Types of Birth Injuries

Throughout the course of your pregnancy, from prenatal care to childbirth, you put the health and safety of you and your child in the hands of the people providing your care. You trust that physicians and nurses will take appropriate steps to ensure your child is brought into the world healthy and safe. When healthcare professionals act negligently, they can cause a number of debilitating, life-altering birth injuries.

Some of the most common types of birth injuries include:

• Cerebral palsy
• Erb's palsy
• Brain injury
• Shoulder dystocia
• Brachial plexus injury

Many of these catastrophic injuries damage fine motor skills and impair cognition. Injuries to your infant's brain and nerves are particularly harmful and may cause your child to face a lifetime of physical and mental impairment, including learning disabilities and loss of muscular control.

Certain risks to yourself and your infant are inherent to pregnancy and childbirth; however, a significant portion of birth injuries are preventable mistakes resulting from simple carelessness. Physicians, nurses and other healthcare staff involved in your pregnancy have a responsibility to provide medical care that meets accepted standards of the medical community.

If your infant has suffered a birth injury because of someone else's negligence in Philadelphia or Lancaster, please contact the experienced medical malpractice attorneys in Pennsylvania at Atlee, Hall & Brookhart to schedule a free initial consultation.