During birth, the baby can end up suffering physical injuries that do not appear because of the birthing process. We refer to this as being a birth injury or brain trauma. When something like this happens, it is important to contact birth injury lawyers Detroit because it is possible the cause was some sort of negligence from healthcare staff.
Birth Injury Causes
Besides the unwanted situation in which the birth injury appeared because of the negligence or incompetence of the medical staff, there are various conditions that can lead to difficult births. All of these can become birth injury causes:
- Large babies – When the weight of the baby is over 4,000 grams, problems appear.
- Prematurity – This includes situations in which babies are born before the age of 37 weeks.
- Dystocia – This means difficult childbirth or labor.
- Cephalopelvic disproportion – IN this case, the shape and size of the pelvis is not good for the baby to be vaginally born.
- Prolonged labor
- Maternal obesity
- Abnormal birthing presentation
The Most Common Birth Injuries
When referring to the most common birth injuries, we need to mention the following:
- Brachial Palsy – Nerves that supply hands and arms become injured. This is common when delivery problems appear as the baby’s shoulder is taken out. As a result, the baby will lose his ability to rotate and flex the arm. Movement can return in a number of months but it is also possible that permanent nerve damage appears. Maintaining range of motion is done with special exercises.
- Forceps Marks or Bruising – Bruising might appear because of having the head or face pass through the canal and then coming into contact with pelvic tissues and bones. Also, the forceps the doctor uses can leave some temporary bruises or marks. When vacuum extraction is used, scalp bruising and lacerations can appear.
- Cephalohematoma – This marks a bleeding area between skull bone and fibrous covering. It is easy to notice since it looks like a lump. The body does reabsorb it though in around 3 weeks. When the bleeding present is large, jaundice can appear.
- Caput Succedaneum – This means a soft tissue swelling appears on the scalp. It develops during the birth canal travel time. Swelling tends to disappear in just a few days.
- Facial Paralysis – During birth or labor, there is pressure put on the face of the baby. This can injure his/her facial nerve. Usually, this is an injury that is visible as the baby cries since no movement is present on the face side affected. When nerves were just bruised, facial paralysis improves and the face gets back to normal in a couple of months. Surgery might be needed when nerves were torn.
- Fractures – The most common type of fracture that appears during birth is that of the collarbone or the clavicle. They can break when delivery problems appear. Fortunately, healing happens very fast. New bone is formed and arm movement limiting might be needed when fractures are painful.
Other common birth injuries can appear but these are the ones you should be aware of. If medical staff was involved and some negligence is suspected, make sure to contact a birth injury attorney for help.
