Advanced Maternal Age and Birth Defects

Medical staff are responsible for carefully monitoring the unborn baby throughout labor and delivery. They must ensure the infant is getting enough oxygen and is not displaying signs of fetal distress. Common warning signs of fetal distress include changes in the baby’s heart rate or movement. Doctors often use electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) to ensure...

A new study by Canadian researchers suggests that genetics may play a more significant role in the origins of cerebral palsy than experts previously thought. Researchers from Sick Kids Hospital in Canada and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center have found that at least one in 10 cases of cerebral palsy has...

A recent study found that glyburide, a drug used to treat gestational diabetes, is associated with a number of serious birth complications. The drug, which has increased in use over the last decade, was associated with hypoglycemia, high birth weight, respiratory distress and birth injuries. In addition to being more likely to have complications, babies...

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...

New research indicates the drug erythropoietin may be effective in protecting babies from brain damage. Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) is a dangerous complication that can occur during delivery. Newborns suffer brain damage due to oxygen deprivation in the nervous system, which can cause debilitating birth injuries such as cerebral palsy and even death if left...

A Miami, Florida, woman was awarded $23 million in damages by a Charlotte County Circuit Court jury for medical malpractice that resulted in her premature daughter being born with severe brain damage and cerebral palsy. The mother visited her obstetrician in 2010 when she was pregnant with her first child. At 24 weeks of pregnancy,...

What lawyer qualifications should I look for if I’m pursuing a birth injury case? Past experience with similar cases is one of the most important lawyer qualifications to look for when hiring an attorney. This means an attorney who’s handled similar birth injury cases is typically the best suited to handle an Erb’s palsy case,...

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.

Infants are more susceptible to head injury than adults given that their heads are proportionately bigger and they have yet to develop the muscles and coordination that adults have. While most head injuries in infants are minor, serious brain injuries can occur in traumatic accidents and during complicated births. Causes of Infant Brain Injury Infants,...

A new app called QUiPP could help doctors predict the risk of preterm deliveries. Infants born before 37 weeks’ gestation are considered premature. Each year 15 million babies worldwide are born prematurely. More than one million die from the resulting birth injures and complications. Doctors use several factors to determine the risk of premature birth...

Erb’s Palsy, which is also referred to as brachial plexus birth palsy, is a type of obstetric brachial plexus injury that can occur due to complications at the time of delivery. The brachial plexus is a system of spinal nerves that convey messages from the spine to the shoulders, arms and hands. The most typical...

As an expectant mother, you most likely learned how to breathe properly during childbirth by attending a Lamaze class. Or you may have learned hypnosis childbirth to enter into a hypnotic state in order to deal with the pain of a natural childbirth. Whatever you learned and prepared for may be different than what actually...

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...

A new parent with a child diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury often wants to know, “What can I expect in the first year of Erb’s palsy?” The answer depends on the severity of the underlying nerve injury. Mild injuries may “self-resolve” with the passage of time and the use of physical therapy. More serious...

A birth injury can be devastating for the parents and have lifelong effects for the child. Many birth injuries lead to disabilities that require extensive care. In some cases, parents may wonder if a medical mistake was the cause of their child’s birth injury, but they are unsure how to proceed. Not every medical condition...

When a mother hears that her newborn baby suffered a birth injury, she is often not prepared for this news and doesn’t know much about birth injuries. So, when a mother hears the terms Erb’s palsy and shoulder dystocia used after her baby is born, she needs to understand the connections between the two birth...

What Are Some Types of Palsy Resulting from Birth Injuries in Infants? Injury during the birthing process can lead to certain types of palsy including: Erb’s: A type of paralysis from injury to the arm’s upper nerves. Klumpke’s: A type of paralysis from damage to the forearm or hand. Brachial Plexus: Injury of the spinal...

First it is important to note that not all birth injuries are caused by medical malpractice, so not every injury is grounds for a lawsuit. However, there are several types of birth injuries that are often caused by mistakes on the part of doctors or other medical personnel. When that is the case, the families...