Common Types of Birth Injuries In Phoenix

Parents spend months planning for the joyous day they welcome a new baby into their family. When that joy is dampened by the trauma of a birth injury and an uncertain future for their baby, it’s devastating for the entire family. While some birth injuries are minor and fully recoverable, more serious birth injuries have adverse consequences for the rest of the child’s life. Some of the worst birth injury cases end in the unthinkable tragedy of stillbirth. A compassionate Phoenix medical malpractice lawyer can help families seek justice and hold negligent medical providers accountable.

Surprising Birth Injury Statistics

The term “birth injury” refers to injuries sustained by a child before, during, or soon after the birthing process. The medical community often refers to birth injuries as neonatal trauma. Most birth injuries are caused by complications that arise during labor and delivery, and a medical provider’s mismanagement of the complication, including oxygen deprivation to the baby, failure to order a C-section delivery, or the improper use of assisted delivery tools, like forceps and vacuum extractors.

While many people believe that the dangers of childbirth are in the past, unfortunately, birth injuries are not as uncommon as you might think. About seven in every 1,000 births result in a child with a birth injury, or about three affected babies born every hour in the United States. According to statistical data:

• An alarming 80% of birth injuries are categorized as moderate to severe
• Out of an average of 20,000 infant deaths each year, 20% are caused by birth injuries
• Male babies suffer birth injuries more often than females, likely due to their larger average size
• In birth injuries involving hypoxia (lack of oxygen), one in every four affected infants dies

Head and scalp injuries are the most common birth injuries in Phoenix and elsewhere in the U.S., making up about 80% of all known birth injuries.

What Are the Most Common Birth Injuries In Phoenix?

The most common birth injuries in Phoenix and other Arizona hospitals and birthing centers include the following:

• Contusions (bruises), which are caused by the improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors
• Fractures, especially of the clavicle (collarbone), which occur in up to 4.5% of deliveries, as well as breaks in the long bones of the arms or legs, and rib fractures
• Subconjunctival hemorrhage (broken blood vessels in the eye)
• Facial nerve injury
• Lacerations, especially on the head or scalp
• Nose injuries
• Skull fractures
• Cephalohematoma, which is bleeding between an infant’s skull and brain
• Brachial plexus injuries, or injuries to the nerves in the neck and shoulder, which sometimes result in problems with arm and hand movement (Erb’s Palsy)
• Caput Succedaneum (swelling of the scalp), sometimes leading to jaundice
• Spinal cord injuries
• Brain bleeds, such as subarachnoid bleeding or epidural bleeding
• Hypoxic brain injuries (caused by the lack of oxygen to the brain), which sometimes lead to severe conditions such as Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) and adverse outcomes such as cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy is among the most serious long-term consequences of birth injuries caused by oxygen deprivation during the birthing process. In the worst cases, a birth injury results in the tragic death of a child, either through stillbirth or death within hours or days after suffering a catastrophic birth injury.

Common Risk Factors of Birth Injuries

Some known risk factors indicate a higher likelihood of a birth injury during labor and delivery. These include gestational diabetes in the mother, babies with high birth weights, large baby head size, premature labor, breech positioning, extended or lengthy delivery process, and a small pelvis size in the mother.

A laboring mother’s doctor and birth team must be aware of the risk factors of birth injuries and treat a laboring mother with a heightened risk of birth injuries at the standard of care that’s accepted by the medical community. Unfortunately, birth injuries sometimes occur due to a doctor’s negligence or because a nurse or other member of the care team fails to monitor a laboring mother and infant adequately, or neglects to report a change in medical status to the physician.

Proving Liability In Phoenix Birth Injury Cases

Birth injury is a category of medical malpractice law. In an Arizona birth injury-medical malpractice case, the injury victim or their family member must have substantial evidence proving that the medical provider meets the standard of liability in medical malpractice claims. This requires demonstrating the following:

• A doctor/patient relationship was in place at the time the birth injury occurred
• The medical provider owed a duty of care to the injured victim, requiring them to treat their patient at the standard of care that’s accepted by the medical community
• They violated this duty of care
• The violation caused a birth injury
• The injury victim and their family suffered damages from the injury

If the at-fault medical provider did not treat the patient as another reasonable medical professional would have, then they are liable for damages.

Understanding Damages In Phoenix Birth Injury Claims

Even a mild, temporary birth injury is distressing for the infant and their parents, sometimes causing additional medical expenses. More serious or severe birth injuries adversely impact the child’s entire future and the family’s life. Damages named in Arizona birth injury cases often include the following:

• Reimbursement for medical expenses
• Anticipated future medical expenses
• Out-of-pocket costs
• Lost income for a parent who left the workforce or reduced their hours to care for a disabled child
• Cost of rehabilitative therapies, adaptive equipment, and special educational needs
• Compensation for the child’s pain and suffering
• Compensation for the parents’ emotional anguish

If a birth injury causes a stillbirth or a newborn’s death, the parents can seek compensation through a medical malpractice-wrongful death claim to recover financial compensation and a sense of justice for their child.

Contact the Phoenix Birth Injury Lawyers at Knapp & Roberts

The birth of a child is a joyous occasion, but joy turns to anxiety and distress when a baby suffers a birth injury. A serious birth injury impacts an entire family for years to come in both economic and financial ways. A Phoenix birth injury lawyer becomes an unwavering ally to parents seeking justice and financial accountability for their injured child. Call Knapp & Roberts to learn more about your family’s right to compensation.