Research Shows Alarming Disparity Gap In Infant Mortality Rates

Published on: January 13, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

New Research May Provide Answers to Lessening Mortality Rate in Black Babies

An associate professor and reproductive health equity researcher from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health has released her medical research that examined decades of hospital birth records between 1992 and 2015, looking for clues as to why Black babies have such high mortality rates.

Rachel Hardeman discovered that Black newborns are three times as likely to die as White newborns when Black babies were cared for by Black doctors after birth. The doctors were primarily pediatricians, neonatologists, and family practitioners. When cared for by Black doctors, a Black baby’s mortality rate was cut in half. According to the research article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS) on September 1, 2020:

List of Episiotomy Complications and Related Birth Injuries

Published on: January 6, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

Childbirth Injuries Related to Unnecessary Episiotomy

Episiotomies can create lasting injuries and make sexual intercourse painful, if not impossible, and prevent women from wanting to have more children with worries about another childbirth. And while episiotomy rates are dropping in the U.S. due to these known risks, some doctors are still routinely performing them.

The American Pregnancy Association identifies these situations in which an episiotomy may be needed but not always necessary:

8 Facts Illinois Parents Must Know About Birth Injuries

Published on: December 29, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

8 Birth Injury Facts Parents Must Know

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most birth injuries are avoidable when appropriate care is available. And while some minor injuries to newborns may occur and can resolve without treatment, a birth injury is better defined as the structural destruction or functional deterioration of an infant’s body due to a traumatic event at birth. Here are eight additional facts you may not know about preventable birth injuries that could impact both mom and baby.

Failure to perform an emergency cesarean section (c-section) can result in a severe birth injury to a newborn, including brain damage and cerebral palsy due to oxygen deprivation and lifelong injuries to the mother.

3 Steps To Take If Your Child Has a Birth Injury

Published on: November 3, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Do These 3 Things If You or Your Child Were Injured During Pregnancy or the Labor and Delivery Process

Nearly 28,000 babies are born with a birth injury each year across the U.S. That equates to 2,333 per month, 538 per week, 76 per day, and 3 per hour, according to the National Healthcare Quality Report (AHRQ). AHRQ researchers say about half of those could have been avoided. Medical staff, including obstetric physicians, pediatricians, nurses, technicians and medical assistants, can be responsible for these tragic labor and delivery mistakes that cause life-long injuries and circumstances so dire that a tragic death occurs to a mother or her child.

If you can relate to this situation, you may be wondering who to turn to for help, and if you have the right to make a claim. It is natural for parents of a child who suffered a birth injury also to have many questions. We suggest you start with these three steps.

6 Injuries To Baby Caused By Delayed C-Section

Published on: September 22, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

6 Birth Injuries to Baby That Can Happen Due to Delayed C-Section

Healthcare professionals are trained to detect when an emergency C-section is needed. Still, if a doctor delays action to deliver a baby or the health system is not prepared to act quickly, severe consequences to both baby and mom can lead to a myriad of injuries related to lack of oxygen and organ failure, infant brain damage, and developmental disabilities. In the most severe cases, infant or maternal death may occur due to medical errors and negligence. Unfortunately, physicians can fail to schedule a C-section or delay intervening even though the warning signs related to fetal or maternal distress were present.

Fetal Lacerations

Premature Labor and Preventable Birth Injuries

Published on: September 14, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Premature Babies Have Significant Birth Injury Risk of the Brain

Premature babies, especially those born very early, often have complicated medical problems and face many challenges, including a high risk of birth injuries, such as brain damage. These injuries can be the source of great emotional distress as well as extreme financial hardship, especially when preventable and caused by the negligence of a trusted doctor.

A baby is premature when born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy and the normal pregnancy should last approximately 40 weeks. Each year, about 1 in 10, or 450,000 babies in the United States is born prematurely, according to the March of Dimes. Depending on how early a baby is born, Mayo Clinic identifies these preterm timelines:

Recognizing Cerebral Palsy Symptoms in Your Baby

Published on: June 30, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Cerebral Palsy is a Neurological Disorder Caused by Brain Damage

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the average prevalence of cerebral palsy is 3.3 children per 1,000 live births. Cerebral palsy is often a result of a birth injury or abnormal development during or after pregnancy. It can be caused by infection, fetal or pediatric stroke, undiagnosed maternal health problems, premature birth, and asphyxia allowing brain damage to occur before, during, or after childbirth. It is the most common motor and movement disability of childhood and could cause serious, long-term injuries related to other conditions like Erb’s palsy and Klumpke’s palsy.

There are four main types of cerebral palsy, the most commonly diagnosed as spastic cerebral palsy (70% – 80% of cases). Each type differs in movement patterns, location and severity of issues, and should be evaluated alongside individual symptoms. Athetoid, ataxic, and mixed cerebral palsy can be diagnosed alternatively. Most children with cerebral palsy will have symptoms identified after birth or are diagnosed by 18 months old. However, in some cases, symptoms may only become visible as the child becomes fully developed.

New Hope for Brain Damage Recovery After Oxygen Deprivation at Birth

Published on: March 9, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

New Hope for Brain Damage Recovery After Oxygen Deprivation at Birth
Around 450,000 babies are born preterm in the U.S. every year, according to the Children’s National Research Institute. Premature babies are often deprived of oxygen caused by immature lungs or irreversible birth injuries. Inadequate oxygen levels can decrease a newborn’s blood pressure, heart rate, and limiting the blood flow to vital organs and tissue. When this happens, irreversible neurological or cellular damage can occur and lead to permanent deficits and disabilities such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and vision and hearing loss.

Premature babies and those with brain injuries caused by birth have typically been treated with minimal handling, avoidance from stressful stimuli, including receiving care and treatments in new, quiet private family rooms. A new study led by researchers at Children’s National Hospital, published online on February 19, 2020, in “Nature Communications,” could lead to new treatments for children affected by brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation at birth. The recent study suggests that when oxygen-deprived infants are faced with opportunities for optimal brain development through an “enriched” environment, it may result in a more positive growth and healing of the brain.

What Makes for an “Enriched” Environment?

Military Hospital VBAC Birth Injury Settles For Millions

Published on: February 27, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Fort Campbell Hospital Birth Injury Ends With $15.1M Settlement

On January 10, 2005, Kelly D. Wilson gave birth to her son at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Fast forward to January 31, 2020, and the federal government agrees to award the Wilson and her family $15.1 million in damages to settle a lawsuit over the events that happened that day, fifteen years ago.

According to the lawsuit, when the Army veteran gave birth to her son in 2005, he “suffered a hypoxic-ischemic brain injury prior to delivery, resulting in cerebral palsy and lifelong neurological deficits.” And as a result of the brain injury, is now “wheelchair-bound, non-verbal and has involuntary movements and a seizure disorder.”

How Mom’s Race Impacts Labor And Delivery Mistakes

Published on: January 29, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

When Mothers Are Mistreated Because of Race, Babies Are at Risk of Preterm Birth and Harmful Injuries

ethnic mothers struggle against hospital system
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 700 women die from pregnancy-related complications every year. Furthermore, the same research shows when a mother is at harm during the pre and post-natal stages, the fetus or newborn is as well. Just as troublesome, however, is that pregnancy and childbirth are much more dangerous for women and babies who are not white – and not always because of the mother’s socioeconomic status.

Researchers at the Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York have found that, “Data does not suggest that any differences in treatment patterns were reflected in worse outcomes for Medicaid-covered and commercially insured mothers within the same hospital. These results indicate that pathways other than insurance are responsible for the higher risks of severe maternal morbidity among black and Latina compared with white women that were observed in our study.”