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Ohio Birth Injury Lawyers
Bringing a new baby into the world is an exciting experience, but unfortunately, it is not without some risks. Parents put their trust in medical providers to help them during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. However, sometimes, the professionals that families trust to keep them safe end up causing harm to newborn babies. Birth injuries often result from medical negligence, and when they do, they take physical, emotional, and financial tolls on the victims. If your family suffered harm because of a doctor or other provider’s negligence, contact the experienced Ohio birth injury attorneys at Crandall & Pera Law to learn more about your legal rights and whether you can recover compensation for your injuries.
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How common are birth injuries in Ohio?
According to research, the number of birth injuries ranges from 25.3 to 31.1 per 1000 hospital births in the US. In 2022, a little over 128,000 babies were born in Ohio. Based on those numbers, anywhere from around 3,200 to 4,000 babies in the state likely experienced birth injuries. Birth injuries, unlike many types of birth defects, are preventable tragedies.
Common birth injuries
Birth injuries often result from trauma during the delivery of the baby. Sometimes, these injuries are more likely because of the fetal size or position. Other times, tools like forceps or vacuums, can cause trauma to the infant. Some examples of birth injuries include:
Erb’s Palsy: This condition involves damage to the brachial plexus nerve. Those with Erb’s palsy may experience a limp arm, numbness, muscle weakness, reduced ability to grip, and partial or complete paralysis of their arm. Although most infants with Erb’s palsy recover, some suffer long-term or permanent damage.
Cerebral Palsy: This condition leads to movement and muscle control disorders due to a brain injury. Signs of cerebral palsy include the inability to lift the head by the appropriate age, poor muscle tone and stiffness, uncontrolled movements, difficulty coordinating body movements, delayed milestones, trouble swallowing or drooling, muscle spasticity, poor balance, involuntary movements, and difficulty with fine motor tasks and speech control.
Fractures: Babies may fracture their collar bones during difficult deliveries, especially with breech births. Babies with fractured clavicles rarely move their affected arm. Most infants do recover from this injury.
Caput Succedaneum: Swelling of the scalp during birth can result from pressure in the birth canal, but other times, it may be because a medical provider used forceps or vacuum extractors, increasing the pressure to the baby’s head.
Cephalohematoma: This condition is similar to caput succedaneum but involves bleeding between the skull and fibrous covering caused by pressure during delivery. Assistive tools like forceps or vacuums may cause this as well.
Facial Paralysis: Nerve injury during difficult births or forceps-assisted delivery may cause facial paralysis. Bell’s Palsy is one example, and most cases will resolve.
Birth injuries can range from conditions that most infants recover from in a short matter of time to life-long complications like cerebral palsy. In the most serious cases, having an attorney is extremely important. There are high financial costs involved in providing these individuals with the best possible quality of life. Compensation from the medical provider who caused the injury can help families care for the injured child.
Birth injuries to mothers
While birth injuries often involve harm caused to the infant, giving birth creates risks for the mother as well. Vaginal tears, a ruptured uterus and postpartum hemorrhages are just a few of the potential complications a mother may experience. Conditions like preeclampsia or eclampsia and blood clots are also potentially fatal for new mothers. Failure of medical providers to diagnose or catch these complications puts mothers at risk. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.
Common causes of birth injuries
There are a number of ways that medical provider negligence can lead to birth injuries. Here are some errors that may harm fetuses or infants.
- Improper delivery technique: The improper use of birth assistance tools like forceps can cause injuries to a fetus.
- Delayed cesarean section: Waiting too long to perform a C-section can be dangerous and lead to serious conditions like brain damage.
- Improper high-risk birth management: Conditions like preeclampsia, diabetes, STDs, hypertension, and having multiples put the mother and infant at risk. Failing to provide proper treatment for these conditions creates more opportunities for harm.
- Failure to detect and treat maternal infections: Common bacterial infections like group B streptococcus can cause serious harm to fetuses if the mother does not get treatment.
