Medical Malpractice: Childbirth

When an injury occurs to a newborn baby and/or to a mother during labor or delivery of the baby, the harm caused, in many cases, is unavoidable depending on the situation. In other situations, the choices made by the doctor with respect to the course of treatment he/she chooses may be medically inappropriate or the doctor may fail to use the proper skill and care before or during childbirth thus causing harm or injury to mother and/or child. Some common childbirth injuries that can occur that affect newborn babies are:

• Birth fracture – these are bone fractures that can happen to the newborn during delivery. The most common bone fractures in newborns occur to the collarbone. While some are unavoidable, these fractures can occur when the doctor had a reasonable opportunity to spot probable complications and deliver the child by way of a C-Section delivery but does not use that option.


• Caput succedaneum – this is the swelling of the newborn baby’s scalp. The condition is mainly as a result of pressures on the head of the baby during difficult or prolonged head-first delivery. The condition can appear with bruising but will usually subside within a few days of birth.

Birth injuries can lead to legal action in instances when the doctor did or failed to do something during childbirth and such conduct can amount to medical malpractice. However, the result alone, that is the childbirth related injury, is not enough to conclude that the doctor committed medical malpractice. In order to evaluate whether you have a medical malpractice case, it is important to establish the appropriate level of care. That is, to get to know the degree of care and skill of the average medical professional who specializes in the same field and has the same medical knowledge that is available to the physician who is in that specific situation. This is called establishing the medical standard of care. After establishing the medical standard of care, you one can determine whether a doctor was in breach of the standard.

Medical negligence can occur as a result of a doctor failing to act in a quick and appropriate manner to a dangerous situation; in instances where a doctor fails to respond to the situation appropriately and childbirth related injuries occur, the doctor may be legally liable for the injuries that resulted.

There are two ways that birth injuries lead to fetal death:

1. The fetus dies before or during childbirth because the mother dies or
2. The mother survives but the fetus sustains injuries which lead to its death either in the utero or at delivery.
   
   

These situations are emotionally charged, not to mention legally and medically complex. If you are in such a situation, start looking for Anchorage medical malpractice attorney to represent your interests.

For a renowned law firm with expertise in medical malpractice, the author recommends the Crowson Law Group.