A child brings so much joy to its parents and the entire family. But a birth injury makes that joy short lived, especially if it happens due to hospital or medical negligence. Negligence can cause debilitating injuries to a child, resulting in severe mental and physical disabilities for the mother or child. Sadly, most birth injuries are preventable. Negligent healthcare professionals, like nurses and doctors, usually cause them. However, parents can file a malpractice lawsuit against the negligent party or parties for compensation to pay for their medical bills, suffering, and pain. You can sue for punitive damages, too.
If your child sustains a birth injury that has damaged their brain or physical well-being, you have until their 10th birthday to file a lawsuit against the negligent party. You can do so with the help of a skilled personal injury attorney. Your attorney will review your case to determine its strength, help you gather evidence, and prepare the necessary paperwork for a successful suit.
Common Causes of Birth Injuries
When parents expect a child, they make changes and do everything possible to ensure that the child is healthy and strong at birth. Some parents change their lifestyle altogether. Others work even harder to make sure the child is well cared for. The waiting period excites everyone, including the parents’ family and friends. The excitement continues when the child finally arrives, and changes are made to accommodate the new life. Sadly, this excitement is short-lived when you realize that your child sustained a preventable injury that impacted their physical or mental well-being.
While some birth injuries are inevitable due to medical conditions that make childbirth difficult, others are preventable and a clear case of negligence. Healthcare providers and hospitals owe a duty of care to expectant parents to take necessary precautions to ensure the child being born is healthy. If a healthcare professional or a hospital breaches that duty and your child is injured at birth, you deserve compensation for the resulting damages. In most cases, nurses and doctors are accused of negligence in birth injury cases. But sometimes hospitals are to blame for the resulting damages.
Children sustain all kinds of injuries at birth. The causes of these injuries are diverse, too. Some children are injured when a medical professional uses excessive force in their delivery. Other children are injured by tools and devices used in childbirth, like forceps. Here are examples of birth injuries for which you can seek compensation in Nevada:
Brain Injuries
These mainly occur if there is oxygen deprivation or physical trauma during childbirth. Some children sustain a brain injury from maternal infections or intraventricular hemorrhage. An experienced healthcare provider will understand the proper safety precautions to use every time a child is born to prevent these kinds of brain injuries.
If a child’s brain does not receive enough oxygen during and after birth, they will likely sustain a brain injury. A physical head injury when a mother’s pelvis or birth canal exerts pressure on the baby’s skull can injure its brain.
Spinal Injuries
Common causes of spinal injuries during childbirth include the following:
- Delivering a child who is in a breech position naturally.
- Natural delivery for a heavier child.
- Mishandling a premature baby or an underweight baby.
- Natural delivery when the maternal pelvis is insufficient for a vaginal birth.
- Mishandling a child’s shoulder dystocia during childbirth.
Broken Bones
A problematic delivery could compel a nurse or doctor to use excess force, resulting in physical injuries to a child. A child’s bones are usually fragile because they are underdeveloped. This makes them susceptible to fractures, primarily if extra force is used on them. If a child is underweight, overweight, or in a breech position, it increases their risk of injury due to the use of extra force or assistive tools and devices like forceps.
Catastrophic Injuries
A catastrophic injury is life-altering. Your child could have a catastrophic injury if they lost one or both eyes during birth, one or both ears, or a limb. A head, brain, or spinal injury that results in paralysis is also catastrophic. A child with a catastrophic injury does not live an everyday life. They must learn additional skills or require assistive devices to improve the quality of their lives.
The type of birth injury your child sustains will determine if their disability is short-term or long-term. You must consider this when filing for compensation. The cause of the injury will also determine the viability of your case. You must demonstrate that an individual or entity was responsible for your child’s birth injury to receive compensation. If the court finds a nurse, doctor, or hospital negligent, it will order the negligent party to pay total compensation for your damages.
