Understanding Birth Injury: Cerebral Palsy, Erb’s Palsy, and the Role of a Birth Injury Lawyer
The birth of a child should be considered a joyful time, but unfortunately, complications arise that result in serious injuries. Often these serious injuries have lifetime consequences for the victim. Of all serious birth injuries, two of the most serious involve cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy. These conditions have an immense impact on families emotionally and financially when it affects the child’s physical and cognitive development. A birth injury lawyer can help such families seek justice and compensation. In this blog, we’ll look at the nature of these injuries, their overall impact, and most importantly, why legal support is such a priority.
What Is a Birth Injury?
Birth injury refers to any trauma or damage a baby sustains in the birth process. The injuries can range from slight bruises to more serious conditions that affect the child’s quality of life even after birth and into adulthood. Birth injuries are caused by various issues, including medical negligence, inappropriate use of tools, late delivery, and oxygen deprivation during birth.
While many birth injuries are temporary and may self-heal over time, others result in lifelong disability. Severe birth injuries tend to demand constant care and therapy, besides special education, laying an undue burden on a family.
Cerebral Palsy: A Common Birth Injury
Cerebral palsy is one of the more common and serious birth injuries. The essential pathology underlying cerebral palsy is a brain injury during the prenatal period, while actually being born, or shortly after delivery. It affects a child’s muscle control, coordination, and posture. The symptoms can range from mild to severe physical and cognitive impairments, and the severity of cerebral palsy can vary greatly.
Causes of Cerebral Palsy
These are some of the reasons, among many, that may cause cerebral palsy:
Intrapartum asphyxia: This is because of a lack of oxygen to the brain in cases of very prolonged labor or complications like an umbilical cord wrapped around the neck of the baby during delivery.
Maternal infection during pregnancy: Any infection, including rubella or cytomegalovirus, during pregnancy, might lead to brain damage and eventually cause cerebral palsy.
Head trauma during delivery: this is caused by inappropriate usage of forceps and vacuum extractors at birth resulting in an injury to the baby’s brain and thus causing cerebral palsy.
Premature birth: the leading cause of cerebral palsy in infants is premature birth, as most of their organs, with the inclusion of the brain, are still not developed.
Impact of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy can have a severely degrading effect on the life of an innocent child. Children suffering from cerebral palsy may not be able to walk, speak, or do other basic things easily. Some of the more common phenomena associated with this condition are seizures, intellectual damage, and sensory problems. They require medical attention, physical therapy, and special education throughout their lifetime. Therefore, cerebral palsy has devastating effects on a family, both emotionally and economically.
Erb’s Palsy: A Nerve Injury at Birth
Other serious birth injuries include Erb’s palsy, which results from nerve damage to the brachial plexus during delivery. The brachial plexus is a group of nerves that controls arm movement and sensation in the shoulder, arm, and hand. Erb’s palsy thus occurs with the stretching or tearing of this cluster of nerves during complications that come with a difficult birth.
Causes of Erb’s Palsy
The most common cause of Erb’s palsy is injury during delivery. With greater specificity, it may be a result of the following:
Shoulder dystocia: This is when the infant’s shoulder catches behind the mother’s pelvic bone upon delivery. In an attempt to free the shoulder, a decision can be made to use too much force, which then stretches or tears the nerves of the brachial plexus.
Improper use of the delivery tools: that is, using either forceps or vacuum extractors-may put pressure on the shoulders of the newborn child and thereby cause injury to the nerves.
The large size of the baby: Larger-than-average babies are more likely to suffer Erb’s palsy because it makes the birth process difficult.
Impact of Erb’s Palsy
The injury to the nerves in Erb’s palsy may be minor or very serious, depending on the severity of the nerve damage. Mild injuries may resolve with physical therapy, whereas severe ones involving complete tearing of nerves can result in permanent paralysis of the affected arm in the child. Generally, this may cause muscle weakness or loss of sensation and limitation of movement in the arm, shoulder, and hand.
Birth Injury Lawyer Role
This is where a child ends up with cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, or some form of birth injury due to medical negligence; this may be the time when the family can claim compensation. This is where expertise from a birth injury lawyer is quite invaluable. Birth injury lawyers are professionals specializing in holding medical professionals liable for injuries at birth.
Investigation into the Case
The birth injury attorney will start by investigating the birth via medical records, witness interviews, and consultation with medical experts to see if there was any negligence or malpractice on the part of medical professionals. He will check whether improper care has been given, like delayed delivery or improper use of medical tools.
Determining Liability
This would, of course, entail a thorough investigation into the relevant details in relation to the birth injury in question, after which comes an exposition into liability, whereby the lawyer must prove that there had been negligence on the part of the medical personnel handling the delivery and that such negligence was the direct cause of the injury to the child. Liability has to be established if compensation is to be recovered by the family.
Compensation sought
The birth injury lawyer will seek on behalf of the family, damages to cover medical expenses, the cost of therapy, and special education, among other related costs. Damages for pain and suffering, loss of income, and emotional distress may be included as well. Sometimes the lawyer may be in a position to reach a settlement with the responsible parties, while other cases go to court.
Support and Counselling
Apart from providing the necessary legal representation, a birth injury attorney provides much-needed emotional support and counseling during these trying times to the family. They help them understand the process they are in, come to realize their rights and make informed decisions regarding their case. The intention is that, in the process, the child gets the best care possible, with the financial future of the family secured.
Conclusion
Birth injuries such as cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy can have devastating effects on the life of a child by putting a large burden on the families. Families need to be enlightened on the conditions regarding their causes and impact to enable them to address the challenges ahead. A birth injury lawyer has an important role in ensuring that justice and compensation for such families are accorded to enable them to meet the financial and emotional challenges arising from these injuries. If you believe that your child’s injury was due to medical negligence, retaining a qualified birth injury attorney can be an important first step in securing your child’s future.
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