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Injuries During Labor and Delivery Can Bring Grief to a Family

On Behalf of | Nov 11, 2015 | Birth Trauma

Posted By Tara Worthley

Sometimes the most joyful moment in a new mother’s life can be tarnished by harm to her or her baby, resulting in pain and heartache.

Labor and delivery healthcare providers routinely set up monitors for the mother and infant upon arrival to the hospital or delivery center. If mom and baby are not monitored properly before and after delivery, then a birth injury can occur when it could have been prevented. On occasion, healthcare providers may fail to detect that a baby is not receiving enough oxygen. Or they may fail to act quickly in preparing the mother for a cesarean delivery, when warning signs first present themselves. Any of these situations can lead to a baby having permanent and life-altering injuries to his or her brain.

When a baby is injured as a result of medical malpractice that occurs during labor and delivery, the injuries can be devastating and lifelong. For instance, a child who develops cerebral palsy as a result of lack of oxygen during the birthing process may need round-the-clock care, may never walk, talk, or be able to function independently.

Our blog post titled, “The Faces of Medical Malpractice in Indiana,” shows photographs of children who have been harmed by medical negligence in Indiana. We share these faces in the hopes that people will recognize that medical negligence is real and that real people are harmed every day. We want healthcare providers in Indiana to take patient safety seriously and work on measures to improve patient outcomes.

As you can see, medical malpractice can take many forms. The commonality among all medical negligence claims is the healthcare provider’s violation of the standard of care, which, in turn, causes serious harm to the patient. This claim standard is important, because when a healthcare provider is negligent but does not cause demonstrable harm to the patient, Indiana medical malpractice law does not allow a patient to recover damages. It is impossible to list all the kinds of labor and delivery negligence cases. However, the labor and delivery errors described above are examples that may lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit.

If you suspect that your injury or your baby’s is due to similar negligence, consider consulting with a medical malpractice lawyer. Pursuing a claim can be a complex and involved process. The attorneys of Langer & Langer have handled all kinds of medical malpractice claims in labor and delivery cases for patients throughout Indiana.

Feel free to contact our offices, if you have further questions about medical malpractice under Indiana law.

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