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If Prolonged Labor Caused Birth Injuries, is it Medical Malpractice?
Labor is a necessary step for most childbirths, but it can involve complications that may endanger both the mother and child. Prolonged labor is such a condition, and experienced obstetricians and midwives should realize the risks and act to protect mothers and their unborn babies. When these professionals are negligent in their duties and birth injuries occur, you may be eligible for compensation.
What are the dangers of prolonged labor? How do you know if you qualify to file a medical malpractice claim? The caring Chicago lawyers from Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd. can answer your questions and help you hold negligent healthcare providers accountable.
What Counts as Prolonged Labor?
As labor progresses, the mother’s body should be preparing for delivery by positioning the child to move through the birth canal, thinning and dilating the mother’s cervix, and causing increasingly more intense and frequent contractions. Active labor lasting more than 20 hours for a first child or 14 hours for subsequent children is considered prolonged. Slower than normal cervix dilation may also indicate prolonged labor.
Dangers of Undiagnosed Gestational Diabetes During Pregnancy
An expectant mother’s body undergoes multiple changes during her pregnancy. While some of these changes are normal, others can pose dangers to the woman and her unborn child. Gestational diabetes is a condition that can develop, usually during the second or third trimester. If undiagnosed and untreated, this condition has the potential to cause serious maternal and birth injuries.
What is gestational diabetes, and what harm can it cause? Can I sue if my doctor missed it? The knowledgeable Chicago lawyers at Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd. can explain your legal options during your free consultation.
What Is Gestational Diabetes?
The human body needs insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. When the demands of pregnancy exceed a mother’s ability to create enough insulin, gestational diabetes can develop. This temporary condition affects around 5 to 9 percent of U.S. pregnancies annually, typically around the 24th week. Blood sugar levels usually return to normal within a short time after childbirth, but some women later develop type 2 diabetes.
Can I Sue if An Infection Harmed My Baby?
During pregnancy, labor, and childbirth, babies depend on their mother’s body for oxygen and nutrients. Without this connection, babies cannot properly develop or survive. However, there is also a risk of infections passing from mother to child. Competent obstetricians and midwives understand these risks and the potential harm that could result from the infections.
Unfortunately, failing to treat maternal infections appropriately can lead to various illnesses and birth injuries. While these injuries are not necessarily visible, they can still endanger your child. If a healthcare provider failed to correctly diagnose or treat maternal infections, he could be liable for the harm your child suffered. Working with a knowledgeable lawyer from Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd. dramatically increases your likelihood of receiving full compensation.
Birth Injury Cases and Their Impact on Policy Change
Families that experience birth injury are impacted in profound ways. While these injuries are unfortunate and are often tragic, they highlight issues in healthcare policy that need to be addressed for the greater good. When a family pursues a birth injury case to seek justice on a personal level, they also influence public discourse and efforts to advocate for policy changes to protect mothers and babies. To learn more, speak with an experienced Chicago, IL birth injury lawyer.
How Can a Birth Injury Case Influence Healthcare Legislation?
The main goal of a birth injury case is to help a family that has been impacted by negligent or reckless practices that led to serious injury to the mother or baby. However, in addition to giving the family recognition and compensation for their suffering, this type of case has the potential to serve the general public as well, in the following ways:
Can I Sue if My Placental Abruption Caused Cerebral Palsy?
In times past, childbirth was a leading cause of death for women, and around 30 percent of children born in the 1800s died in their first year of life. Medical advances in the last century have improved those rates dramatically, but maternal death and birth injuries still happen today. Some cases are due to natural causes, but others happen because doctors or midwives are negligent.
Although rare, placental abruption can endanger both mother and child. Among the dangers to the baby is cerebral palsy, which can cause significant impairments and require life-long treatment and care. If your baby developed acquired cerebral palsy due to placental abruption or other medical errors, or if placental abruption harmed the mother, you could receive compensation if medical negligence is the cause. A knowledgeable lawyer from Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd. can assess your circumstances and explain your legal options.
Can I Sue If Prescription Drugs Cause Birth Injuries?
Pregnant women can get sick like anyone else, and they might need medication for other health problems. Many prescription and over-the-counter drugs are safe, but some can lead to birth defects, developmental issues, or even miscarriages. Doctors should know about these risks and choose safer alternatives, but sometimes they do not. Pharmacists who know you are pregnant should advise you of potential risks before filling your prescription.