- Medication errors or unsafe medications: Many medications that are safe for adults can cause serious injuries to fetuses if a pregnant woman takes them. For instance, the medication isotretinoin can increase the risk of certain birth defects by 35%. Prescribing dangerous medications to pregnant women is a form of negligence.
- Negligent postpartum care: Failing to catch signs of jaundice in an infant or a hemorrhage in the mother can lead to devastating injuries or death.
- Poorly sanitized medical instruments: Contamination can increase the risk of dangerous infections.
- Inadequate monitoring of mother and baby: Without careful monitoring, providers may miss signs of dangerous conditions.
- Poor record-keeping: Failing to keep proper records can cause providers to miss symptoms or provide medications that are not safe for the patient.
- Early discharge of mother and baby: Sending a mother and infant home too soon can cause a postpartum condition or infant condition to go unnoticed and untreated.
Related: Learn about birth injuries from a failure to administer antibiotics.
Is it a birth injury or a birth defect?
There is a difference between birth injuries and birth defects. Birth injuries occur just before, during, or after delivery and are the result of something that happens during delivery. Examples include fractures, shoulder dystocia, and cerebral palsy.
Birth defects are disabilities that develop during gestation because of genetic and environmental factors. Examples of this include cleft lips, Down syndrome, and congenital heart defects.
Birth injuries are often the result of medical negligence, while birth defects are not. It is important to understand the cause of a condition to know whether it may be a birth injury and to determine if medical negligence contributed to the injury.
Compensation in birth injury cases
In birth injury cases, the family of the injured baby can seek damages from the negligent medical provider. The compensation can include coverage for the following:
- Present and future medical expenses, including medical bills, physical therapy, and surgical costs
- The caregiver’s lost wages, in cases where parents miss work to care for the injured child
- Home or vehicle adaptations aimed at accommodating the child’s disabilities
- Child’s future earning potential if they will be unable to work in the future
- Mental anguish, pain and suffering, and reduced enjoyment of life experienced by the injured child
Your birth injury case is important for your child’s future
The costs of caring for a child with severe birth injuries can be extensive. In the case of cerebral palsy, the CDC estimates lifetime costs at $1 million, indicating the incredible importance of seeking compensation for birth injuries. The high costs include lifelong health care needs ranging from surgeries to adaptive devices.
What you must prove in an Ohio birth injury case
In medical malpractice and birth injury case, you have to prove several factors, including:
- The existence of doctor-patient relationship
- Breach of standard of care by the medical practitioner
- A link between the negligence and the birth injury
- The plaintiff suffered birth injuries
If the person at fault is the delivering doctor or medical provider, the first factor is easy to prove. The injury may also be obvious. However, showing that the provider’s behavior breached the standard of care and that their negligence is the cause of the injury can be more challenging.
In many of these cases, it takes the testimony of a medical expert to establish the standard of care, the breach, and the link between that breach and the injuries.
The Affidavit of Merit in birth injury cases
Families filing birth injury and other medical malpractice cases need to obtain an Affidavit of Merit from a licensed healthcare professional. The Affidavit of Merit is a declaration by a licensed healthcare professional stating that they:
- Examined all the records accessible to the plaintiff
- Possess knowledge of the medical standard of care relevant to the plaintiff's treatment
- Hold the opinion that the standard of care was breached
- Believe that this breach caused injury to the plaintiff
Families impacted by birth injuries can work with their birth injury attorneys to obtain this document and pursue compensation from the negligent medical personnel.
Hiring an Ohio birth injury attorney
If you or a loved one has suffered a birth injury in Ohio, it is crucial to seek legal assistance to protect your rights and secure the compensation you deserve. Your attorney works with you through every step of the claim to investigate, strategize, negotiate, and, if necessary, take your case to trial. Reach out to the compassionate Ohio birth injury lawyers at Crandall & Pera Law to arrange a consultation. We help you navigate the complex legal process, collect the necessary evidence, and advocate for you and your family. Call our birth injury law offices in Cleveland, Cincinnati or Chagrin Falls to schedule a free consultation.