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When Your Child Suffers a Brain Injury at Birth
The dangers to mother and child during labor and delivery should not be underestimated. In some cases, infants may suffer birth injuries that cause severe brain damage.
June 10, 2010 /Parenting PR News/ -- When Your Child Suffers a Brain Injury at Birth
The birth of a child, while emotional and dramatic, has become practically routine in all but a few cases. Most families will welcome home their newborn within a few days of the birth. But unfortunately, for a few parents and children, their lives will be inexorably altered by the trauma of birth. In fact, the dangers to mother and child during labor and delivery should not be underestimated. In some cases, infants may suffer birth injuries that cause severe brain damage.
Common Birth-Related Brain Injuries
Certain birth-related brain injuries are more common than others, and can be severely debilitating. Palsy disorders may be genetic, but some can be caused by trauma during labor or delivery including cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy and Klumpke's palsy. Cerebral palsy is probably the most well-known of the three, and is an umbrella term for numerous diagnoses that involve the brain's inability to physically control the body. More specific diagnoses include spastic cerebral palsy, athetoid dyskinetic cerebral palsy, ataxic cerebral palsy, hypotonic cerebral palsy, mixed cerebral palsy (a condition that does not exactly fit any one diagnosis of cerebral palsy) and congenital cerebral palsy.
Erb's palsy is the palsy disorder most likely to be caused by a birth injury to a nerve. It also has several sub-sets depending on the location of the nerve damage including avulsion, rupture, praxis/stretch and neuroma. Finally, Klumpke's palsy (or paralysis) is a specific nerve injury to the brachial plexus nerves that causes paralysis in the forearm and hand.
Other birth injuries that cause brain injury involve lack of oxygen to various parts of the brain or body. Hypoxia is defined as a lack of adequate oxygen to a certain part of the body, while anoxia is the complete deprivation of oxygen to a certain part. During labor and delivery, ischemic hypoxia to the brain is a restriction of blood flow to that area, and it almost certainly causes some brain damage.
Common Causes of Brain Injuries Received At or Before Birth
Some birth injuries are not preventable, but some are caused because of dangerous maneuvers to remove a baby from the birth canal. A classic cause of cerebral palsy is shoulder dystocia, in which the baby's shoulder becomes lodged in the birth canal and the brachial plexus nerves are damaged when emergency maneuvers are used to deliver the baby. Another cause of brain injury is if the fetus is in distress for too long without action. Distress may occur because the umbilical cord is constricted and does not provide sufficient oxygen to the fetus during labor. And if the mother does not deliver the baby within 24 hours after her water breaks, the risk of brain damage is greatly increased.
Another risk that may cause brain injury is if the mother acquires an infection or fever during pregnancy. Failure to treat and monitor maternal infections and fevers can results in brain injury and other serious consequences for the infant.
What Remedies Are Available to the Injured Child and Family?
When a child suffers a brain injury at birth, the child's parents will usually file a personal injury claim on behalf of the child against the negligent party such as the obstetrician, nurse, or even the hospital where the birth injury took place. In some cases, a birth injury may not be immediately apparent. The infant may appear to be developing normally but will later be diagnosed with cerebral palsy or some other brain injury. The child's parents may not even realize that the brain injury occurred at birth.
If the brain injury is connected to negligence that occurred during labor and delivery (or even during pregnancy), the parents will then file the personal injury claim for medical malpractice. For birth injuries (and any injury that occurs to a child under six years old), Colorado law limits the time in which parents have to bring a medical malpractice claim for injuries to before the child's eighth birthday.
Parents can assert claims for past and future medical expenses, future rehabilitation and treatment, and other expenses created because of the child's birth injury.
If you think your child may have suffered a brain injury at birth, contact an experienced personal injury attorney to discuss your options.
Article provided by Coppola & Marlin, P.C.
Visit us at www.coppolamarlin.com
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