Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

Recently, our Chicago birth injury attorneys read about a 16-pound baby born to a woman in Texas. While the majority of onlookers reveled in the newborn's cute and happy photos, it is important to note that there are a number of dangers to both mother and child surrounding an infant with macrosomia (a newborn with an excessive birth weight). Macrosomia is a serious condition often linked with birth injuries such as shoulder dystocia. In addition, babies who are born with Macrosomia are subject to increased risks in the development of asthma, cancer, diabetes, allergies and life-long struggles with obesity.

There are a number of reasons as to why some babies are born with a high birth weight. Some babies are born large because their parents are large people. Some babies are large because they are born after their due date. Hispanic women have an increased chance of delivering overweight children when compared with other races. While these risk factors cannot be prevented, there are a number of others that can be. According to a board-certified OB/GYN on the Daily Beast Health Blog, the “three most significant risks for having an overweight baby are… obesity prior to getting pregnant, excessive weight gain during pregnancy, and uncontrolled diabetes.”

Because of the increased risks in child birth that overweight babies present, it is important that physicians identify the size of a child before his or her birth and to take the necessary precautions in preventing birth injuries when it is known that a baby will be born with macrosomia. If physicians do not follow proper practice in these instances they may be subject to medical malpractice liability.

One of the many concerns that need to be dealt with in the delivery of an overweight child is the possibility of shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia occurs when a mother is able to deliver the head of her child, but the body gets stuck in the mother’s birth canal. When this happens a baby has a high chance of developing nerve damages or other serious injuries including the possibility of death. The chances of delivering a baby with shoulder dystocia are greatly increased for babies that are delivered with macrosomia.

Our Chicago birth-Injury lawyers recognize the difficulty that delivering overweight babies presents. Since our practice was founded, we have represented a number of families in cases involving birth injuries like shoulder dystocia during a macrosomic birth. In one of these cases, our client's physicians failed to perform an ultrasound to determine the size of the baby even though the mother's first child was macrosomic. They also failed to inform the child's mother of the risks associated with delivering a baby of this size or inform her that a c-section was an option to reduce these risks. As a result, our client's daughter suffered a shoulder dystocia and the family pursued a personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation for her injuries and to pay the child's past and future medical care and treatments. We settled the family's shoulder dystocia lawsuit in 2009 for $1.35 million against the negligent physicians and hospital staff that caused her injuries.

The number of deliveries via cesarean section is on the rise, but like any surgical procedure, there are always risks associated with this method. Our Chicago birth injury attorneys recently read an article on the HealthDay page on USNews.com in which we were surprised to learn that the number of c-sections increased 7% from 2002 to 2009. Although they are often convenient, experts warn that these procedures can be dangerous and should only be performed when necessary to protect the health and well-being of both mothers and babies.

According to the report, the rise in the number of cesareans is a result of a number of factors. For one, many mothers and physicians appreciate the convenience of knowing when the child will be delivered. There is also an increase in the number of older women giving birth and those suffering from diabetes and obesity, so physicians may choose c-sections to avoid birth injuries or other complications during delivery. The article also notes that many women may not fully understand the risks associated with cesarean surgery.

As with any surgery, there are a number of potentially serious complications associated with c-sections. In our practice, we represent mothers and children who have been injured during the birth process. Although many c-sections are planned, some mothers require emergency cesareans when complications during birth arise. This could be because the baby is not properly descending through the mother’s birth canal or a breech birth. Although when performed in these situations, a c-section is necessary and actually used as a remedy, sometimes they are delayed, in which case the child may suffer birth injuries. Our Illinois birth injury lawyers have represented clients in cases in which a physician’s failure to perform a c-section in a timely manner led to birth injuries, including a recent $6.5 million settlement for a young girl who suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of a delayed c-section.

Surgical errors and complications may occur during both planned and emergency cesareans. This can include anesthesia errors, blood clots, infection, cardiac arrest, perforated or severed bowels, or severe postpartum bleeding. Although in some cases a c-section may be a mother’s best option to minimize risk to her unborn child, due to the serious nature of these complications, it is important for women and their doctors to carefully weigh their options before deciding whether or not to perform a c-section.

When discussing autism, medical professionals aren’t exactly sure what is the cause. Is it genetic? The result of an unhealthy pregnancy? Attributable to birth injury?

Lately researchers have focused on the latter inquiry – whether autism is the consequence of problems that occurred during labor and/or delivery. But even then, the query is still unclear; even if there seems to be a positive correlation between autism and birth injury, it’s seemingly impossible to determine if birth trauma is responsible for the onset of autism, or if it is the nature of a child predisposed to suffer from autism to incur a difficult, and injury-provoking birth.

The study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics, ultimately suggests that the risk of autism was increased by an interaction between both genetic factors and affects of pregnancy care, labor, and delivery. But no conclusive results were found determining a concrete cause for autism.

