Birth Injuries Caused By Medical Malpractice In Maryland
Having a baby is a major event in any couple’s life. It requires extensive planning and getting regular medical care. Attending routine doctor visits during this time and reporting any unusual symptoms can help in ensuring a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery. However, medical mistakes and errors can happen. Our Maryland medical malpractice attorneys explain what you need to know about birth injuries and how to hold at-fault providers accountable for any harm your infant suffers.
Medical Mistakes Can Lead To Potentially Severe Birth Injuries In Maryland
While going through pregnancy and childbirth is a natural process, issues can arise that put the mother and baby at risk. Getting routine medical care helps ensure your infant develops appropriately and helps prevent unexpected events during delivery. Doctors and other medical providers are only human, though. Unfortunately, mistakes and errors are common and can cause potentially devastating birth injuries in Maryland.
The National Institutes of Health reports that birth injuries impact as many as 30,000 newborns each year. Common types of birth injuries include:
- Broken bones, impacting shoulders, hips, arms, or legs;
- Skull fractures and bruising;
- Hemorrhaging in the skull or brain tissues;
- Facial paralysis and nerve injuries;
- Erb’s palsy and brachial plexus injuries, caused by nerve damage in the arms or neck;
- Cerebral palsy due to loss of oxygen;
- Spinal cord injuries.
In addition to birth injuries in Maryland, mistakes on the part of medical providers in screening patients, monitoring the pregnancy, and addressing health issues in the mother, such as high blood pressure, anemia, or diabetes can also have potentially devastating impacts on infants.
We Hold Medical Providers Accountable For Birth Injuries In Maryland
You trust your doctors to act in your best interests and to do what they can to protect your health. This is particularly true when you are expecting. Unfortunately, medical mistakes and errors among obstetricians and other providers occur on a regular basis. These often include:
- Failure to conduct appropriate blood tests or other maternal screening;
- Missed diagnosis and failure to treat diabetes or other health conditions;
- Failing to monitor labor and delivery and to intervene when needed;
- Allowing mothers to labor too long or too hard, increasing the risks of neonatal injuries;
- Excessive use of forceps or other tools to assist with deliveries.
Under the Maryland Statutes, doctors and others involved can be held liable for failing to provide the accepted standard of care during pregnancy and delivery. You have the right to seek compensation for all current and future medical costs, lost wages, and other expenses that result from birth injuries in Maryland.
Reach Out To Our Maryland Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Birth injuries in Maryland have the potential to be devastating and can impact you and your family for years into the future. At Berman, Sobin, Gross LLP, our Maryland medical malpractice attorneys provide compassionate support and the comprehensive legal service needed to hold those at fault accountable. Reach out and request a consultation today.
Sources:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539831/
mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj§ion=5-109