Common Types of Birth Injuries
Remember that children sustain all types of birth injuries. The common ones are as follows:
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects mobility and posture. They occur when a child’s developing brain sustains an injury, mostly during birth. However, you notice symptoms during infancy and once a child attends school. Some cases of cerebral palsy are more severe than others. Affected children have exaggerated reflexes. Their legs, arms, and trunk appear floppy, and could experience muscle stiffness or spasticity. Other common symptoms include irregular movements and posture, which the child cannot control. Children with these conditions are also unsteady when walking.
The leading cause of cerebral palsy is brain damage at birth, which could occur due to oxygen deprivation or physical trauma to the head. The condition’s effects go beyond a child's physical appearance. They also impact the child’s speech, eating, and other functions. The child could delay speech or have trouble speaking at all. They could drool or have difficulty swallowing, chewing, or eating. Some children will develop vision or hearing problems or be diagnosed with epilepsy.
Children with cerebral palsy require full-time care because they cannot perform daily tasks on their own. They also need regular medical care since their immune system is underdeveloped. Although some children can walk with a limb, other children with cerebral palsy are confined to a wheelchair, necessitating full-time care. These are some of the reasons why you deserve compensation if your child was negligently injured at birth. A skilled personal injury attorney can help you determine the actual cause of your child’s condition and file a solid lawsuit against the negligent party.
Erb’s Palsy
This is a condition that causes muscle weakness in the shoulders or arms. It occurs after a birth injury. Erb’s palsy is very common in infants whose shoulders were injured during vaginal birth. Mild cases of this condition heal independently, but severe cases could require medical treatment and care to manage stiffness.
Erb’s palsy is a nerve-related condition. Since it affects the shoulders and arms, it causes a child to experience weakness in the affected areas or loss of muscle function. A human has a group of nerves called the brachial plexus that connect the hands and arms to the spine. These nerves allow the arms, shoulders, and hands to move and feel. If the nerves are injured, they do not work as well as they should. The injury could be due to excess tearing or stretching. Erb’s palsy is a common brachial plexus injury that affects the upper nerves.
Your child could develop Erb's palsy if you have a difficult birth, whether a cesarean section or vaginal birth. When delivering children, healthcare providers must move a baby’s head to one side to allow the birth of their shoulders. When doing this, they could overstretch the child’s nerves, causing damage or tearing them. It could be challenging to notice the injury immediately after birth, but some symptoms will appear a little later when the child is older. If your child is complaining of numbness or tingling sensations in their hands, they could have the condition.
Other symptoms of Erb’s palsy include the following:
- Limpness or paralysis of the shoulder, elbow, or arm. This is seen when a child cannot lift their arm away from their body or bend their elbow.
- Tingling or numbness in the hand or arm.
- A child’s hand is in a ‘waiter's tip position,’ whereby their palm points towards the back, and their fingers curl.
Although children recover from this condition eventually, they require adequate treatment and therapy, which can be very costly. Hence, there is a need for compensation if a healthcare professional negligently caused your child the injury that resulted in Erb’s palsy.
Fetal Distress
Fetal distress occurs when an unborn child is deprived of oxygen. Healthcare professionals can detect this through the baby’s heart rate. When a pregnant mother is about to have a baby, the healthcare professional attending to them must ensure that the baby’s heart rate is always normal. They do this using electronic monitoring devices available in all healthcare facilities. If a child’s heart rate is abnormal, healthcare professionals must do the following:
- Provide more oxygen for the mother.
- Ensure the mother is lying on her left side.
- Swiftly delivering the child through c-section or authorized devices like forceps.
Remember that prolonged oxygen deprivation harms the baby’s developing brain. It could result in brain injury and related conditions like cerebral palsy. It could also be fatal for the child and the mother. Thus, healthcare providers must do everything possible to deliver the baby before more severe complications are experienced safely.
Sadly, it does not always happen like that. Negligence cases have been reported, especially when a baby is distressed. Suppose your child suffered a birth injury due to fetal distress, and you can demonstrate that the nurse or doctor in charge was negligent. In that case, you have reasonable grounds for filing for compensation from the negligent party.
Brachial Palsy
This is the paralysis or weakness of an arm caused by a brachial plexus injury. The brachial plexus is a group of nerves near and around your neck. It connects your arms to the spinal cord and allows the arms, shoulders, fingers, and hands to move. If one or more of these nerves are injured, a person will experience weakness in their arms and could lose motion.
