Childbirth is a life-changing experience that can often be overwhelming for new parents. When serious complications arise, new parents are even more overwhelmed and may need legal guidance to uncover the cause of their child’s injuries. Anapol Weiss attorneys are highly experienced in investigating and litigating hypoxic birth injury cases and can efficiently review your medical records to determine if your child’s injuries were preventable.
While the vast majority of labor and deliveries result in healthy newborns, medical errors can cause your child to suffer permanent birth injuries if they are deprived of oxygen during birth. This can result in a diagnosis of a medical condition known as “HIE” that can lead to permanent brain damage or cerebral palsy. Infants who suffer from HIE often require resuscitation at birth and go straight to the neonatal intensive care unit or NICU for extensive medical care.
While the NICU providers appropriately focus on making sure your child receives the right medical treatment for their injuries, overwhelmed parents are often left with unanswered questions about the cause of their injuries. What many new parents don’t realize is that healthcare providers are unlikely to disclose that medical negligence may be to blame, and there is no law or hospital policy that requires them to do so.
This is why discovering that your child has suffered a hypoxic birth injury requires that you work with experienced medical malpractice attorneys who understand the medicine and have access to top medical experts that can support your case. Your labor and delivery records contain critical data that can shed light on the cause of your child’s injuries. Electronic fetal monitoring strips can reveal if there were signs of fetal distress such as fetal bradycardia, or an abnormally low fetal heart rate that should have prompted healthcare provides to expedite your child’s delivery. Your child’s NICU records also provide critical clues about the cause of their injuries. Immediately after birth, cord blood gas samples are often tested for signs of acidosis which can be a sign of hypoxia during delivery. NICU providers may also perform a brain scan to confirm a HIE diagnosis and assess the extent of your child’s brain damage so they can form a treatment plan and provide you with a prognosis.
If your child required resuscitation at birth or was diagnosed with HIE, don’t expect an explanation from anyone other than an experienced birth injury attorney who can perform a thorough investigation of your labor and delivery and preserve your legal rights.
Paola Pearson is a partner at Anapol Weiss where she focuses her practice on catastrophic birth injury cases. Paola can be reached at 215-790-4554 or ppearson@anapolweiss.com.
