Reiter & Walsh Obtained Millions For A Child Who Has Cerebral Palsy Due To Delayed Delivery When Umbilical Cord Was Wrapped Around Her Neck (Nuchal Cord)

Award-Winning Birth Injury Lawyers Helping Children with Cerebral Palsy and other Birth Injuries caused by Birth Asphyxia when the Umbilical Cord was Wrapped Around the Baby’s Neck (Nuchal Cord)

The birth injury attorneys at Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers obtained millions for a girl who has cerebral palsy caused by medical negligence.  During labor, the baby’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck (nuchal cord), causing her to experience severe birth asphyxia (oxygen deprivation).  The distressed baby’s delivery was delayed and the prolonged birth asphyxia caused her to have brain damage and seizures. She was diagnosed with spastic diplegia, a type of cerebral palsy that primarily affects the lower body.  Cerebral palsy causes her to have very stiff muscles, making movement and balance a struggle.

When Reiter & Walsh received the call from this young girl’s mother, Jesse Reiter and his team of award winning attorneys got to work right away, ordering all the child’s medical records so they could learn the extent of the brain injury, pinpoint the causes of the damage and understand how the cerebral palsy will affect the girl’s life now and into the future. The lawyers also spent a lot of time getting to know the little girl and her family so they could fully understand the child’s needs.

Birth Injury Cases are Complex, Requiring Experience and Skill

Once Jesse’s team of birth injury attorneys fully understood the young girl’s injury and what caused it, they began to speak with the best medical experts and life care planners in the country.  Enlisting the help of leading medical experts is critical in proving negligence. Life care planners help determine the cost of lifelong treatments, therapies, housing and educational needs.

With their endless research on the girl’s negligent care and cerebral palsy, Reiter & Walsh’s attorneys got the hospital to settle with the family for millions of dollars. This will help the young girl to get all the treatments and therapies she needs for her cerebral palsy. It will also allow her to get the most advanced housing and educational assistance.

In her discussion of the case, the mother said the best part of her daughter’s settlement was,

“knowing she won’t have to worry about her future and knowing she has people making sure she’ll be okay if she has any bumps along the way.”

Birth Injury Attorneys Providing Personal Attention for Every Client

Many attorneys who describe themselves as being “medical malpractice” or “birth injury” attorneys actually refer the cases to other lawyers and then collect the fees.  At Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers, the attorneys focus solely on birth injury cases and have a special understanding of the needs of the children and families they help.  The firm’s birth injury attorneys take the time to get to know each child and family and are available around the clock to speak with them.

Speaking of the Reiter & Walsh team, the mother of the little girl with cerebral palsy said,

“They helped me understand that it wasn’t my fault and that they will help me as much as they can.”

The birth injury attorneys at Reiter & Walsh have helped dozens of children affected by cerebral palsy. Jesse Reiter, president of ABC Law Centers, has been focusing on birth injury cases for over 28 years, and most of his cases involve cerebral palsy and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Partners Jesse Reiter and Rebecca Walsh are currently recognized as being two of the best medical malpractice attorneys in America by U.S. News and World Report 2015, which also recognized ABC Law Centers as one of the best medical malpractice law firms in the nation. The attorneys at ABC Law Centers have won numerous awards for their advocacy of children and are members of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group (BTLG) and the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ).

If your child experienced a birth injury and now has seizures, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, brain damage, cerebral palsy or any other long-term condition, contact Reiter & Walsh today at 888-419-2229. Our birth injury attorneys give personal attention to each child and family they help and are available 24/7 to speak with you.

Physicians Do Not Usually Admit that Medical Negligence was the Cause 

It is important to note that physicians and medical staff rarely admit that negligence occurred.  When parents ask if their child is okay, physicians sometimes tell them that it is too early to tell and they will have to wait and see.  Or, when a birth injury is evident near the time of birth, physicians might tell parents that conditions such as birth asphyxia was just a complication of a standard procedure.

“My baby was born with the umbilical cord around her neck. She had two seizures and stopped breathing after birth and the doctors said they wouldn’t be able to tell if she would have problems until she got older. I noticed she wasn’t progressing like she should. I took her to a couple of doctors but they didn’t know what the problems was.”

If the mother in this case had listened to her baby’s doctors and waited until her child was older, she would not have gotten early intervention for her daughter, which is critical when a child has cerebral palsy and special needs.  The mother in this case noticed that developmental milestones weren’t being met when her girl was still a baby and took the child to see a doctor right away. She then enlisted the help of the powerful birth injury attorneys at Reiter & Walsh so she could get help for her child’s lifelong needs.

Of course, parents often do not notice problems in a child until the child is 4 or 5-years-old. Indeed, this is quite common. But it cannot be emphasized enough how important it is to begin treatment and therapy as early as possible in order to maximize treatment benefits.

