The birth process is a physically traumatizing event, and injuries can occur – both to the birthing parent and the child. Many of these injuries are expected, will heal within a few days or weeks. However, more complicated injuries, including brain injuries, are also possible. When these injuries occur, they can have severe long-term consequences for the child and their family.

What Causes Brain Injuries During Birth?

A brain injury can occur at birth for various reasons, both due to complications with the pregnancy or difficulties with the actual birthing process. These causes include:

• Asphyxiation, or lack of oxygen during birth.
• Infection during birth or pregnancy.
• Jaundice
• Physical injury
• Drug or alcohol use during pregnancy
• Preeclampsia, a condition that can occur when the birthing parent has high blood pressure and high protein levels.

Can Brain Injuries During Birth Be Avoided?

Yes. While not all brain injuries sustained during birth are avoidable, some are. Medical malpractice and negligence can lead to avoidable and treatable injuries, complications, and infections being overlooked – and in some cases, poor medical treatment may actually cause an injury.

Negligence and malpractice can take many forms, such as:

• Failing to monitor a fetus during labor accurately.
• Failing to notice an existing condition in the mother.
• Failure to administer necessary medication.
• Injuring the baby using tools improperly during delivery.
• Nor noticing or addressing signs of distress in the baby or parent.

Whatever the cause, all incidences of negligence involve a medical practitioner failing to follow the medical standard of care owed to a patient under their purview.

When we undergo medical procedures, we put our trust in medical providers to deliver the best outcome for us. This is especially true for the birth of a child, which should be an exciting and happy occasion for most families. Unfortunately, medical professionals can make several critical mistakes that can cause lifelong hardship and break the trust we place in them. Suppose a medical practitioner made a mistake that caused harm to a patient or their child. In that case, you may be able to claim compensation to help with current and future medical expenses and to provide the best possible quality of life for the child. This is why it’s so important to identify how your infant was injured and under what circumstances.

How Can I Determine How a Brain Injury Occurred?

Medical providers are unlikely to share that malpractice or negligence caused your child’s brain injury – so it is essential to conduct a thorough investigation of the case with the assistance of 3rd party medical experts, who can evaluate the treatment you and your child received. Experienced medical malpractice lawyers can source those experts, working with professionals in the medical field to gather evidence and determine whether your doctor breached the duty of care.

Our skilled Baltimore birth injury attorneys can assist you through this process. Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman, LLC has more than 100 years of combined legal experience to offer. If you suspect that medical malpractice caused an injury to you or your child, don’t hesitate to reach out today for a no-cost consultation. Let us see what we can do for you and your family.