Birth Injury
Thursday, August 1st, 2002Birth injuries are usually due to complications during labor and delivery. Birth injuries range from mild to severe, from bruising to permanent disability. The most common types of birth injuries include bruising and forceps marks, facial paralysis, brachial palsy injuries, fractured bones, and brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. While birth injuries can occur in very simple deliveries, they most often occur during difficult labors. An infant’s large size or a mother’s small pelvis size may contribute to a difficult labor that may lead to birth injuries.
A doctor should be vigilant in order to anticipate complications that may lead to birth injuries. Some of the things a doctor should take into consideration when preparing to deliver an infant are possible complications resulting from the size of the baby, the mother’s medical history, umbilical cord positioning, fetal distress such as irregularities in the fetal heartbeat, and proper administration of drugs used during labor and delivery. Failure to monitor these and a number of other situations may mean that the physician was negligent in his care of a patient.
