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Medical Malpractice and Infant Meningitis
Some infections happen under excellent medical conditions and without a doctor being able to control the effects. In other cases, as with infant meningitis, medical mistakes can be responsible for failing to prevent, diagnose, and treat, leading to serious complications and even death.
Meningitis is a severe infection that can damage the brain and spinal cord. However, with prompt and proper treatment, some people can fully recover. If your baby suffered a meningitis infection due to inadequate medical care, speak with a Cook County, IL birth injury lawyer to understand your options.
Is Infant Meningitis Fatal?
There are two main types of meningitis: viral and bacterial. While both types present serious health risks, medication can often treat meningitis. However, if it goes undiagnosed and untreated, a mostly manageable infection can turn into something much more severe and possibly fatal.
Can Untreated Maternal Infection Hurt a Fetus? | IL
When you are pregnant, health concerns change because, in addition to taking care of your own health, you are already starting to take care of your baby. Pregnant women often change their diet, exercise, lifestyle, and other habits to encourage safe and healthy development for their babies. During the nine months of pregnancy, there are regular checkups and scans intended to monitor the baby’s growth and warn of any developing issues.
However, pregnant women are just as prone as anyone else to contract infections. If they are not treated promptly, some maternal infections can pose a serious fetal harm. If your baby was harmed due to an untreated maternal infection, speak with a compassionate Chicago, IL birth injury attorney to review your options.
Common Maternal Infections that Can Harm the Baby
Several different types of maternal infections can cause serious harm to a baby if they are not treated promptly, including:
Proving Negligence in an Illinois Erb’s Palsy Case
Many expecting mothers create a birth plan that outlines how they want their delivery to occur. They think through all the scenarios they can imagine and decide things like whether they will want an epidural, dimmed lights, calming music, or a water birth. However, some scenarios cannot be foreseen. For example, a baby can suffer from shoulder dystocia during birth and develop an injury called Erb’s Palsy. If your baby has Erb’s Palsy due to negligence during birth, you might be eligible for compensation. Speak with a qualified Chicago, IL birth injury attorney to learn more.
What is Erb’s Palsy?
Sometimes during birth, the nerve network near the shoulder and neck known as the brachial plexus can be damaged. This can happen when the baby’s shoulder is stuck, and a doctor pulls hard to free it. This nerve damage can cause an injury known as Erb’s Palsy.
What is the Statute of Limitations for a Birth Injury Claim?
If you or your baby were injured at birth, it is reasonable to assume you had more pressing things to take care of immediately than preparing a legal case against the medical personnel who were responsible. Recovering from a traumatic birth and treating any injuries while caring for a newborn can certainly take up a lot of time and attention. If you are now ready to consider your legal options, speak with an experienced Chicago, IL birth injury lawyer to understand whether you are still within the statute of limitations to file a claim.
How Long After Birth Can I Sue for a Birth Injury?
The statute of limitations is an interesting concept for birth injury cases because some birth injuries are only evident months or years later while others can be diagnosed immediately after birth. That is why there are exceptions to the statute aimed at allowing parents to file a lawsuit.
The Husband Stitch and the Need for Consent
People tend to trust their doctors to give them the best medical care they can and avoid unnecessary procedures. We expect to be asked for our consent before something potentially painful and harmful is done, especially if there is no clear medical necessity for it. The husband stitch is an example of a medical procedure that is not meant to improve the patient’s health and is often performed without the patient’s consent. While it is mostly unreported and undocumented, the practice of adding a husband stitch would fall under the category of medical malpractice if it can be proven. If you suspect a husband stitch was added while you were in the delivery room, speak with a qualified Chicago, IL birth injury attorney to find out what you can do about it.
Is the Husband Stitch Real?
While it is difficult to prove, the husband stitch appears to be a real practice. It refers to an unnecessary stitch being added when a vaginal tear or episiotomy is stitched up after childbirth. The reported reasoning behind it is to make the vaginal area tighter for the pleasure of the mother’s male partner, although there is no medical reason for it.
