Identifying Negligence in a Fetal Distress Birth Injury Case
Going through labor can be a difficult experience, and one of your only hopes is that your doctors and nurses are fully prepared to respond to any situations that arise. You may trust that they have been properly trained, are following all procedures, and have a clear game plan if anything goes wrong. Unfortunately, not every medical team lives up to the high standards of their profession and their negligent actions often cause serious harm to a newborn, often leading to a birth injury that follows them for the rest of their life. For many parents, the most distressing and terrifying situation that they can go through is fetal distress.
Preparing for a Birth Injury Case
The birth of a child should be a time filled with joy, not with pain and uncertainty. Doctors and nurses should take every effort to ensure a safe birthing procedure, but when they fail to meet the medical standard of care, children and parents can suffer debilitating injuries. If your child suffered a prenatal injury or an injury during childbirth, you could have a case against the hospital and medical professionals involved.
Importance of Prenatal Care in Birth Injury Cases
The full cycle of pregnancy and childbirth takes an average of nine months. Caring for yourself during your pregnancy is a critical point in giving birth to a healthy baby. If a child is born with birth defects, brain damage, or complications, your first instinct may be to target the hospital or the medical professionals attending to the birth process. The truth is that negligent OB-GYN care during your pregnancy may have contributed to the poor health of your child.
Phil Russotti Shares Legal Success Story for a Baby Injured at Birth
At our law firm, we unfortunately get to see the worst of the medical profession. Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, LLP, is a top New York personal injury firm, and as such, we handle cases ranging from workplace accidents to defective products. Some of the hardest cases to take are birth injuries—when a newborn baby suffers devastating harm at the hands of doctors.
Philip Russotti Talks About Birth Injuries
Birth injuries are one of the areas of medical malpractice that Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, LLP, specializes in. The top New York personal injury firm understands all aspects of the process leading up to delivery, whether it’s properly assessing a mother prior to delivery, the circumstances under which delivery should be expedited through an emergency C-section, or the proper way to resuscitate a baby.
Philip Russotti, a partner with WRSH, talked about the firm’s expertise in a series of YouTube videos. Here’s what he had to say:
Possible Compensation for New York Families After Umbilical-Cord-Related Birth Injuries
Having a baby is an amazing experience, and one that usually goes without complications. However, sometimes there are umbilical cord problems that lead to birth injury or death. Knowing why these issues occur can help you make decisions about finding a New York lawyer to pursue a birth injury claim.
What Is Erb’s Palsy and How Does it Happen?
Childbirth is a magical time for the majority, but when there are complications involved, it can get quite scary. During the actual birthing process, there are several injuries that can occur to both mother and baby. While some conditions are minor and can be treated right away, there are others that can turn out to be life-altering. Erb’s palsy is one such injury that may affect a newborn as they are being delivered, impacting approximately one to two babies out of every 1,000 births. However, it is often avoidable, and that’s when it may be time to get a dedicated New York City Erb’s palsy lawyer involved.
Long-Term Health Problems Related to Erb’s Palsy
Erb’s palsy is a disorder that occurs when a baby’s upper arms are damaged during delivery. The condition gets its name from the location in the body where it occurs – at Erb’s point, the area close to the baby’s neck where the fifth and sixth cranial nerves meet to create the brachial plexus, or where the shoulder meets the neck. The nerves in the brachial plexus control movement in the baby’s arm, hand, and fingers so if Erb’s palsy occurs, it’s these areas that will be mostly affected.
Common Umbilical Cord Related Birth Injuries
The umbilical cord is vital to ensuring the health and well-being of a developing infant within a mother’s womb. There are a few umbilical cord problems that are quite common, however, and can have potentially severe consequences for an unborn child. These problems are not birth injuries in their own right, because many of them cannot be avoided and are not caused by the birthing process. However, some of these problems can lead to birth injuries such as cerebral palsy, birth asphyxia, and long-term brain damage if doctors do not properly identify and respond to them.