Ideally, all expectant mothers should conclude their pregnancy with the delivery of a healthy, beautiful baby. Unfortunately, the negligence of medical professionals can devastate this hope and cause a newborn infant to suffer injuries that could have otherwise been prevented through additional precautions and extended prenatal care.
A birth injury in Oklahoma consists of any form of harm that occurs as an infant is being delivered through the birth canal of its mother. Birth injuries can range in severity from mild injuries, including bruises on an infant’s skull, to more severe injuries, including cerebral palsy, brain hemorrhaging, and even infant mortality in certain cases.
Mild birth injuries, including swelling of the scalp and minor bruising, tend to heal within a few days. Other more severe birth injuries, such as bleeding in the brain or nerve injuries resulting from forceps usage, can cause permanent damage to an infant, if he or she is not treated with special care. Such birth injuries can be the result of the negligence of healthcare professionals in the delivery of a woman’s unborn child. For instance, when medical professionals fail to properly diagnose a pregnancy as high-risk, an unborn infant may be more susceptible to a birth injury.
Further, if medical professionals fail to treat complications that arise during newborn deliveries, such as a rise in the heart rate of the infant, the infant trapped in the birth canal by the mother’s pubic bone, or entanglements with the umbilical cord, a newborn can suffer a momentary loss of oxygen from the brain. If an infant loses oxygen to its brain from an extended period of time, the infant may be more susceptible for cerebral palsy and brain damage.
Cerebral palsy is a chronic neurological condition frequently attributed to birth injury, where a physician has made a medical mistake, which may including leaving the baby in the birth canal too long, or misusing forceps.
Another birth injury is Erb palsy, or brachial plexus injury, where an infant’s nerves have been stretched during birth to the extent that the infant suffers arm paralysis or arm weakness. If this injury does not heal with 6 months, an infant may have to undergo additional surgery to repair the nerve damage caused by birth.
Though caring for a newborn is demanding enough, a new mother should never have to cope with the fact that her baby was injured by the hands of the healthcare professionals she trusted to care for her child. Nonetheless, birth injuries do occur, and the Oklahoma birth injury attorneys of the Maples Law Firm may be able to help a family hold negligent parties responsible for their infant’s injury or harm done to the mother during the birthing process. Contact the Maples Law Firm at 1-888-429-0609 for a free consultation of your potential birth injury case today.
