Birth Asphyxia
Several complications may arise during labor that the attending physician and delivery team must be ready to handle. One of these potential issues is birth asphyxia, which could occur for various reasons, either before, during, or after birth. Birth asphyxia could jeopardize the baby’s and mother’s lives, causing lifelong health complications and even death.
When medical professionals fail to take reasonable steps that mitigate or attend to this complication, resulting in injuries for the mother or child, they can be liable for malpractice. If your family suffered these circumstances, a Bowie birth asphyxia attorney from Brown & Barron, LLC can handle your medical malpractice case. We’ll review your case and present your options for taking action during a free consultation.
You can contact our office today for a complimentary case assessment, in which we’ll review your case and discuss what we can do.
Get in touch with a birth asphyxia lawyer serving Bowie, 410-547-0202 for a free case evaluation.
What Are the Potential Causes of Birth Asphyxia?
Birth asphyxia refers to a lack of oxygen flow to the baby’s brain.
Some of the most frequent reasons this occurs during childbirth include:
- Lack of oxygen in the mother’s blood: This may happen when the mother has underlying conditions, such as anemia, high or low pressure, or diabetes.
- Issues with the umbilical cord: The umbilical cord—the main system for delivering oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the fetus—could become knotted, pinched, or wrapped around the infant’s neck.
- Placenta detachment: This refers to when the placenta separates either fully or partially from the uterine walls before birth.
- Early birth: If birth labor starts before 37 weeks in the pregnancy, it may cause birth asphyxia and other complications.
- Prolonged birth labor: If labor presents complications and is prolonged for many hours, it may be because the infant is stuck in the birth canal, which can cut off the oxygen supply and cause other severe consequences for the mother and fetus.
- Other conditions: Infections and other syndromes, such as meconium aspiration, may lead to birth asphyxia in the fetus.
When you hire our team, we’ll review the medical records for evidence that one of these or a similar complication occurred. Our attorneys will also analyze what steps the medical team took—or failed to take—that could qualify as medical negligence. Such evidence could become the basis for your malpractice claim.
What Can Be the Consequences for Birth Asphyxia?
Several consequences can come from birth asphyxia. The severity of these consequences depends on factors like how long the asphyxia lasts, the level of oxygenation registered, and how fast the recovery treatment is.
Some of these issues include:
- Build up of acid in the blood
- High or low blood pressure
- Bad muscle tone
- Kidney deficiency
- Heart and lung problems
- Delays in cognitive development
- Epilepsy and other neurological conditions
- Death
If your infant suffered such damages due to a medical professional’s negligent actions, your family has a right to file a malpractice case for compensation.
What Can You Expect as Compensation for Birth Asphyxia?
Your family could recover various types of damages from the liable party for a birth injury like asphyxia. Examples include:
- Economic damages, such as the costs of current and future medical treatment and lost income if you had to miss work to care for your child
- Non-economic damages, such as the emotional or psychological harm that results from a traumatic birth and resulting injuries
- Funeral costs, such as funeral expenses if your loved one doesn’t survive their injuries
When we review your case, will identify each potentially recoverable damage and calculate or estimate its value before seeking financial recovery for you.
A Birth Asphyxia Attorney in Bowie Can Assist You
If you suspect or have evidence that medical negligence contributed to your child’s birth asphyxia injuries, our lawyers at Brown & Barron, LLC want to help. Your family deserves to have someone fighting on your behalf, and we can provide the resources, time, and manpower to do so.
Contact Brown & Barron, LLC online today to schedule a free case review with a with a birth asphyxia lawyer serving Bowie.
What Can You Do in Case of Birth Asphyxia?
There are steps doctors can take to reduce the risk of birth asphyxia during pregnancy and labor. They also have protocols to follow if birth asphyxia does occur, including ordering an emergency C-section. When the medical team handling your baby’s delivery is well prepared, they may quickly identify the symptoms associated with this issue and take action to avoid further complications.
If your obstetrician or another medical professional failed to act reasonably under these circumstances, you could have grounds for a medical malpractice case against an individual, facility, or both.
Steps you can take in the aftermath to prepare include:
- Seeking medical attention for the mother and infant as necessary to address their injuries
- Holding onto any evidence you have, such as medical records and video footage
- Recording the names of the medical team in charge of your child’s delivery
- Reaching out to a medical malpractice attorney serving Bowie
If you hire our firm, we’ll take care of the rest of your case from there so you can focus on your family.
How Can a Birth Asphyxia Attorney in Bowie Help You?
Filing a claim for birth asphyxia in Maryland involves many steps and knowledge of the state’s medical malpractice laws. For example, Maryland Courts & Judicial Proceedings Code Section 5-109outlines the statute of limitations for these cases. In Maryland, you have the sooner of five years from the date of injury or three years from the date you discovered the injury to file a lawsuit against the liable parties.
A birth asphyxia attorney in Bowie can help you through this process before the filing deadline expires.Some of the tasks our firm can handle on your behalf include: