Medical Malpractice-Birth Injuries

The birth of a newborn infant is supposed to be a joyous occasion. Unfortunately, birth injuries strike at a time when the new parents are most vulnerable and are especially heartbreaking. Some birth injuries are caused by the negligence of a physician or other medical professional. When a medical professional is negligent, and their negligence results in an injury or death, this is defined as medical malpractice.

Birth Injuries Defined
A birth injury can happen any time during the birthing process. A baby is vulnerable to physical injury during pregnancy, delivery, and immediately after birth. Injury to the infant can be the result of the physician's failure to recognize complications during pregnancy or from the mishandling of the infant during delivery.

Colorado Statistics on Birth Defects
According to the Colorado Health Information Dataset from the Colorado Department of Public Health, about 4% of all births in Colorado have major congenital anomalies.

Common Types of Birth Injury
There are many types of birth injury. Some of the more common include the following:

• Fractures (often of the clavicle or collarbone)
  
• Subconjunctival hemorrhage (ruptures to the small blood vessels of the eye)
  
• Caput succedaneum (severe swelling of the soft tissues of the baby's scalp)
  
• Cephalohematoma (area of bleeding between the bone and its fibrous covering)
  
• Brachial palsy or Erb’s palsy (damage to the nerves running from the spinal cord through the arm, resulting in varying degrees of paralysis to one or both arms)
  
• Cerebral palsy (neurological disorder affecting body movement and coordination
  
• Shoulder dystocia (common with large babies, this is when a baby’s shoulders are impacted on the mother’s pubic bone during delivery, and if not immediately corrected, the baby’s head can be pulled away from its shoulders, resulting in nerve damage)
  
• Cranial nerve injury caused by compression by forceps
  
• Spinal cord injury caused by excessive rotation or torsion during delivery
  
• Laryngeal Nerve Injury resulting in vocal chord damage or paralysis

Causes of Birth Injury
There are many conditions that are associated with difficult births. A physician should be aware of these conditions. These conditions may call for particular procedures and should be identifiable to an obstetrician. If the obstetrician does not use reasonable care and fails to identify such a condition, he or she may be liable for damages if that failure leads to a birth injury. Some common conditions include the following:
Breech birth or other abnormal birthing positions
Large babies, especially those larger than 4,000 grams (8 lbs., 13 oz.)
Premature babies born earlier than 37 weeks in gestation
The mother's pelvis is too small for vaginal birth (Cephalopelvic Disproportion)
Difficult labor or birth (Dystocia)

Seek Experienced Legal Representation
In birth injury cases, it is important to act promptly, to take the necessary steps to preserve evidence, review the medical procedures in question, and to enable physicians or other expert witnesses to thoroughly evaluate the birth record and injuries. If your baby suffered injuries before, during, or after birth, contact us to schedule a confidential consultation.