Birth Injuries Attorney in St. Louis, Missouri

It’s every parent’s worst fear: a complication with their baby’s birth. Few things are more devastating than seeing your new baby sustain a birth injury that will affect them for the rest of their life. What can be even harder is the belief that the injury could have been avoided and that the fault lies with the medical staff overseeing the birth.

Around 7 out of every 1,000 children will suffer a birth injury. Although every birth injury can’t be attributed to medical negligence or malpractice, the ones that can need to be brought to justice for the families affected and to protect children in the future. If your family has suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence or malpractice, contact Law Offices of Joe Phillips today for help with your personal injury claim. Joe Phillips works with families in the St. Louis, Missouri area who would like to pursue a medical malpractice claim due to the permanent effects of a birth injury.

Causes of Birth Injuries

Birth injuries are not always the fault of the medical staff, but all too often a lack of communication between the staff and the mother can result in catastrophic outcomes. Some of the more common causes are:

• Failing to catch an infection

• Error performing a procedure/surgery

• Administering improper doses of drugs

• Failing to recognize an issue with the infant

• Improper use of tools

• Not performing a cesarean when needed

Types of Injuries

Some birth injuries are sustained as a normal part of the birth process, which can be unpredictable and brings with it some amount of risk. However, many injuries are avoidable and the results can be lasting:

• Lack of oxygen: Insufficient oxygen can be the result of a breech birth, a nuchal cord, placental abruption, or uterine rupture. Some conditions that occur from this are cerebral palsy, organ damage, or cognitive issues.

• Complications like shoulder dystocia: Shoulder dystocia occurs when one or both shoulders get stuck in the mother’s pelvis. Although most babies are born healthy after this, it can sometimes result in a fractured collarbone or arm, spinal cord injuries, or in rare cases, death.

• Broken bones: Bone fractures can occur due to a breech birth, a larger baby, a small pelvis in the mother, or improper use of medical instruments.

• Erb’s Palsy: Also called brachial plexus palsy, Erb’s palsy results in paralysis of an arm, shoulder, or hand. This can happen if the baby gets stuck in the birth canal or due to excessive pulling by medical staff trying to get the baby through the birth canal.

• Brain injuries: When a baby suffers a head injury during birth, it can result in brain injury. This is caused by factors both in and out of the control of medical staff and can result in long-term disability.

• Neurological injuries: Most neurological injuries are due to a lack of oxygen and can result in cerebral palsy, birth asphyxia, or hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Proving Negligence

Proving liability on the part of medical professionals can be a long and difficult process. First, you must prove the doctor or medical staff had a duty of care for you and your baby and that they breached that duty. Often, you’ll have to provide evidence in the form of medical records, statements from witnesses, and previous diagnoses. After you prove there was a breach of duty, you then have to connect the breach to the injury sustained and prove that it was directly related to the doctor’s actions.

How Your Personal Injury Attorney Can Help

The last thing you want to worry about when dealing with the aftermath of a birth injury is pursuing a personal injury case. Hospitals and doctors have teams of lawyers working for them to protect their practice. You deserve to have experienced legal counsel on your side to see your case through till the very end. Joe Phillips started his practice working for big corporations, but now works on the side of individuals who’ve been affected by personal injuries. He will fight for you.