birth injuries
Few life events are more joyous than the birth of a child. In most cases, labor and delivery proceeds smoothly and the baby is born without incident. Unfortunately, acts of medical negligence during labor and delivery can cause complications which damage a newborn's health. A birth injury, or birth trauma, is any type of injury suffered by an infant as a result of the birthing process.
What is a birth injury?
Occasionally during the birth process, the baby may suffer a physical injury that is simply the result of being born. This is sometimes called birth trauma or birth injury. When a baby is born, it can be difficult at first to know if certain complications were caused by a birth injury, or were the result of a birth defect. For example, a child born with cerebral palsy may not have been given enough oxygen during labor (making the condition an avoidable birth injury), or the situation may have been caused by an unpreventable birth defect. To help differentiate between the two, an examination of each will be helpful
What causes birth injury?
Birth injuries in the United States are an all too common occurrence, (It has been estimated that, for every 1000 babies born in the U.S., five will be injured during birth) and the type of birth injury can vary, ranging from temporary bone fractures, bleeding and bruising, to cerebral palsy and even permanent brain damage. Often these birth injuries result from negligence or malpractice from one or more of the medical staff dealing with the pregnancy, and this could be experienced during the pregnancy or in the process of childbirth.