Birth injuries can cause the following conditions, most of which cause lifelong problems for the child:

• Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). HIE usually involves damage to the basal ganglia, cerebral cortex or watershed regions of the brain, but it sometimes includes periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)
• Neonatal encephalopathy
• Permanent brain damage
• Seizure disorders
• Cerebral palsy (CP)
• Intellectual disabilities
• Developmental delays
• Motor disorders
• Microcephaly
• Learning Disabilities
• Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)

What are Birth Injuries and What Causes Them?

A birth injury is an injury with long-term consequences that a baby sustains during or near the time of birth. Often, the injury occurs during the process of labor and delivery. Sometimes, however, a birth injury can occur before birth, and it can be caused by negligent prenatal care, such as failing to diagnose a potentially harmful medical condition and/or failing to schedule early delivery of the baby.  Birth injuries can also occur after birth, in the neonatal ICU.  NICU birth injuries are frequently caused by failure to properly help a baby who has breathing problems or seizures, or failing to adequately treat jaundice or low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

The girl in this case had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (nuchal cord), which caused her to experience severe birth asphyxia. When birth asphyxia occurs, the baby’s heart tracings will be abnormal or nonreassuring.  The medical team must then quickly deliver the baby – usually by emergency C-section – to minimize the birth asphyxia and prevent brain damage.

Listed below are some conditions that can cause birth injuries:

• Placental abruption
• Umbilical cord problems, such as a nuchal cord (cord wrapped around baby’s neck), umbilical cord prolapse, short umbilical cord and cord in a true knot
• Ruptured uterus
• Preeclampsia / eclampsia
  
• Placenta previa
• Anesthesia mistakes, which can cause blood pressure problems in the mother, including a hypotensive crisis. This can greatly decreases the supply of oxygen-rich blood going to the baby, causing birth asphyxia.
• Oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid)
• Premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) / premature birth
• Prolonged and arrested labor
• Intracranial hemorrhages (brain bleeds), which can be caused by a traumatic delivery. Forceps and vacuum extractors can cause brain bleeds. Sometimes intense contractions (hyperstimulation) caused by labor induction drugs (Pitocin and Cytotec) can cause head trauma. Mismanagement of cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD), abnormal presentations (face or breech presentation), and shoulder dystocia also put the baby at risk of experiencing birth trauma and birth asphyxia.
• Hyperstimulation caused by Pitocin and Cytotec can also cause oxygen deprivation that gets progressively worse.
• Fetal stroke
• Postmaturity syndrome
• Placental insufficiency and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)
• Fetal stroke
• Postmaturity syndrome
• An infection that travels from the mother to the baby at birth, such as chorioamnionitis, Group B Strep, urinary tract infections (UTI) and bacterial vaginosis (BV), which can cause sepsis and/or meningitis
• Failure to quickly deliver a baby when fetal distress is evident on the fetal heart rate monitor (delayed emergency C-section)
• Improperly treated high bilirubin levels (jaundice)
• Improperly treated neonatal hypoglycemia
• Mismanaged breathing problems after birth, such as failing to properly intubate and place baby on a breathing machine (ventilator); untreated apnea or respiratory distress; improper settings on the ventilator, which can cause overventilation injuries such as prolonged hypocarbia

Award Winning Cerebral Palsy and Birth Injury Attorneys Helping Children for Almost Three Decades

If you are seeking the help of a birth injury attorney, it is very important to choose an attorney and firm that focus solely on birth injury cases. Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers is a national birth injury law firm that has been helping children with birth injuries for almost 3 decades.

Birth injury attorney Jesse Reiter, president of ABC Law Centers, has been focusing solely on birth injury cases for over 28 years, and most of his cases involve hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy. Partners Jesse Reiter and Rebecca Walsh are currently recognized as being two of the best medical malpractice lawyers in America by U.S. News and World Report 2015, which also recognized ABC Law Centers as being one of the best medical malpractice law firms in the nation. The lawyers at ABC Law Centers have won numerous awards for their advocacy of children and are members of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group (BTLG) and the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ).

If your child was diagnosed with a birth injury, such as cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder or hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), the award winning birth injury lawyers at ABC Law Centers can help. We have helped children throughout the country obtain compensation for lifelong treatment, therapy and a secure future, and we give personal attention to each child and family we represent. Our nationally recognized birth injury firm has numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements that attest to our success and no fees are ever paid to our firm until we win your case. Email or call Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers at 888-419-2229 for a free case evaluation. Our firm’s award winning birth injury lawyers are available 24 / 7 to speak with you.

Video: Birth Injury Attorneys Discuss How a Cord Wrapped Around the Baby’s Neck (Nuchal Cord) Can Cause Birth Asphyxia and Cerebral Palsy

In this video, birth injury attorneys Jesse Reiter and Rebecca Walsh discuss causes of birth asphyxia, such as the cord being wrapped around the baby’s neck (nuchal cord), and how this can cause cerebral palsy.