Several factors, however, were ruled out as being responsible for the onset of autism. These factors included: anesthesia for the mother during labor and delivery, assisted vaginal delivery, post-term birth, a high birth weight, and the child’s head circumference. On the other side of the coin, however, different elements seemed to have a significant correlation to births of autistic children. A number of these factors included: abnormal presentation or situation of the fetus, umbilical-cord complications, low birth weight, and birth injury or trauma.

Again, however, if we focus on the issue of birth injury, that factor alone is correlated with a number of other factors that are seemingly related to autism. So the questions remain unanswered: does birth injury cause autism? Does autism increase the likelihood of birth injury? Or are autism and birth injuries only related insofar as autism increases the risk of other circumstances that, themselves up the odds of birth injuries?

As technology progresses, and as more and more studies develop, this will be a fascinating question to follow from the point of view of the law: if birth injuries really are responsible for the onset of autism, many health care providers could be held accountable for mistakes made in the delivery room that ultimately led to difficulties experienced both by autistic children, and the parents caring for those children.

Though they are some of the most common forms of personal injury lawsuits in Illinois,birth injury cases are some of the fewest talked about, but also many of the most devastating. Statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health show that in the years 2006-2008, approximately 27 out of every 1000 births in Illinois involved some form of birth-related injury, and another approximately 6 out of every 1000 births resulted in death as a result of health-care provider injury.

Although in some instances, birth injuries may occur by no fault of the doctors or nurses, the disturbing fact remains that many of these injuries result from negligence and/or mistakes. In a hospital full of trained health care professionals, this is simply unacceptable.

I. How they Happen
Injuries to the baby can happen at almost any stage of the delivery or labor process. When errors are made and doctors or nurses are careless, birth injuries may result. Although some babies who suffer from birth injuries may ultimately recover quickly, unfortunately many more end up suffering from permanent debilitating mental or physical conditions, treatment for which may be life-long. Some factors contributing to these injuries may include:

A. Improper monitoring or testing of the fetus prior to birth.
B. Labor difficulties resulting from the baby taking an unusual or awkward position before entering the birth canal.
C. Oxygen deprivation to the baby, often as a result of constriction of the umbilical cord.
D. And other mistakes made by doctors and nurses during the labor and delivery process, such as excessive force, or other mistakes that put the baby at risk.

Although none of those factors will concretely determine that the child will suffer a birth injury, when any of these factors are present, the risk of injuries significantly increases.

II. How they Affect Families
If a baby is unfortunately stricken with any form of birth injury, the results can be overwhelming, and may even involve permanent life-long care. Birth injury lawsuits in Illinois allow the parents to collect damages from the negligent health care providers to assist in providing care for the child throughout the duration of the child’s life. Some of these damages may include:

A. Past and future medical expenses
B. The cost of providing care for the child
C. The cost of specialized schooling for the child
D. Emotional and physical pain and suffering experienced by the child
E. The costs of future earnings that the child may have received, had he or she lived a normal life
F. And many others

As our Chicago birth injury attorneys know, in these cases, the life-long effects can be devastating, and sometimes the only way to get retribution is to have those who caused the injury help pay for the cost of future remedies. When you add up the expenses for the effects of a birth injury, it’s easy to see that future care for a birth injury is both emotionally and monetarily costly.

Mothers often turn to midwives when they are seeking a more natural childbirth option. However, the American Pregnancy Association cautions that sometimes childbirth requires medical interventions that extend beyond the scope of a midwife’s limited services. In those situations, the mother and baby need the prompt attention and care of an experienced obstetrician. If complications arise during childbirth that a midwife is incapable of handling, both mother and baby run the risk of suffering a debilitating birth injury.

Recently, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported that a Maine jury awarded a 10-year-old plaintiff $3 million for past and future medical expenses, permanent impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life after finding that the midwife who had overseen the child’s delivery negligently failed to follow standard medical care procedures. The child is severely disabled and was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Kabuki Syndrome. The medical malpractice lawsuit maintained that the disorder did not account for all of the child’s symptoms, which include severe mental retardation, blindness, wheelchair confinement, a feeding tube, and inability to speak. Rather, the symptoms indicate the child suffered from oxygen deprivation during labor, as a fetal monitor warned. The lawsuit argued that the midwife failed to respond appropriately when the monitor indicated a problem.

The jury came to a verdict for the plaintiff after deliberating for only four hours. The plaintiff’s attorney praised the verdict, but added, “There are no winners in this. Everyone in the courtroom, particularly defense counsel, agreed this is a tragic situation.” Chicago birth injury attorneys know that with the proper care and attention during childbirth, these tragedies are entirely preventable. A fetal monitor should provide sufficient warning if problems occur. However, too often the baby is deprived of oxygen and experiences birth hypoxia or birth asphyxia, which can result in permanent brain damage. Such injuries require lifelong medical care and can exert an astounding financial and emotional strain on families.

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