How Do You Diagnose a Birth Injury?

These injuries are very difficult to diagnose, mostly because they can occur before, during, or after delivery. Furthermore, these injuries are difficult to diagnose because they’re usually internal brain injuries, like cerebral palsy. So, neither the family nor a doctor knows about the condition until the child misses a series of developmental milestones. Additionally, CP varies as well. Some CP victims have trouble with some tasks, like buttoning their shirts or combing their hair. Others are quite literally prisoners inside their own bodies.

Even if a birth injury diagnosis occurs decades after the birth, a Carlsbad birth injury lawyer can usually still obtain maximum compensation in these cases. This compensation includes money for past, current, and future medical bills and other economic losses. It also includes compensation for noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Because the law holds doctors to a higher standard, additional punitive damages are often available as well.

Before

Many tragedies have deep roots. 9/11 is a good example. This tragedy was connected to the 1980s Russo-Afghan war, which allowed the Taliban to take root in Afghanistan. Birth injuries are another example. A doctor’s failure in a delivery room is often related to a failure much earlier in the prenatal process, usually a failure to detect a dangerous condition, or a failure to properly react to a dangerous condition.

Sometimes, the prenatal care process doesn’t involve a relationship, usually because the mother moves while pregnant and sees a new doctor. Other pregnancies involve little or no prenatal care, as the mother is basically a walk-in.

Whether they have a little time to prepare or a lot, the same duty of care applies to doctors. They must spot red flags which indicate possible trouble in the delivery room.

Overconfidence is also a problem in this phase. Everyone wants a confident doctor. But no one wants an overconfident doctor who dismisses trouble signs with an “I’ve got this” attitude. When doctors pridefully refuse to treat certain conditions, like preeclampsia, patients usually suffer.

During

One of these dangerous conditions is SD (shoulder dystocia). The baby is too large to drift down the mother’s birth canal. If that happens, doctors have less than five minutes to deliver the baby before CP sets in. Desperate doctors often make poor choices in these situations, such as the use of dangerous mechanical birth aids.

A vacuum extractor is a good example. A doctor straps a metal cap to the baby’s head. That cap is connected to a vacuum pump. Then, the doctor literally sucks the baby out of the mother’s body. This procedure often causes massive head injuries, which as mentioned, often don’t become apparent until years later.

After

The duty of care doesn’t stop once the baby is delivered. Instead, it continues until the baby is discharged from the hospital. Infections and erroneous discharge are common at this time.

Hospitals are breeding grounds for infections and newborns are incredibly vulnerable. A bacterial infection spreads like wildfire through nurseries. Unless the medical team is on its toes, the infection takes root inside the baby, where it could cause a catastrophic injury.

Discharge, especially NICU discharge, must be based solely on the baby’s health. Doctors cannot let emotional issues, like a family’s desire to be together at home, or financial issues, like an insurance company’s refusal to pay, affect discharge decisions.

Connect With a Thorough San Diego County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Oceanside, contact the Pursley Law Firm. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.