Cerebral palsy can have several causes, including infections during pregnancy, damage to the child’s head during birth or pregnancy, or loss of oxygen during delivery. Sometimes, these causes are unavoidable; however, a significant number of cerebral palsy cases are due to medical malpractice.

What is medical malpractice, and how can it cause cerebral palsy?

Medical malpractice is when a medical provider, doctor, or nurse makes a mistake that harms a patient or, in the case of birth injury medical malpractice, their child. Medical mistakes that can cause cerebral palsy include:

• Failure to identify and respond to a blockage in the child’s airways.
• Failing to perform a necessary cesarean section (c-section) or waiting too long to perform one.
• Waiting too long to deliver the baby.
• Misreading or ignoring a fetal monitor.
• Failure to prescribe or administer necessary medication – or administering an incorrect dose.
• Not detecting or responding to severe dehydration in a newborn child.
• Not detecting a brain injury on an ultrasound film.
• Not treating jaundice or kernicterus.
• Missing signs of a uterine rupture.
• Missing signs of placental abruption, leading to oxygen deprivation in the newborn.

I think medical malpractice caused my child’s cerebral palsy. How can I prove it?

When medical malpractice is to blame for a birth injury that leads to cerebral palsy, the only way to prove it is with the help of a medical expert. Usually, the professionals at the medical institution involved with the malpractice case are unlikely to share a complete and unbiased account of events as they may be open to litigation. To get a fair look at your case, it is essential to have the details of your situation, including your treatment during pregnancy and the events of the delivery, reviewed by a 3rd party medical expert who is not associated with the medical system that caused your child’s cerebral palsy.

Unfortunately, access to these medical experts is not cheap, and establishing whether someone is a true expert is not always easy. By partnering with a firm of expert birth injury medical malpractice attorneys, you can gain access to the necessary medical experts to support your case – often on a no-win-no-fee basis.

How we can help

At Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch, and Norman, we specialize in birth injury malpractice law and have over 150 years of collective experience. We can assess your case, and we will find the right medical experts to provide supporting evidence and help get you justice.

If you suspect medical malpractice caused your child’s cerebral palsy or a birth injury of any kind, reach out today to schedule a no-cost consultation. You can call us at 410-998-3600 or contact us here.