Warning Signs Of Birth Injury

Ohio birth injury attorney explains what to look for after your child’s birth

Knowing if your child has a birth injury might seem simple to some people. But as many parents know, identifying whether your child sustained an injury before, during or soon after their birth can be much harder than many people might realize.

In addition, knowing whether medical negligence played a role in your child’s birth injury can be difficult. This is often because the medical professionals who caused your child’s injury might be the exact same people responsible for your child’s well-being now.

Sometimes, your child’s APGAR score may be an indication that they sustained a birth injury due to medical negligence. Other times, developmental delays and milestones experienced by your child several weeks or months after their birth may suggest that something is wrong.

Whatever the circumstances of your child’s birth injury, it’s important to understand your rights and the legal options available to you if the birth injury occurred due to negligence. This is why it’s important to talk to an attorney as soon as possible.

Experienced Cleveland birth injury lawyer John A. Lancione and his talented legal team at The Lancione Law Firm can help your family every step of the way. We know the law and understand how the legal system works when it comes to birth injury claims. That’s because we have represented families dealing with birth injuries in Ohio and nationwide and consistently obtain financial compensation for birth injury-related expenses.

Warning signs of a birth injury

Experienced medical professionals have the training and the skills to identify warning signs. Even so, even the most experienced doctors, obstetricians and other medical professionals sometimes miss these warning signs, which can result in a birth injury becoming worse.

Below, you can learn more about some of the most common warning signs of a birth injury due to negligence. You can also find additional information about what to do if you suspect a birth injury and how an attorney can help with your birth injury claim.

Warning signs during pregnancy

Even before a woman gives birth to a baby, there may be warning signs of a potential birth injury. Doctors need to be aware of these warning signs in women and the fetus. Such warning signs may include:

Pre-existing medical conditions for the mother, including diabetes or high blood pressure.
Pregnant woman suffers from obesity.
Previous miscarriages or problems with previous pregnancies.
Unexplained weight loss or weight gain of the woman or fetus.
Irregular heartbeat in the fetus.

If something doesn’t seem right during your pregnancy with you or your unborn child, make sure you take such warning signs seriously right away. Tell your doctor and ask for additional medical tests. Your health and your child’s well-being could be at risk.

If you’re dealing with a birth injury after the birth of your child and you suspect that mistakes were made during your pregnancy, talk to attorney Lancione right away. He can help you understand the legal options available to your family, including filing a birth injury lawsuit if necessary.

Warning signs during delivery

Other times, a birth injury occurs when during the delivery of a child. Warning signs that something could be wrong and could result in a birth injury include:

Abnormal position of fetus during delivery.
Excessive bleeding during delivery.
Longer than normal delivery.
Delayed delivery.

These are just some of the warning signs that medical professionals may have made a mistake during your child’s delivery which resulted in a birth injury. Other warning signs may be possible and should be taken seriously by your doctor and other medical professionals.

Warning signs after birth

Soon after the birth of a child, there are often many warning signs of a birth injury. Within a few minutes of the child’s birth, a low APGAR score may be due to a birth injury caused by negligence. Warning signs may include:

Newborn baby has difficulty breathing.
Baby has irregular heartbeat.
Baby’s muscles are inactive or floppy.
Newborn’s skin tone is blue.

A few weeks or months later, missed developmental milestones are another common indication of a birth injury. Such warning signs may include:

Child has difficulty lifting head on their own.
Child does not respond to voices or other noises.
Child cannot sit up or walk on their own.

There are many other warning signs parents should closely monitor and respond to right away. This is why it’s important to know what to look for and what to do in such situations. Attorney Lancione can explain your options in detail and be there for your family when you need our support the most.

How does medical negligence play a role?

Medical professionals have a responsibility to care for pregnant women and their children at every stage of the pregnancy, delivery and soon after. When they don’t and birth injury occurs, medical negligence may be to blame.

Negligence can take many different forms when it comes to a birth injury. Sometimes, doctors or other medical professionals failed to perform the necessary medical tests. Other times, they misread medical charts or failed to notice common warning signs of a birth injury.

Not noticing such warning signs in the mother, fetus or newborn child often involves negligence, even if medical professionals deny doing anything wrong. We know because attorney Lancione has helped many families nationwide successfully tackle such complex legal cases.

What should I do if I suspect my child has a birth injury?

If you believe your child’s birth injury occurred because a medical professional missed the warning signs in you, the mother, or your child, there are several steps you should often take in such situations:

Tell your doctor right away that you suspect your child has a birth injury.
Ask your doctor to administer any necessary tests to determine what’s wrong.
If your doctor claims there’s nothing wrong with your child, seek a second medical opinion.
Keep a daily journal of everything you notice about your child’s development which seems out of the ordinary. The more details, the better.
Ask for copies of your child’s medical records and copies of your medical records related to yourself during your pregnancy
Schedule a free case evaluation with attorney Lancione as soon as possible to learn more about your legal rights.

Don’t give up hope. We can help. Contact our Ohio law firm

Warning signs of a birth injury can be subtle or obvious. In either case, don’t be surprised if the doctor or hospital denies doing anything wrong. That’s because there’s often a lot of money at stake in such cases because of the long-term financial consequences of many birth injuries.

We understand the financial issues that face families dealing with a birth injury. We also realize your case is about more than just money. You trusted medical professionals to care for you and your child. Instead, you may be dealing with lifelong health issues with your child due to mistakes made by them.

We’re here to help you hold them accountable for their actions. Attorney Lancione understands the medical and legal issues facing families dealing with a birth injury. That’s why he wants to help. As your lawyer, he will work with you to build the strongest possible legal case and demand the compensation you rightfully. And if you ever have a question about the status of your case, you can call attorney Lancione directly on his personal cellphone anytime. We always put your best interests first.

Discover what we can do for you. Contact our Rocky River law firm near Cleveland and make an appointment with Ohio birth injury lawyer John A. Lancione. You can reach us online or call (440) 331-6100 or (877) 515-4369.