Birth Injuries – Malpractice

Medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States, with roughly 200,000 people dying each year due to mistakes made by healthcare professionals. Pregnancy, birth and delivery are, as with any medical condition, unfortunately also subject to medical malpractice. Generally speaking, medical malpractice is difficult to prove, especially negligence and causation, which are key aspects of a medical malpractice suit. To launch a successful case, the plaintiff has to immediately begin taking notes diligently, collect all relevant medical records and hire a lawyer that is well versed in the type of medical malpractice.

Childbirth can be a very complicated process, exposing both mother and baby to physical harm. Medical malpractice in childbirth can happen any time during the pregnancy, birth, labor and post-birth period. Some birth injuries can be minor and others severe, in most severe cases causing death to the infant and sometimes the mother.

It is impossible to list all possible errors that can happen during the process of childbirth, but some of the more common birth injuries resulting from medical malpractice are: caput sucdedaneum (severe swelling of the baby’s scalp); bruising and/or forcep marks (trauma during the use of forceps); misuse of vacuum extraction apparatus (leading to scalp bruising, lacerations or even brain damage); cephalohematoma (bleeding under the scalp of the baby); facial paralysis (due to bruised or torn nerves); subconjunctival hemorrhage (rupture of small blood vessels in the eyes), brachial palsy (injury to the nerves around the arms and hands), shoulder dystocia (difficulty delivering the baby’s shoulder through the vagina) and/or fracture (most common is the facture of the collarbone or clavicle).