Advanced Maternal Age and Birth Defects

Brain damage is among the most serious birth injuries a baby can suffer. It can be caused by head trauma during the delivery process due to oxygen deprivation and decreased blood flow to the baby’s brain. Brain trauma can affect a child’s ability to grow and develop normally, impacting their entire life. A new study...

An appeals court upheld a $3 million verdict against Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, for serious birth injuries that were caused by the mother’s ingestion of Topamax while she was pregnant. As reported in PRNewswire, the daughter of Kelly and Brian Anderson was born in 2008 with bilateral cleft...

A couple filed a birth injury lawsuit on July 10, alleging that their son developed Erb’s palsy following a long and difficult childbirth due to the negligence of hospital personnel. The lawsuit states that the midwife, obstetrician and several nurses at the federally managed Family Health Centers of Southwest Florida, Inc. deviated from accepted standards...

A family was awarded more than $4.8 million in a medical malpractice case arising from a birth injury that occurred over a decade ago. Guerline Cherenfant Jean, Loheirson Jean and their 14-year-old daughter filed the lawsuit in 2004 against a Fort Lauderdale midwife and doctor. Circuit Judge Michele Towbin Singer presided over the five-day trial...

Florida hospitals have among the highest cesarean section rates for low-risk pregnancies for first-time mothers in the nation. Consumer Reports analyzed C-section data reported by more than 1200 hospitals across the country. They found C-section rates varied significantly among institutions and within the same communities. Low-risk pregnancies are defined as those in which the baby...

A new study has found that babies born through cesarean sections are at a higher risk of developing chronic health ailments such as obesity, asthma and type-1 diabetes later in life than infants born vaginally. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 32 percent of newborns in the United States are delivered...

Florida birth injury lawyer Debi Chalik recently sat down with Jesse Wojdylo to discuss the basics of a birth injury, the signs a parent should look for in their newborn, and who to go to for advice and help in filing a birth injury lawsuit against the doctor or hospital.

Approximately two to five out of every 1,000 births result in brachial plexus injuries, such as Erb’s Palsy, according to the United Brachial Plexus Network. Erb’s palsy symptoms vary in degree from baby to baby and can rob children of many milestones. As your child gets older, he or she will need answers about the...

Legal Options if Your Child Suffered Birth Injuries in Homestead Related to Negligence The U.S. Census Department estimates that there are 1,344 women in Homestead, Fla., between the ages of 15 and 50 who gave birth in 2012. These are, of course, happy times for the families, though if a child suffered birth injuries the...

A Brachial plexus injury, also known as Brachial plexus palsy, is an injury that occurs during the delivery of a newborn when the head and shoulder are abnormally stretched, damaging the nerves of the shoulder. This birth injury may cause your newborn’s arm to lay limp or have limited mobility in the shoulder and/or hand....

A Cesarean birth is a major medical procedure performed on a pregnant woman who cannot give birth vaginally. It means the baby will be delivered by surgery, via an incision across the belly and uterus, rather than vaginally. When a C-section May Be Necessary C-sections are done because of pregnancy complications or because of complications...

A birth injury lawsuit has been filed by a mother and father in Florida, alleging that their child sustained hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and other serious birth injuries. The parents, Jenifer and Sean Mochocki, filed the lawsuit March 25 in federal court in Jacksonville, Florida, against the United States of America, pursuant to the Federal Tort...

Erb’s palsy is a condition that is caused by an injury to the brachial plexus, which consists of the nerves around the shoulder. Erb’s palsy is also referred to as brachial palsy, Erb-Duchenned paralysis or Klumpke paralysis. The condition differs from other kinds of palsy, and is marked by frailty or lack of movement in...

Some birth injuries would have occurred regardless of which actions the health care team took, but a tragic number could have been avoided if it were not for negligence or wrongdoing on the part of a medical professional. In such cases, medical malpractice may be present. For medical malpractice to exist, it must be proven...

Wrongful birth is a type of pediatric malpractice. It occurs when a parent is not given information about potential birth defects or medical complications that could influence the parent’s decision to avoid conception or terminate a pregnancy. Depending on the circumstances, you may be eligible to recover compensation from the doctor who performed a wrongful...

A doctor may be responsible for Erb’s palsy in cases of medical negligence. The doctor’s error could occur during prenatal care, labor or delivery. Additionally, a failure to diagnose and begin treatment for Erb’s palsy may signal negligence. Parents may pursue compensation in a birth injury claim stemming from a doctor’s mistake. Compensation can address...

The burden of proof in an Erb’s palsy case dictates that a plaintiff – in this case, the injured child’s parents – must prove his or her case based on evidence presented. Essentially, this means the victim must prove the doctor or hospital was at fault versus the doctor or hospital proving they were not...

Birth injury is defined as damage to a newborn’s body function or structure that occurs due to an adverse event during labor. In the vast majority of births, the baby experiences no significant injury during labor; however, harm can and does occur in a small number of cases. In many cases, these injuries have lifelong...