BIRTH INJURIES

In most cases, birth injuries have natural causes and cannot be prevented. But for thousands of other children, a medical mistake is often a contributing factor to the brain damage, retardation, and difficulties with movement.

A birth injury is damage to an infant's body at the time of birth, usually as a result of a complication during labor and/or delivery. Some of the common complications that occur during birth include excessive bleeding, prolonged labor, fetal distress, dysfunctional labor, breech/malpresentation, and seizures.

TYPES OF BIRTH INJURIES

CEREBRAL PASLY

Cerebral palsy is defined as damage to the motor areas of the brain, usually occurring before, during or shortly after birth. Cerebral palsy may be acquired after the birth of a child. This results from damage to the brain in the first months, or years of life. The injury may be a brain infection (bacterial meningitis, viral encephalitis) or head injury following an accident.

The medical providers caring for the expectant mother and the fetus are responsible to assure that they provide adequate care during the pregnancy, during labor and delivery, and immediately after the delivery of the infant. Failing to do so can result in the doctors and nurses being held accountable for the outcome of the pregnancy.

The problems that may be encountered include:

Failure to interpret and respond to the changing conditions of the fetus during labor.

Failure to act on changes in the mother's condition during pregnancy.

Failure to order specific tests during pregnancy; and not interpreting these tests correctly.

Failure to perform a cesarean section in the presence of fetal distress.

Failure to deliver the infant when the membranes have been ruptured for more than 24 hours.

Lack of oxygen to the brain or trauma to the head during labor and delivery can cause cerebral palsy. If the infant does not get enough oxygen the brain can be injured.

There are many factors that suggest the injury occurred as a result of improper medical care, or insult to the brain during the birthing process.

SHOULDER DYSTOCIA
ERB'S PALSY

Erb's palsy, Brachial Plexus Palsy, or Shoulder Dystocia occurs when excessive lateral traction is applied to the fetal neck region during delivery.
This can cause child's muscles to be torn, resulting in a limp arm.

SOME QUESTIONS YOU MAY ASK

Did your child's birth & delivery have complications?
Did you have a difficult pregnancy?
Did your doctor fail to recognize that you were having problems? Was your doctor 'unprepared' for your delivery?
Did you have a midwife or nurse practitioner who failed to call a doctor timely when complications in your delivery began?
Did you (mother) suffer an injury during the birth and delivery of your child that could and should have been avoided?
Has it come to your attention, perhaps through another doctor or health care provider that the treatment you received was inappropriate, or that the outcome was unusual?
Do you have strong doubts about the competency of the doctor who provided the medical care or the appropriateness of the care you or your infant received?
If you have answered yes to any of the above, then you should contact Gruhin & Gruhin to discuss your concerns.

YOUR INQUIRY
By asking us to review your inquiry, we understand that you are simply asking us to help you understand what happened. We also understand that this is a difficult time in your life.

When we speak with you a big part of what we do is to review the information you discuss with us. We analyze your claim and tell you whether we think a medical mistake might have taken place.

If we feel your claim should be reviewed, we will discuss your claim with medical professionals to determine whether there is a basis for a full investigation into your claim.

Many times, our investigation reveals that despite a tragic or bad outcome, it was not due to anything a doctor, hospital, or nurse did wrong. A poor result can happen in the absence of medical malpractice.

In those cases, we will inform you that we are not interested in becoming involved in the matter and why. After we discuss our findings and reasoning with you, you may feel comforted knowing that you have found closure.

However, when we believe that there may be potential liability for medical malpractice, we discuss that, openly and candidly, so as to assist you in making an informed decision as to whether or not legal action should be taken.

If there's evidence of medical malpractice, we will be honored to assist you in pursuing your claim.

Many times, lawyers who review a medical malpractice inquiry acept the case or reject it, without any explanation. At Gruhin & Gruhin, we believe that an explanation of our decision regarding your inquiry is crucial. We will explain our conclusions and recommendations to you.

We think it is important that you feel comfortable, whether our advice is to pursue the matter further or not.

What helps to set Gruhin & Gruhin apart from other lawyers? It's because we are "lawyers who listen". That is why we offer our free initial consultation to you.

If you think your child is the victim of a birth injury or you were injured as a result of medical negligence during your pregnancy or delivery, GRUHIN & GRUHIN would be honored to evaluate your claim during this difficult time in your life.

Please feel free to call us
toll free (800) 861-5555.

THE RIGHT CALL TO MAKE WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

BIRTH INJURIES In most cases, birth injuries have natural causes and cannot be prevented. But for thousands of other children, a medical mistake is often a contributing factor to the brain damage, retardation, and difficulties with movement.

BIRTH INJURIES

In most cases, birth injuries have natural causes and cannot be prevented. But for thousands of other children, a medical mistake is often a contributing factor to the brain damage, retardation, and difficulties with movement.