Birth Injuries

As human beings, there’s nothing we look forward to with more joy, expectation, and hope for the future than the birth of a baby. The day you greet your new little family member should be the best day of your life.

You’ve done everything you could to prepare for a healthy, happy delivery.

When something goes wrong – when the unthinkable happens, and your infant suffers a serious birth injury – your world is turned upside down. Your questions, fears, frustrations, and grief can feel overwhelming. How and why did this happen? Will my baby recover fully? Are they suffering? What will life be like for our newborn and ourselves? Will our child need long-term treatment? How will we pay for essential healthcare? 

When a birth injury occurs as the result of medical error or negligence – when it could have been prevented – the shock and distress are multiplied. 

Every year in the US, close to 30,000 babies experience a birth injury, approximately 6-8 infants out of 1000 live births. 

If your baby suffered a birth injury due to a doctor’s mistake or the negligence of any healthcare provider, you may have a medical malpractice case.

The experienced and compassionate birth injury attorneys at Balaban | Spielberger understand what you’re going through, the enormous impact on your child’s life and your own. We’re committed to helping families affected by neonatal birth trauma get the justice they deserve and the compensation they need to build a life with their injured newborn.

Medical malpractice cases related to birth injury are complex. We’re committed to holding medical providers accountable, and we don’t shy away from taking on powerful insurance companies.

What is a birth injury?

A birth injury, also called birth trauma, is an injury that happens to a baby in the birthing process. It may occur before, during, or shortly after delivery. In some cases, birth injury can also refer to harm to the mother during the birthing process. 

Birth injuries range from mild and temporary to severe and long-lasting. The mildest forms often heal on their own without medical intervention, while the more serious types can require extensive medical treatment, surgery, therapies, and specialized lifelong care. Tragically, some birth injuries are fatal.

Understanding Birth Injury – Types and Statistics

Some common birth injuries are typically mild to moderate:

Scalp, face, and external head injuries

• Marks, cuts, bruising, or swelling can happen as the baby passes through the birth canal, making contact with the mother’s bones; also from forceps or vacuum delivery. 
• Caput Succedaneum (Scalp Swelling) - Swelling of a newborn’s scalp caused by pressure during delivery. Usually resolves on its own in a few days.

Eye injuries 

• Subconjunctival hemorrhage. Breakage of small blood vessels in the baby’s eyes. Causes a red streak in one or both eyes, but usually resolves in a week or so without permanent damage. 

Fractured bones  

• Most commonly, the clavicle (collar bone). Often happens when there is difficulty delivering the baby’s shoulder or during a breech delivery. Usually heals fully but may require immobilization. Fractures to arms and legs are less common but can occur during breech births and difficult extractions.

Bleeding inside the skull

• Cephalohematoma. Blood pools under the scalp during birth, often during an assisted vaginal birth. May cause a lump on the infant’s skull. Typically disappears in weeks to months, but can increase the risk of jaundice.  ~2.5% of vaginal deliveries; rises to ~10% with forceps or vacuum

Nerve damage 

• Brachial plexus injury / Erb’s palsy. Injury to the nerves that serve the arms and hands. Often occurs due to difficulty delivering the baby’s shoulder. Bruising and swelling around the nerves typically cause temporary damage, while nerve tearing can cause permanent damage. 2.6 per 1,000 live births; accounts for nearly half of all brachial plexus injuries
• Facial paralysis. Often caused by pressure on the baby’s face during labor and delivery, and also due to the use of forceps. One side of the face does not move, and the eye does not close. If the nerve is bruised, paralysis typically improves in a few weeks; a torn nerve may require surgery. 

Other birth injuries are less common but more severe:

Brain injuries/Birth asphyxia 

Brain injuries occurring during birth can be devastating. They account for over 40% of birth-related malpractice claims.

Birth asphyxia – when a baby does not get enough oxygen – occurs in about 2 out of 1000 births. Oxygen deprivation can cause many problems throughout the body, including brain damage. 30% of babies with severe birth asphyxia die within a few days.

• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a type of brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation in the brain before, during, or shortly after birth. It affects the infant’s central nervous system and can result in neurological or developmental issues, including ADHD, spectrum-like disorders, and seizures.
• Cerebral palsy (CP). Affects 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States. 6-10% of CP cases are a result of severe birth asphyxia. CP can cause muscle weakness/stiffness, poor coordination, impaired mobility, and speech problems.
• Subgaleal Hemorrhage is bleeding beneath the scalp. Very dangerous; can cause severe blood loss in infants.
• Spinal cord injury is rare but extremely serious. Can be caused by excessive traction on the infant’s spine, including forceful or improper use of forceps or vacuum during difficult extractions (breech, shoulder dystocia); or from overextension or twisting of the neck, particularly in premature babies. Can also occur due to cord compression. May be fatal, especially when the injury is higher up the spine. 

Recognizing the signs of birth injury

Sometimes a birth injury is evident when it happens, or shortly thereafter. In other cases, the injury is recognized through a child’s developmental delays or missed milestones. 

Signs of a more serious birth injury vary, but may include:

• Low Apgar scores
• Delayed developmental milestones such as rolling over, making eye contact, sitting, crawling, or walking
• Limpness on one side
• Difficulty latching, feeding, or swallowing
• Diagnosis of HIE, Erb’s palsy, etc.
• Seizures
• Vision or hearing problems
• Breathing difficulty
• Periods of unresponsiveness
• Poor color
• Poor muscle tone, weakness, stiffness
• Shaking, uncontrollable movements
• Cognitive delays

Listen to your instincts. It’s important to talk to a doctor if you’re concerned. A full diagnosis can take time as symptoms develop.

Was it medical malpractice?

Unfortunately, some birth traumas or injuries are unavoidable. A heartbreaking outcome does not always indicate wrongdoing. 

However, pregnancy, labor, and delivery involve important decisions, sometimes in emergency situations requiring immediate action. Doctors, nurses, and midwives are trained to monitor and respond. When crucial signs are missed, or conditions are misdiagnosed, when communication fails, or critical steps are delayed, the baby and/or mother can suffer serious harm. Poor labor and delivery management is cited in about 40% of birth injury claims.

Medical malpractice leading to birth injury can include:

• Failure to monitor signs of fetal distress 
• Failure to properly resuscitate the newborn
• Delaying an emergency C-section
• Mismanaging breech delivery or shoulder dystocia
• Improper use of a vacuum or forceps for extraction
• Failure to diagnose or treat maternal complications or infections, or to recognize high-risk maternal circumstances
• Inadequate monitoring of the mother’s vitals
• Medication errors
• Poor communication or coordination among medical staff

Compensation for birth injury

The financial burden of caring for a child with a birth injury can be staggering. The lifetime cost of care for cerebral palsy, for example, easily reaches into the millions, not including lost wages.

If your child suffered a serious and preventable birth injury, you may be able to recover damages for:

• Past and future medical expenses (surgery, therapy, medication)
• Assistive devices
• Special education
• Lost parental income
• Physical pain and suffering; emotional distress

Filing a lawsuit can not only help your family recover much-needed resources to support your child’s needs – it can also bring accountability and change that prevents other families from going through what you’ve suffered.

However, proving that an avoidable birth injury happened due to a medical provider’s carelessness or mistake can be very challenging. You need a skilled and dedicated legal team with specialized experience, relevant medical knowledge, and access to experts to help determine liability.