Complications in the delivery room are every expectant parent’s worst nightmare. After the careful considerations a mother makes to ensure the health of her unborn child, the negligence or carelessness of medical professionals during delivery can result in catastrophic birth injuries that devastate a life just as it is beginning. Parents in New York and across the country suffer right along with their children, and some are left making heart-wrenching decisions about the appropriate care their children may need as they grow.
One couple in another state recently won a lawsuit filed after their son suffered traumatic injuries when he was delivered at a federally funded hospital. The parents say the delivery was progressing, but the mother had only begun to push when the doctor utilized forceps to pull the baby out. Neither the mother nor the child were in distress, so the use of forceps was not necessary. The mother claims the doctor was sweating and straining, his face red with the effort to extract the baby.
The baby suffered a fractured skull and brain bleed. The brain damage was extensive, and the child, now 5, is unable to communicate, read or write. Doctors say he will be confined to a motorized wheelchair for the duration of this life and will probably need to be placed in an institutional facility in his twenties because his parents will no longer be able to care for him.
The judge hearing the case awarded the parents $42 million to cover past and future medical care, loss of future earnings, and pain and suffering. Despite a lifetime of struggle ahead of them, these parents can now have peace of mind that their son will receive the care he needs and deserves. Parents in New York who have children with birth injuries often seek assistance from a personal injury attorney.
Source: phillyvoice.com, “Judge: Parents of Pennsylvania boy injured at birth get $42M”, Joe Mandak, April 21, 2017