A New York family reached a settlement of $250,000.00 with Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in a birth injury lawsuit for medical malpractice on August 1, 2012. Filed on behalf of a child born on October 6, 2004 who suffers from cognitive delays, Erb’s Palsy and shoulder dysplasia, the lawsuit alleges that the child was injured as the result of the attending physician’s failure to perform a Caesarean section when necessary.
After the mother allegedly requested that her baby be delivered through a Caesarean birth method because she feared the child was large, doctors insisted on a vaginal birth, which ultimately led to the subject birth injury. The baby did indeed weigh a whopping nine pounds and four ounces. Having previously estimated that the baby would weigh in excess of seven pounds, the mother’s doctors shouldn’t have been surprised with the size of the baby at time of delivery.
Stuck in Her Mother’s Birth Canal, the Baby Contracted Erb’s Palsy
According to court documents, the baby became stuck in the mother’s birth canal during delivery. Consequently, the baby’s head did not fully emerge from the birth canal. Once the difficulty was recognised, the baby was cut free and transported to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. The mother of the child reported that when she first saw her baby she was “blue and floppy.” Later, the mother was informed by doctors that her baby had contracted Erb’s Palsy and had sustained injuries to the upper right-hand portion of her body. As a result of these injuries, the child has continued to require therapy and experiences developmental delays.
At court, personal injury lawyers argued that the doctors in the medical malpractice case failed to uphold the standard of care and should have realised that the baby was too large for a vaginal delivery given the size of the mother’s pelvis. They were also accused of failing to perform the appropriate maneuvers to remedy the situation during labour and delivery once it was determined that the baby was in distress as well as failure to properly and timely perform episiotomy, all of which contributed to the baby’s birth injury.
Birth Injuries Result in Consequences that Last a Lifetime; Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Can Help with the Financial Obligations of Parents
Any birth injury is a tragedy with the consequences lasting a lifetime. And, while money can never repair the damage that such a tragedy inflicts upon families, it can provide a certain amount of peace in knowing that you will be able to provide for your loved ones’ ongoing medical needs. An experienced
birth injury lawyer can assist parents in pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the at-fault parties.
