The birth of your child should be one of the happiest days of your life. However, if you or your baby was injured before, during, or after the birthing process, the aftermath can be overwhelming. The consequences often extend far beyond the initial trauma, potentially leading to ongoing medical treatments, therapies, and emotional challenges for your family. If you suspect that childbirth negligence by a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare professional played a role in the injury, it’s important to understand your legal options as you may be entitled to compensation. Though pursuing a legal claim may seem daunting, it may be one of the only ways to help recover the financial resources and stability your family needs to move forward.
Commons Causes of Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can arise from a range of medical errors or lapses in judgment by healthcare professionals. While some complications are unfortunately unavoidable, several types of injuries happen because critical warning signs were missed or proper procedures and precautions were not followed. These mistakes can happen at any stage of the childbirth process, including pregnancy, delivery, and immediately after birth.
During pregnancy, potential negligence may include:
- Failure to diagnose conditions like gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or infections. These conditions can lead to complications if left untreated.
- Failure to monitor conditions such as neglecting to take a full medical history that could identify alarming signs.
- Medication errors like prescribing medications that cause birth defects or harm.
- Failure to perform diagnostic testing such as missing abnormalities in ultrasounds, blood tests, or other prenatal screenings.
During delivery, signs of medical malpractice could involve:
- Delays in delivery like waiting too long to perform an emergency caesarean section.
- Mismanagement of fetal distress such as failing to monitor and act on fetal heart rate irregularities, which can result in long-term injuries.
- Improper use of labour-inducing drugs like misusing medications that cause excessive stress to the mother or baby.
- Cord complications such as delays in recognizing and resolving issues like umbilical cord prolapse or compression.
After delivery, injuries can occur due to:
- Failure to treat neonatal conditions like errors in detecting and managing jaundice, infections, hyperglycemia, and other conditions that can cause permanent damage.
- Improper use of neonatal treatments such as misapplication of therapies.
Long-Term Effects of Birth Injuries
Mothers or children injured during the birthing process may experience lifelong challenges, including:
- Neurological conditions like cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or brain damage.
- Physical disabilities such as paralysis, scoliosis, or quadriplegia.
- Developmental delays like learning disabilities or intellectual impairments.
- Sensory disorders such as hearing loss or visual impairments.
Filing a Medical Malpractice For Birth Injury Claim
In BC, victims or their families can bring an obstetric malpractice claim against healthcare providers they deem at at-fault to seek compensation. Compensation can provide the financial safety net necessary to manage and maintain long-term medical care, therapies, and other related expenses.
But to bring forth and win a childbirth negligence claim, you must demonstrate:
- Patient-practitioner relationship with the healthcare provider responsible for your care.
- Breach of standard of care, with the healthcare provider failing to fulfill the accepted standard of care.
- Causation that establishes a breach in standard of care directly caused the birth injury.
Finding the Right Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Navigating a birth injury claim is often complex and requires an in-depth understanding of both medical and legal standards. Finding a trusted lawyer with experience in medical malpractice is essential to building a strong claim and securing the compensation you deserve. Contact Stephens & Holman today for a free consultation about your case. We’ll review your claim and help you with the next steps, no matter what they are.