Although brachial play can occur at any age, it is prevalent with newborn babies. This is because such nerve injuries are mostly experienced during childbirth. If the birth of your child is complicated due to prolonged labor, or your child is heavier or in a breech position, extra care is required by the healthcare professional in charge to avoid injuries. If a nurse or doctor is not careful enough, and a child is born with their feet or buttocks first, they could sustain severe injuries. In some cases, healthcare professionals have to use assistive devices like forceps in delivery, which increases a child’s risk of injury.
Brachial palsy causes a child to lose muscle control, strength, or sensation in the affected hand or wrist. Although the condition can be treated, it requires early diagnosis and quality care for your child to live a healthy life after brachial paralysis. Treatment and therapy can also be costly. Hence, there is a need to consider filing for compensation through a birth injury lawsuit.
Infant Hematoma
Infant hematoma, or cephalohematoma, is an injury that occurs when ruptured blood vessels build up in the brain tissues, covering a child’s skull. The hematoma causes a blood pool around the ruptured blood vessels, causing a red spot on a child’s scalp. The pool of blood exerts pressure on the brain tissue, causing grave disabilities and sometimes death. It must be diagnosed and treated on time to prevent complications.
Infant hematoma mainly occurs during childbirth. If the birth of your child is difficult, necessitating the use of assistive devices like vacuum extractors or forceps, your child could sustain an injury. Healthcare professionals are well-trained in using these devices and other safe strategies to deliver babies in case of a difficult delivery.
If your child is injured and is treated on time, you will not have to worry about them losing their life or developing a disability. However, your child could require full-time care if the injury is severe and takes a long time to diagnose and treat. The child will need surgery to remove the ruptured vessels and relieve pressure on the brain.
The Process of Filing a Birth Injury Lawsuit
Suppose your child sustained a birth injury, and you would like compensation for the medical expenses you have incurred. In that case, speaking to a skilled personal injury attorney is advisable first. This is because you want to ensure your case is viable before preparing and filing the necessary paperwork. An attorney will consider your case's strength and evidence to advise you on your options. If your case is strong, they will assist you in gathering evidence and preparing the documents needed to support the lawsuit.
However, you need to do a lot of groundwork before the filing process. Remember that civil court judges rely on evidence from the petitioner and defendant to determine a case. You must prove that the alleged liable party owed you and your child a duty of care and that they breached that duty to cause your child’s injury. You must also demonstrate that the liable party’s negligence is directly responsible for your damages. A skilled attorney can call on eyewitnesses and experts to strengthen your case.
Once the case is ready, you can contact the liable party through your attorney for mediation and settlement. Sometimes, settling a civil suit out of court is better, saving you time and money. However, the liable party must be willing to offer reasonable compensation for an out-of-court settlement to work. If not, your attorney will advise you to file the matter with a civil court.
Remember to do all this within the timelines provided under the statute of limitations. Birth injury lawsuits in Nevada must be filed within ten years of a child’s birth. After that, you lose your right to compensation, regardless of how strong your case is.
Once the judge receives your case, they will review it and issue a hearing date. You (the petitioner) and the liable party can present evidence and issue statements before the judge makes a final ruling. If your case is strong, the judge will grant you damages. This means that the liable party must pay you all the damages granted by the judge in the final ruling.
Find a Competent Personal Injury Attorney Near Me
Has your child been injured or lost their life due to a birth injury in Las Vegas?
Although birth injuries can occur due to unavoidable circumstances, you can pursue compensation if your child’s injury or death was due to another party’s negligence. However, you need to determine the liable party and how they caused your child’s injury to receive compensation for your damages.
Birth injury lawsuits are challenging to navigate alone. The legal processes involved are complex. However, we can help you fight for the compensation you deserve at the Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm. With our support and assistance, you can recover compensation for the medical costs incurred, pain, suffering, and punitive damages. Call us at 702-996-1224 to learn more about filing a birth injury lawsuit and our services.
