How Does Birth Injury Affect The Baby

• Birth Injury
• How Does Birth Injury Affect The Baby?

How Do Birth Injuries Affect Babies?

A minor birth injury may cause temporary physical discomfort, pain and suffering to the baby, but no long-term damage may occur. A severe birth injury can have permanent consequences for the baby, including both lifelong physical and intellectual disabilities as well as emotional effects for their entire life.

Birth asphyxia, meaning a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain, is one of the most damaging birth injuries. If a baby suffers birth asphyxia either shortly before or after birth, they may develop a condition called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) in severe cases can cause cerebral palsy, resulting in developmental issues and lifelong disabilities for the baby. According to the CDC, cerebral palsy is the leading cause of childhood disability in the US.

Babies and the families of babies that suffer the aftereffects of a birth injury often require lifetime care, therapy and treatment for their disabilities and impairments. Whether the birth injury results in HIE, cerebral palsy or brain damage, a medical negligence lawsuit can often provide families with much needed financial resources to help deal with the inevitable challenges that result from a birth injury.

What Are Common Effects of Birth Injuries on a Child’s Life?

Babies and children with cerebral palsy resulting from an HIE birth injury or other forms of brain damage will likely have problems with movement, balance, and posture. The effects on the child’s everyday life will vary, depending upon the severity of injury and which parts of the brain were affected. In general, children with cerebral palsy will have varying symptoms, such as:

• Spasticity – tight or stiff muscles and abnormal reflexes
• Ataxia – difficulty in movement due to lack of muscle coordination
• Permanent weakness in the limbs
• A crouched or “scissored” gait
• Involuntary body movements, such as shaking or tremors
• Difficulty with movements requiring precision, such as writing
• Delays in reach motor skill and other developmental milestones

About HIE Birth Injuries

Other Effects of Cerebral Palsy on a Child’s Life

• Seizure disorder – Up to 50% of children with cerebral palsy will have seizures.
• Intellectual disability – About 30 to 50% of children with cerebral palsy will have an intellectual disability.
• Developmental delays – Children with cerebral palsy usually lag in physical growth and development and may have smaller limbs and weaker muscles.
• Spinal and bone issues – Many children with cerebral palsy will suffer from spinal deformities, osteoarthritis, and other joint and bone issues.
• Vision impairment – Cross eyes (strabismus) is a common problem in children with cerebral palsy, and some may have problems with visual perception, or may suffer from poor vision and blindness.
• Hearing impairment – A common side effect of cerebral palsy is full or partial hearing loss, resulting from lack of oxygen supply to the developing brain.
• Speech disorders – As many as three out of four children with cerebral palsy will have speech and language disorders, such as difficulty in speaking clearly or with forming words.
• Learning difficulties – Many children with CP find it difficult to process specific types of auditory or spatial information, which creates difficulties in learning at home or school.
• Other problems – Difficulty with experiencing sensations, perception issues, bladder incontinence, excessive drooling, dental problems, malnutrition, lethargy or inactivity, and anxiety, depression, or emotional and social problems are common among children with cerebral palsy.

About Cerebral Palsy

Health Challenges in Adult Life with Cerebral Palsy

While the primary focus of cerebral palsy diagnosis and treatment is on children, special health issues may affect these children when they enter adulthood. Premature aging is common because of the constant extra stress on the vital organs due to the disease.

Depression rates among individuals with cerebral palsy are about four times higher compared to others. Osteoarthritis, pain and fatigue, hypertension, and sexual health issues are also key challenges individuals with CP may face in the long run.

Some physical, intellectual, and emotional challenges of cerebral palsy have a lifetime impact. Even into adulthood, expensive resources such as life attendant care, on-going therapy, and daily assistance help provide a sense of normalcy or independence for an adult afflicted with permanent cerebral palsy challenges.

Is Your Child’s Birth Injury the Result of Medical Malpractice?

Parents whose children suffer birth injuries want and deserve answers as to whether mistakes by the doctors and nurses contributed to the injury. At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, our award-winning birth injury attorneys have represented families all over the United States in their time of need after a birth injury. We use our skills and expertise to obtain for you and your child a medical malpractice settlement that will help provide specialized medical therapy in order to maximize the quality of life and independence of your child throughout their life.

• Were there signs of birth injury or birth complications during the pregnancy, labor, and delivery process, or presence of birth injury risk factors, which were either not recognized or properly treated?
• During the labor and delivery, were there clear indications that the baby was suffering from fetal distress, but appropriate actions were not taken by the maternal fetal specialists, obstetrician or nurses?
• Was there a delay in diagnosis of a likely premature birth that led to later complications, including brain injury?
• Did the medical team fail to order a series of tests to diagnose this birth complication in a timely manner?
• Was the decision to perform a cesarean delivery delayed leading to birth trauma during vaginal delivery or labor?
• Did the neonatal resuscitation team fail to quickly begin important breathing support?
• Should brain cooling (also called “hypothermia therapy”) have been provided to your baby, but the doctors and nurses failed to perform the appropriate tests or ignored the results of the tests?

Our birth injury attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in settlements for families of children that have suffered a birth injury. At no point in our legal intake process will we ask you to pay anything. The medical review of your case and the consultation are free. We only receive payment when you do, no matter how long or tough your case is.

Registered Nurses and Nurse-Attorneys Are a Vital Part of Our Birth Injury Team…and Yours

Most birth injury law firms will employ one or two nurses to assist the review of cases and medical research. But Miller Weisbrod Olesky offers an unmatched number of nurses and nurse-attorney employees support to both the birth injury attorneys and our clients.

Our team of registered nursing staff and nurse-attorneys bring a deep level of medical and personal insight to every client’s case. Our nursing team includes both an experienced labor and delivery nurse as well as an ICU nurse. Working closely with the rest of the team, they investigate the reasons behind a birth injury and how medical professionals breached their standard of care.

Why Should You Talk with the Highly Capable Attorneys at Miller Weisbrod Olesky?

The only way to find out if you have a birth injury case is to talk to a lawyer experienced in birth injury lawsuits. It’s not uncommon that a birth related complication results in a preventable birth injury, including cerebral palsy, but it takes a detailed expert review by a birth injury attorney of the medical records from your child’s birth to determine if the birth injury was the result of medical malpractice.

At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, a team of committed lawyers, nurses and paralegals uses our detailed medical negligence case review process to assess your child’s potential birth injury case. We start by learning more about you and your child and the status of meeting/missing developmental milestones. Then we gather medical records to determine what happened before, during pregnancy. We call in documented and proven medical experts who review your records and let us know if they think medical errors could have caused your child’s injuries.

If we feel medical negligence caused or contributed to wrongful birth in your case, we meet with you to discuss how you can receive compensation from the medical professionals who made the errors. Our birth injury attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in settlements for families of children that have suffered a birth injury.

At no point in our legal intake process will we ask you to pay anything. The medical review of your case and the consultation are free. We only receive payment when you do no matter how long or tough your case is.