Common Birth Injuries

Experienced Upstate New York Personal Injury Attorneys Serving Families of Birth Injury Victims in Syracuse and Rochester

Injuries to infants can happen naturally during gestation and birth, however, negligent or delayed action on behalf of a health care provider is often the cause of preventable injuries. The following are a few examples of how medical providers may be negligent:

• failing to properly assess a patient's medical history
• failing to properly monitor a fetus
• failing to timely diagnose fetal complications and distress
• failing to properly read fetal monitoring equipment
• failing to use proper delivery techniques
• failing to appropriately administer medication (such as Pitocin)
• failing to timely induce labor, and
• failing to timely perform a cesarean section

The birth injury lawyers at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers have extensive experience in representing injured children. Our lawyers have received multiple awards and recognition in their field of representing injured people such as the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum, Super Lawyers, and Top 1% Trial Counsel for Medical Malpractice, among others. If you believe you have a case, you can rest assured that our lawyers have the experience and expertise you deserve. Consultations are always free and you are never responsible for attorney fees unless we can recover compensation for you. Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation or if you have any questions about a potential case.

Cerebral Palsy & Brain Injuries

The tragedy of cerebral palsy and other birth injuries are most often caused by errors made by doctors, and other healthcare workers, during prenatal care, labor and delivery.

Failure to perform a cesarean section, giving mom too much of a drug like Pitocin, careless mistakes with surgical instruments like forceps or vacuum, miscalculating the baby's size, any and all of these medical mistakes can contribute to the horror of a baby born with cerebral palsy or another serious brain injury.

While they share common causes, not all cerebral palsy is the same. In fact, there are four types of cerebral palsy:

• Spastic: the most common, is characterized by spastic, rigid, jerky muscles.
• Athetoid: second most common, is characterized by muscle problems all over the body.
• Ataxic: rarest of all, and effects fine motor skills.
• Mixed: children with this form of cerebral palsy present with a combination of the above forms or symptoms.

Dealing with the devastation of being told your child has cerebral palsy is a difficult thing to handle alone. In times like these, parents need a New York medical malpractice law firm with in-depth knowledge of both the legal and medical professions so that fair compensation can be obtained to ensure your child receives the care and services they require.

The lawyers at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers have extensive experience in representing injured children. Our lawyers have received multiple awards and recognition in their field of representing injured people such as the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum, Super Lawyers, and Top 1% Trial Counsel for Medical Malpractice, among others. If you believe you have a case, you can rest assured that our lawyers have the experience and expertise you deserve. Consultations are always free and you are never responsible for attorney fees unless we can recover compensation for you. Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation or if you have any questions about a potential case.

Erbs Palsy and Shoulder Dystocia

Erb's Palsy (also called Brachial Plexus Palsy) is caused when, during delivery, spinal cord nerve roots are stretched or even ruptured. When the nerve roots are injured, the baby's arm can be weakened or even paralyzed. Erb's palsy usually occurs during a difficult vaginal delivery, often a delivery complicated by shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia occurs when the baby's head delivers but one of the shoulders is trapped against the mother's pubic bone, and is commonly seen when the baby is large.

Erb's palsy can be avoided if the medical staff is alert, experienced and does not pull on the baby's head.

Erb's palsy can take several forms in the newborn:

• Nerve injury usually impacting only the upper part of the arm.
• Nerve injury impacting both the upper and lower part of the arm.
• A "Klumpke" paralysis that impacts the hand and causes a drooping eyelid on the opposite side of distressed arm,

Erb's palsy may require surgery to repair nerve damage. Tendon transfers may also help compensate for damaged nerves that don't function properly.

If parents detect signs of weakening of the arm, or if your child has been diagnosed with Erb's palsy, you should contact an Erb's palsy lawyer immediately.

The lawyers at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers have extensive experience in representing injured children. Our lawyers have received multiple awards and recognition in their field of representing injured people such as the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum, Super Lawyers, and Top 1% Trial Counsel for Medical Malpractice, among others. If you believe you have a case, you can rest assured that our lawyers have the experience and expertise you deserve. Consultations are always free and you are never responsible for attorney fees unless we can recover compensation for you. Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation or if you have any questions about a potential case.

Other Potential Injuries

Medical errors can cause a variety of other injuries also to newborns. Below are some additional injuries:

• Acidosis - increased acidity in the blood indication of hypoxia;
• APGAR (low) - test to quickly assess health of newborns;
• BIND (bilirubin-induced neurologic dysfunction) - due to hyperbilirubinemia (excessive bilirubin in blood);
• Cephalohematoma - collection of blood beneath the periosteum
• Cerebral palsy (see above);
• Chorioamnionitis - infection of membranes around the fetus;
• Encephalopathy - disorder of the brain;
• Erb's Palsy (see above);
• Facial Palsy - injury to the facial nerves;
• Fetal Hypoxia - fetal lack of oxygen causing injury;
• Forceps Injuries - injury due to improper delivery technique;
• Fractures - injury to a bone (often a displaced fracture);
• Global Developmental Delay - delays affecting the whole body;
• Group B Streptococcus - bacterial infection;
• Hematomas - localized collection of blood outside blood vessels;
• Hemorrhaging (postpartum) - excessive internal bleeding following the delivery;
• Horners Syndrome - disruption of sympathetic nerves from the brain which runs to the face and eyes;
• Hydrocephalus - buildup of fluid inside the skull;
• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy - severe injury due to oxygen deprivation;
• Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR) - lack of growth during gestation;
• Lumbosacral Plexus Palsy - injury to nerves of the lower limbs;
• Meconium Aspiration - a condition where due to stress or trauma during delivery the fetus breaths in meconium (fetus stool) into its lungs;
• Muscular Atrophy - decrease of muscle mass and strength;
• Neurological Visual Impairment (NVI) aka Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) - vision impairment due to trauma
• Perinatal asphyxia - fetal lack of oxygen causing injury;
• Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) - injury to the white matter in the brain due to trauma;
• Preeclampsia - elevated blood pressure during pregnancy;
• Preterm Birth - premature birth of a child;
• Radial Nerve Palsy - injury to nerve that connects to the back of the arm to the forearm and into the hand;
• Rh-ABO incompatibility - incompatibility of mother's serum to that of the child; and
• Shoulder Dystocia (see above).

The birth injury attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers have extensive experience in representing injured children. Our lawyers have received multiple awards and recognition in their field of representing injured people such as the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum, Super Lawyers, and Top 1% Trial Counsel for Medical Malpractice, among others. If you believe you have a case, you can rest assured that our lawyers have the experience and expertise you deserve.

Consultations are always free and you are never responsible for attorney fees unless we can recover compensation for you. Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation or if you have any questions about a potential case.

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