Birth Injuries

Labor and delivery complications can result in serious problems to a newborn baby. Quite often these serious and untreatable injuries happen because a doctor or another medical professional made critical mistakes before or during the delivery process. While birth injuries can be mild or severe, the severe injuries are non-curable and require a lifetime of special assisted care. The most common serious birth injuries are cerebral palsy, erbs palsy/brachial plexus injury, and klumke's palsy. Birth injuries are usually caused by any of the following:

  • Breach or other unusual position of the baby
  • Oxygen deprivation, which may occur when the umbilical cord is compressed or twisted during labor and delivery, or when there are problems with the uterus or the placenta
  • Large baby, which may result in excessive force upon the baby during delivery or the baby becoming stuck behind the mother’s pelvic bone

When a baby is deprived of oxygen (s)he may develop cerebral palsy. When the size of the baby or its position are problematic, doctor will often attempt a natural birth instead of a c-section delivery. This can result in nerve damage to the child and conditions such as erbs palsy. Other impairments and conditions which may be related to injury during birth include seizure disorders, mental retardation and learning disabilities.

While parents of children with these disorders may think that their child’s condition occurred naturally, it is often discovered that they are due to birth injuries resulting from errors by the physician, nurse, or hospital. The healthcare and special education needs that injured children require are usually more expensive than what most families can afford. For this reason, if your child has been diagnosed with a birth injury, or if you suspect that his/her condition may be the result of medical malpractice, it is vital for you to consult with an attorney who is experienced in birth injury litigation. The attorneys at Rich & Rich work to win compensation through a lawsuit or settlement in order to ease the burden of providing treatment and therapy for your child throughout his/her life.

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