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While not all cerebral palsy cases are resulted from medical
malpractice, doctors, hospitals and other health practitioners do
make mistakes during before, during and after delivery. Thousands
and thousands of cerebral palsy cases are thus preventable. The
following are just a few of the common mistakes made during delivery
that have caused children to be born with cerebral palsy:
- leaving the child in the birth canal too long causing a lack
of oxygen to the brain
- failure to recognize and treat seizures following delivery
- failure to detect a prolapsed cord (the umbilical cord can
wrap around the child's neck, cutting off oxygen to the brain)
- excessive use of vacuum
extraction
- improper use of forceps
- failure to perform a cesarean
section in the presence of fetal
distress
- not responding to changes in the fetal heart rate
- failure to plan a c-section (a large birth weight infant could
compromise a normal spontaneous vaginal delivery)
- failure to respond to the mothers changing conditions, such
as high blood pressure or toxemia
- failure to timely diagnose and treat jaundice
- failure to timely diagnose and treat meningitis
The doctors and nurses caring for the expectant mother and unborn
child are responsible for providing safe and effective care before,
during, and after birth. When procedure is not followed,
and the standard of care is broken, permanent brain
damage to the unborn child can occur. So how can you tell
if a medical mistake occurred during the birth of your child? The
following are indicators that a medical mistake may have caused
your child's cerebral palsy:
- emergency delivery with forceps , vacuum
extraction , or cesarean
section .
- your child required resuscitation (CPR) after birth.
- following delivery, your child was transferred to a different
hospital, or spent time in the NICU (neonatal intensive care
unit).
- your child had seizures immediately after birth, or within
the first 3-4 days of life.
- your child required special testing after birth, such as an
MRI, or brain scan.
- your child required oxygen to facilitate breathing after birth.
- a specialist was called to care for your newborn.
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