Birth Injury Attorneys
Problems that occur during the child birthing process can be caused by
a variety of circumstances. These circumstances, if not handled properly
by the attending doctors and nurses, can result in serious birth
injuries.
The most serious birth injuries are those that affect the brain. One
major cause is oxygen deprivation, which commonly occurs when the umbilical
cord is compressed or twisted in the birth process. Birth Injuries may
also be caused by bleeding within the skull or brain. These injuries vary
greatly in severity. They may lead to long-term seizure disorders or cause
cerebral palsy or mental retardation.
The other main cause is mechanical trauma, which may occur when the baby
assumes an unusual position at the time of birth (buttocks rather than
head first, for example) or when the baby is too large to pass through
the birth canal easily.
Neck and shoulder injuries are common results of mechanical trauma. When
the neck is injured, the entire body is affected. Similarly, when there
is an injury to another part of the spine, the organs and systems supplied
by those nerves become dysfunctional. These spinal injuries, called the
vertebral subluxation complex, can alter the course of a person?s life
if they are not immediately corrected.
Shoulder dystocia results from a difficulty during birth in which the
shoulders will not pass through the mother's pelvis. Complicated maneuvers
must be performed, often resulting in injury, or shoulder dystocia. Some
types of shoulder dystocia injuries are fractures of the clavicle or humerus,
nerve injuries, asphyxia and death. Brachial plexus injuries may result
from shoulder dystocia and are one of the most common groupings of birth
injuries.
Doctors may use many different procedures to dislodge the baby's shoulder
so that the baby can safely pass through the birthing canal. In some cases,
the doctor can reposition the mother, or the doctor can use his or her
hands to maneuver and change the position of the baby. In particularly
dangerous and difficult births, the doctor can break the baby's clavicle
bone on purpose, break the mother's pelvic bone or perform an emergency
C-section. The doctor can also use gentle traction in a horizontal plane
to avoid damaging the brachial plexus.
When the doctor uses excessive traction on the head while the baby's
shoulder remains stuck, the brachial plexus nerves in the baby's neck
may stretch or tear and suffer serious injury. Depending on its location,
this injury then causes one of the types of brachial plexus palsy.
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