If you were prescribed medication while pregnant and had a miscarriage or your baby suffered birth injuries, you might be able to get compensation through a medical malpractice claim. A skilled Chicago, IL lawyer from Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd. can help explain your options during a free consultation.
What are Teratogenic Medications?
Teratogenic medications can cause birth defects if a baby is exposed to them while in the womb. The stage of pregnancy when the drug is taken can affect how severe the birth injuries are. Some drugs that may be harmful include:
Can Maternal Breast Cancer Treatment Harm an Unborn Child?
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. All women, including expectant mothers, are reminded to undergo regular screening for this form of cancer. Early detection increases the effectiveness of treatments. However, some forms of cancer treatments can harm unborn babies.
Was your child harmed by its mother’s breast cancer treatment during pregnancy? Can you get compensation through a birth injury claim? The knowledgeable Chicago, IL lawyers at Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd. can tell you if you qualify and explain your legal options.
Can I Get a Mammogram While Pregnant?
Mammography is one of the most common methods of diagnosing breast cancer. With proper safety precautions, these procedures should not hurt unborn children. If you know you are pregnant, inform the technician performing your mammogram.
According to the National Cancer Institute, over 25 percent of mammograms given to pregnant women give false negative results. A biopsy is recommended to ensure a correct diagnosis. Because a biopsy can be performed with local anesthesia, it typically does not harm babies.
Can I Sue My Doctor for C-Section Errors in Illinois?
While many babies are delivered vaginally, Cesarean sections are sometimes medically necessary. These surgeries usually proceed without error, leaving the mother and child happy and healthy. Unfortunately, some doctors make mistakes during these procedures, often causing significant maternal injuries and harm to newborns.
If you or your child suffered harm from C-section errors, Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd. may be able to help you get compensation through a medical malpractice claim. Our firm focuses on birth injuries that affect babies and their mothers, making us the clear choice to provide competent and effective legal representation. Call today for your free consultation.
What Are Frequent C-Section Errors?
Some mothers plan to deliver their babies by C-section in advance, while others require emergency surgery when normal childbirth is too risky. Doctors must cut through several layers of skin and muscle to open the uterus to lift the baby from the mother’s womb, then suture or staple every layer back together. Several errors may occur before, during, and after the surgery that endanger both mother and child, such as:
Can I Sue if My Baby Died and it Was a Doctor’s Fault? | IL
When a couple is expecting a baby, they often spend time during the pregnancy imagining what the future might have in store for them. They might picture taking this baby on strolls through a park, going to their first baseball game or ballet, teaching them how to ride a bike, and many more milestones that hopeful parents look forward to.
Unfortunately for some families, pregnancy can end shockingly with infant wrongful death, which is the term used when a baby dies in their first month because of medical wrongdoing. If your family is dealing with this tragedy, a compassionate Chicago, IL birth injury lawyer can help pursue legal avenues as you deal with the grief of this terrible loss.
Lawsuits for Wrongful Death After an Infant Death
When an infant dies, no compensation on the planet can make the parents feel better. While trying to pick up the pieces of such a terrible loss, they might even be completely uninterested in any money they could get out of a lawsuit. Parents often feel they do not want to benefit in any way from what happened.
When Postpartum Depression Goes Undiagnosed
The birth of a child can be an incredible experience, and the memories of that period are cherished for the rest of the parents’ lives. Unfortunately, the abnormal levels of hormones and chemicals released in a mother’s body before, during, and after birth can make it a challenging time for many women. Typical hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy and after birth can result in mood swings and hyperemotionality.
However, if symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) go undiagnosed and are brushed off as "regular" maternal emotional issues, the results can be tragic. If you think you or a loved one is experiencing tragic consequences of undiagnosed PPD, seek immediate medical attention and then speak to a dedicated Chicago, IL birth injury lawyer to review your options.
Diagnosing Postpartum Depression
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, PPD is a major episode of depression that can develop within four weeks of giving birth. This episode consists of two weeks or more of feeling depressed, disinterested in daily activities, loss of appetite, disturbed sleep, psychomotor issues, fatigue, a disproportionate sense of guilt or worthlessness, disinterest in the baby, and suicidal thoughts.
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