Delivery Room Errors and Birth Injury

Labor and delivery are complex processes, and medical staff must make fast and accurate decisions during birth. Medical staff can sometimes make mistakes that jeopardize the health of the mother and baby. Improper fetal monitoring, improper medication choices, improper use of forceps and vacuum extractors, and failure to provide a timely C-section can all cause preventable injury.

While birth injuries can occur as a result of improper prenatal care, often they result from delivery room errors made by hospital staff, doctors, or other healthcare professionals. Medical staff must constantly monitor a mother and baby during labor and delivery and, if problems arise, make quick and accurate decisions to ensure their safety. Sadly, this doesn’t always occur.

Improper fetal monitoring, failure to take immediate action when problems arise, incorrect medication administration, improper use of delivery instruments (forceps and vacuum extractors), and failure to timely perform c-sections are some of the most common delivery room errors. The results of these errors, unfortunately, can be devastating and cause permanent injury to the newborn child. Some common birth injuries include (1):

• Birth trauma
• Shoulder dystocia
• Brain bleeds
• Stroke
• Infection

Sometimes, birth injuries can lead to permanent disabilities. These may include:

• Cerebral palsy
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
• Seizure disorder/epilepsy
• Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)
• Developmental delays and learning disabilities

Discovering and understanding the complex events that take place in the delivery room requires not only legal expertise but also solid medical knowledge. At ABC Law Centers: Birth Injury Lawyers, we work with premiere neurologists, neuroradiologists, obstetricians, labor nurses, child development specialists, therapists, life care planners, forensics experts, and more to identify delivery mistakes and determine the exact cause of a child’s birth injury. We have solid legal skills in birth injury litigation and an impressive record of success to back it up.