Common Types of Birth Injuries | North Carolina Medical Malpractice
When a baby is injured at birth those injuries can often times lead to a life long injuries. A birth injury occurs when a newborn is injured during the labor process. There are several types of birth injuries, some minor and easily remedied and some more serious. Many birth injuries can be prevented by proper medical care and adhering to the appropriate medical standards. There are many birth injuries, most of them minor, which can occur without any malpractice from the attending doctor. Others are more serious and are caused by negligence or fault of the doctor, for these reasons it is important to consult an attorney on the specific facts of your case.
Many birth injuries affect the head and shoulders of the baby, since these are the parts of the baby’s body most affected during labor and the actual birth. One minor birth injury is bruising on the baby’s head that can occur naturally from either the birth canal or the mother’s pelvic bones. It is also common for a baby to have bruising if forceps or a vacuum are used to extract the baby during delivery. These are tools commonly used during a delivery and rarely cause serious injury. In rare situations, the forceps may actually fracture the skull of the infant and surgery may be needed to correct the injury. Another common birth injury caused by a vacuum extraction is caput succedaneum, or a severe swelling of the child’s scalp; this usually disappears in a few days. Another typical head injury is cephalohematoma, or a bleeding between the bone and it’s fibrous covering. This will typically heal within a few weeks to a couple of months.
Sometimes during childbirth, the baby’s shoulder can become impaired and cause nerve damage in the area that controls the movement of the arms and hands. This is known as Erb’s Palsy, an injury to the brachial plexus nerves in the neck and shoulder. Normally, the injury will heal within a few months but occasionally there will be permanent damage and surgery will be needed. The severe cases of brachial plexus nerve injury are most often reviewed as possible medical malpractice by the obstetrician or midwife, since the potential for injury should often be identified during the labor process.
Some more serious birth injuries include brain damage from a lack of oxygen that can be caused by an umbilical cord or blood loss. This type of injury can cause cerebral palsy, seizure disorders or mental impairment. These injuries can often be avoided with proper monitoring during the labor process.
Birth injuries are more common in larger babies (over 9 pounds) and in premature babies. A long or difficult childbirth also correlates with more birth injuries. If a woman has had a difficult birth in the past, it is important to alert the doctor of this history as soon as the mother becomes pregnant. In these cases, the mother and child should be closely monitored throughout the pregnancy. Often the doctor may recommend a Cesarean section rather than a vaginal birth to avoid possible injury in difficult pregnancies. A doctor not taking appropriate action either in anticipation of the likelihood of a difficult birth or after birth injuries have been detected is when medical malpractice becomes an issue.