Understanding the Birth Equity Initiative in Illinois
A new program in Illinois called the Birth Equity Initiative is making a big difference for mothers and babies. The initiative works towards closing gaps to ensure that all mothers and babies receive the care they need during pregnancy and childbirth. This is a major step towards ensuring equal access to the proper medical care associated with a healthy birth, regardless of their background, income, or where they live. If you are interested in finding out more, speak with a trustworthy Chicago, IL lawyer from the Birth Injury Alliance.
What Is the Birth Equity Initiative?
The Birth Equity Initiative is a program that is run in Illinois to address gaps in healthcare that can affect mothers and babies, especially those from marginalized communities that are typically underserved or face higher risks. Some of the focuses of this program include:
Legal Recourse When Your Wife Dies in Labor
When you and your wife discovered that she was pregnant, you were elated. Together, you were in awe of the miracle of life, and as each month passed, you imagined how life would be with your new addition. When something went wrong in the delivery room, you went from joyous excitement to panic and dread immediately. What should have been your happiest day ever quickly turned into your worst nightmare as maternal death left you alone to raise your baby while grieving.
Death is an inevitable part of life and is sometimes unavoidable in childbirth. However, there are times when it is caused by medical negligence. If you believe your wife’s death was the result of the medical care she received during labor, let a passionate Chicago, IL maternal death lawyer handle the legal side of these matters so you can focus on your and your family’s well-being.
Your OBGYN Ordered Unneeded Procedures: What Should You Do?
If you follow local news, you may know that a suburban Chicago physician recently pled guilty to federal fraud charges. Among other actions, the doctor requested insurance payments for medically unnecessary procedures, performing some of them without the patient’s informed consent.
Unneeded procedures may cause temporary or permanent maternal injuries; some also endanger pregnancies. If you believe you or your baby suffered harm from unnecessary procedures, you may be eligible to seek compensation with the help of an experienced, compassionate attorney from Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd..
Are Unnecessary Procedures Medical Malpractice?
In this context, an unnecessary treatment is one that does not benefit the patient or is not in the patient’s best interests. To qualify as medical malpractice, a healthcare provider must act negligently, and that negligence must directly cause harm or injury.
What Are Vacuum Extraction Birth Injuries?
Across the United States, vacuum extraction accounts for about 2.5 percent of all vaginal births, although the rates of vacuum extraction and forceps delivery have been falling as cesarean rates continue to climb. Birth injuries occur in about seven out of every 1,000 live births. Both forceps and vacuum extraction work in the same way by guiding the baby out of the birth canal during delivery.
The vacuum looks and acts like a suction cup placed on the baby’s skull. The suction guides the baby’s head as the mother pushes. Vacuum extraction is used once the cervix is completely dilated and the mother has been pushing—the second stage of labor. Under certain circumstances, vacuum extraction may be used during a breech delivery or a C-section.
Vacuum extraction is most often used when the baby’s head is not moving down the birth canal, the position of the head cannot be accurately determined, or the baby has a bleeding disorder or a condition that affects the strength of the bones. Vacuum extraction may also be used when the doctor is concerned that the baby is too large to fit through the mother’s pelvis.
Speech Therapy for Communication Skills for Children with CP
Difficulty forming words and speaking clearly, along with other speech and language disorders, are present in more than three-quarters of those with cerebral palsy. A lack of control of the throat, mouth, and tongue muscles can cause both children and adults with CP to experience excessive drooling. Receptive language involves what a child hears and how they understand what they hear. Expressive language is what a child says and how well they communicate with others.
Early communication interventions can significantly decrease the challenges associated with delays in speech and language. When a child cannot make themselves understood by others, it creates frustration and anger. The inability to communicate can cause self-isolation, temper tantrums, and other behavioral issues among younger children with cerebral palsy.
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