Common Causes of a Birth Injury

One of the most devastating situations you can face is when your newborn child suffers an injury, particularly when it could have been avoided. In far too many situations, debilitating injuries to infants are simply unnecessary, the result of human error. Unfortunately, many tiny infants do not have the physical strength and stamina to effectively respond to and recover from serious birth trauma.

The Typical Causes of Birth Injuries

Though the birth of a child is often considered a miracle, it nonetheless requires a certain standard of care from doctors, nurses, hospitals and other caregivers. Far too often, injury results because of a lack of communication between medical professionals, which can manifest in a number of different ways:

• A doctor may not properly communicate who will have responsibility for fetal monitoring, or a nurse may neglect to tell a doctor that a patient is experiencing fetal distress.
• A doctor may fail to order delivery by C-Section in a timely manner.
• A doctor may fail to consult with or communicate with a specialist, when required.

Birth injuries can also stem from simple negligence by a medical professional:

• Doctors or nurses may not properly diagnose or treat jaundice or meningitis after birth.
• A physician may improperly use forceps during a delivery.
• A doctor may overuse a vacuum extractor.
• A medical professional may fail to detect problems with an umbilical cord that can lead to oxygen deprivation in an infant.
• Doctors, nurses or other staff members may misread or fail to timely read or respond to vital signs.

There are circumstances where doctors and nurses work can also contribute to conditions that increase the risk of birth injury: they may work more than 8 hours on a shift, and may work a number of lengthy shifts in a row. Many facilities are understaffed, and many have either unqualified or poorly trained employees.

Contact the Attorneys at Metzger & Kleiner

To schedule an appointment with an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer, contact us by e-mail or call our office at 215-622-2210 in Philadelphia, 610-563-2186 in the Lehigh Valley, or toll free at 800-228-1760. There is no charge for your first consultation. We handle all birth injury claims on a contingency basis. We won't charge attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your losses.