Milwaukee Birth Injury Lawyer – Attorney

A child injured at birth may face a lifetime of limitations, health difficulties, and challenges. Amongst the most serious injuries a newborn can sustain is damage to the child’s brain. A lack of oxygen during delivery (hypoxia/anoxia) or bleeding within the brain can cause irreversible brain damage. Operative intervention in the labor and delivery process must be handled with great skill, care and judgment on the part of the delivery team.

Many birth injuries are not the result of medical malpractice. Despite good care on the part of the entire delivery team, a birth injury may occur. However, the parents or a guardian of a child injured at birth have a right to raise questions about the delivery process and a duty to determine that their child received the care that was due.

Our Milwaukee birth injury lawyers have successfully represented the families of birth-injured children. Such injuries may occur in a wide variety of situations. Some of the more common include the following:

• Delay in delivery – the baby must be carefully monitored during the strenuous birth process. It is especially important that the baby’s heart activity and level of oxygen in the baby’s blood be monitored by knowledgeable experts who can interpret and act on abnormal findings. When such monitoring indicates the baby is in “distress,” it is critical that the child be delivered promptly using appropriate intervention to expedite the birth process.
• Erb’s palsy – a serious injury to the nerves providing function for the arms (brachial plexus) can occur if care is not taken in the delivery. During the late stages of the labor process, the baby may need to be medically assisted in releasing the shoulders. If such assistance is rendered with excessive force, damage may occur to the shoulders injuring the nerves serving the arms. That is the brachial plexus. Such injury may be temporary and resolve over time, particularly with physical therapy. Such injury may be permanent, resulting in loss of use of an arm for life.
• Large baby – a baby weighing 9lb or more (4,000kg) has an increased chance of suffering during the birth process. The mother’s pelvis may not be large enough for the baby to pass through the birth canal (cephalo – pelvic disproportion).
• Infections – both mother and infant are subject to infections during the newborn period. Appropriate preventive measures and monitoring during pregnancy can prevent or minimize the effect of many infections. Antibiotics administered during delivery can effectively treat some infections. Failure to adequately monitor, promptly recognize and appropriately treat infection can cause permanent harm to mother or child.

A newborn requires specialized care during the first days of life. Inadequate care, failure to promptly recognize and address emerging problems or infection in the nursery can result in permanent and irreversible damage to the brain and central nervous system.

All parents of children with injuries or health challenges want to know all they can about their child’s condition, including whether better medical care could have prevented the situation.

A birth injury is reported to occur in 27 of every 1,000 live births. Birth injuries range from mild to severe to life-threatening. Most birth injuries are not the result of medical malpractice. Experienced and knowledgeable lawyers can assist you in evaluating the circumstances surrounding your labor and your child’s delivery for the possibility of malpractice. You need a law firm with medical, technical, and legal resources.

If yoru child was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy following an injury at birth, Murphy & Prachthauser attorneys can answer all potential CP case questions.

If you have questions regarding a possible birth-related injury, contact our Milwaukee birth injury lawyers for a free, thorough, and knowledgeable evaluation.