never have happened. This was completely preventable. All of the tell-tale signs were clear, and they were just ignored. For more information, contact us today.