Delivery Room Errors and Birth Injury
Labor and delivery are complex processes, and medical staff must make fast and accurate decisions during birth. Medical staff can sometimes make mistakes that jeopardize the health of the mother and baby. Improper fetal monitoring, improper medication choices, improper use of forceps and vacuum extractors, and failure to provide a timely C-section can all cause preventable injury.
Types of delivery room errors
While birth injuries can occur as a result of improper prenatal care, often they result from delivery room errors made by hospital staff, doctors, or other healthcare professionals. Medical staff must constantly monitor a mother and baby during labor and delivery and, if problems arise, make quick and accurate decisions to ensure their safety. Sadly, this doesn’t always occur.
Improper fetal monitoring, failure to take immediate action when problems arise, incorrect medication administration, improper use of delivery instruments (forceps and vacuum extractors), and failure to timely perform c-sections are some of the most common delivery room errors. The results of these errors, unfortunately, can be devastating and cause permanent injury to the newborn child. Some common birth injuries include (1):
Sometimes, birth injuries can lead to permanent disabilities. These may include:
- Cerebral palsy
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
- Seizure disorder/epilepsy
- Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)
- Developmental delays and learning disabilities
Improper fetal monitoring is a common delivery room error
Proving delivery room errors | Birth injury cases
Discovering and understanding the complex events that take place in the delivery room requires not only legal expertise but also solid medical knowledge. At Reiter & Walsh, we work with premiere neurologists, neuroradiologists, obstetricians, labor nurses, child development specialists, therapists, life care planners, forensics experts, and more to identify delivery mistakes and determine the exact cause of a child’s birth injury. We have solid legal skills in birth injury litigation and an impressive record of success to back it up.
Birth injury attorneys helping victims of delivery room errors and birth injury
At Reiter & Walsh, P.C., our dedicated birth injury lawyers represent victims of delivery errors every 
day. We are dedicated to helping clients obtain compensation for medical expenses and care to secure the future of their children.
Our birth injury attorneys represent clients across the country. and are also equipped to handle FTCA (Federal Tort Claims Act) cases involving military medical malpractice and federally funded clinics.
To begin your free case review with our birth injury attorneys and nurses, please contact Reiter & Walsh, P.C. at:
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Video: Delivery room errors
Source:
- Default – Stanford Children’s Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=birth-injury-90-P02340.
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- “Medication errors on the rise.”
- “Medical errors involving residents.”
- “Preventable medical errors.”
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- “Emergency C-sections: When 30 minutes is not fast enough.”
- “Lack of information, late C-section and delivery room error results in child with developmental delays; Reiter & Walsh negotiate a $2.05 million settlement.”
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- “Delayed treatment of infant seizures can cause permanent brain damage.”
- “For two days, physicians fail to diagnose and treat premature rupture of membranes and twin boys are born with permanent disabilities, including cerebral palsy.”
- “Vacuum deliveries: Serious potential risks involved.”
- “Are the risks associated with forceps too great?”
- “Danger: Forceps and vacuum extractors can cause brain injury, says birth injury attorney.”
- “Common delivery drug oxytocin (Pitocin) dangerous, says Michigan birth injury.”
- “Safety concerns cited for oxytocin (Pitocin) use during labor and delivery.”
