Birth injury malpractice in Maryland is one of the leading causes of malpractice lawsuits. According to birth injury statistics in MD, 6-8 children are born with a birth injury every 1,000 born infants. This means that today, 1 in 9,715 people in America is born with a birth injury.

There are some cases when the injury to the unborn baby or the mother occurs during labour. For example, an injury resulted from the mother falling on the stairs at home is something unpredictable, and nobody can be held responsible. But in situations where the treatment your doctor/physician/nurse chose was medically inappropriate and caused harm before and during childbirth, they can be held accountable. In this article, you will learn about the preventable injuries that can occur during childbirth and when to contact a birth injury lawyer from Maryland.

Delivery Injuries

In this section, you will understand some of the most common injuries that can affect newborns. According to the birth injury law in MD, for all of the following you can contact your birth injury attorney in Annapolis and discuss your case.

Cephalohematoma

This type of birth injury results from vacuum extraction and occurs when blood collects between the cranial bone and the skin. It is a condition that can go away within a few weeks. If it lasts longer than three months, you should consult a doctor.

Caput succedaneum

This injury is the swelling of the scalp of a newborn. This is typically caused by the pressure on the baby's head during delivery or vacuum extraction procedure. Sometimes bruising can accompany the swelling.

Erb's Palsy

Also known as brachial plexus birth palsy, Erb's Palsy is a nerve injury that happens if the baby's shoulders or neck are stretched too much during delivery. This affects 1-2 out of 1,000 infants, according to the birth injury statistic in MD. This is a serious condition and some children may need to do physical therapy and sometimes even surgery.

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is a condition that results from the reduced oxygen flow to the baby's brain. As a result, the child can suffer from brain damage, development problems, the death of brain cells, epilepsy, and much more.

Birth Fractures

During delivery, the most common bone fracture is the collarbone fracture. There are some cases where the fracture is unavoidable. But sometimes the doctor is the one that has caused the fracture.

Subconjunctival haemorrhage

This is a birth-related injury that can cause small blood vessels in the eyes of the baby to rupture. It appears as a small red patch in the eye of the child, and it is caused by the different pressures placed on the baby during delivery. Most of the time this injury will not cause any permanent damage.

When it's time to call your birth injury lawyer from Maryland

If your baby is suffering from something, it is possible that the doctor is at fault. Birth injury malpractice in Maryland is not very common, but it can happen. But an injury will not incriminate the doctor directly.

Just like in every other medical malpractice case, the first thing to establish is the appropriate level of care under particular circumstances. This is the legal concept, which every injury attorney knows as Medical Standard of Care. A birth injury malpractice in Maryland needs to be proven firstly by specialists.

For example, in some traumatic childbirth scenarios where the life of the mother or the newborn is in danger, and fast action is required, your doctor may consider calling for drastic measures. But most of the time, when labour is proceeding normally, with no complications, if the mother and/or the baby suffer injuries, the doctor may be at fault (according to the birth injury law in MD).

If you or your newborn baby have suffered an injury that resulted from negligence, you should hire the best birth injury attorney in Annapolis. With our help, you will receive justice and the compensation you deserve. Contact us injury attorney at (443) 569-3950 or via email at chris@annapolisaccidentattorney.com, tell us your story and we will offer our free expertise on your case.