Because Expericence Matters

Birth Injury Lawyers Handling Obstetrical Malpractice Cases

The excitement and joy of a baby's arrival is often coupled with a mix of concern and hope that everything will go well for the mother and child. There are inherent risks involved in childbirth, which is why the medical community is taking particular care to advise pregnant women how to care for themselves and the unborn child.

Awareness about prenatal care, the birthing process and the care of the infant in the critical first months has grown tremendously in the last decades, and has lead to a substantial reduction in deaths and injuries connected to childbirth in this country. For in-depth resources about obstetrical issues, click on Patient education at The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

When injury or death occurs during pregnancy or childbirth, the joyous anticipation turns into emotional devastation for everyone involved.

Our team of practicing physicians, surgeons and registered nurses understands the distress and traumatizing effects these cases can cause and specializes in helping you. Our compassion combined with our medical and legal expertise, - since we are birth injury lawyers as well -, is crucial for evaluating your case. If you have experienced injury or death in connection with childbirth, please contact our experienced birth injury lawyers .

Medical providers caring for the expectant mother and the fetus are responsible for assuring that they provide adequate care during the pregnancy, during labor and delivery and immediately after the delivery of the infant. Doctors and nurses can be held accountable for the outcome of the pregnancy, if they fail to do so. If you or a loved one received substandard prenatal care, which led to deleterious complications before, during, or after delivery, you may wish to contact our birth injury lawyers to learn more about your legal rights and options.

Negligence or malpractice in obstetrics may include:

- Fetal Monitor Strip Interpretation
Failure to interpret and respond to the changing conditions of the fetus during labor, failure to perform a C-Section in the presence of fetal distress

Doctors and nurses should be able to identify lack of oxygen or fetal distress by interpreting the fetal monitor strip. If the doctor fails to perform a cesarean section (C-section), or to do so quickly, the child may lose oxygen for a longer period of time. This increases the risk of developing cerebral palsy or causing brain damage in the infant. You will find more information and further links at www.childbirth.org .

- Injuries resulting from Vacuum Extraction
More information is available at the site of the US Food and Drug Administration - Center for Devices and Radiological Health and at www.applesforhealth.com/vacuumbirth1.html and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

- Failure or delay in Diagnosis
Failure to act on changes in the mother's condition during pregnancy, failure to order specific tests during pregnancy, failure to interpret tests correctly, failure to deliver the infant when the membranes have been ruptured for more than 24 hours. You will find a substantial library of articles and reviews at the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group.

- Shoulder Dystocia and Erb's Palsy
Shoulder Dystocia occurs when excessive lateral traction is applied to the fetal neck region during delivery. This can cause a child's muscles to be torn, resulting in a limp arm. These types of injuries usually occur during the natural delivery of a larger infant. When the baby is too large to pass through the mother's pelvis, his or her shoulder may become lodged behind the mother's pubic bone after the head has been delivered. Doctors may attempt to continue with a natural delivery, as opposed to a C-section and can stretch the neck excessively causing shoulder dystocia or nerve damage.

Erb's Palsy, or brachial plexus injury, is a nerve injury. The nerves of the brachial plexus control muscles in the shoulder, arm, and hand. Any or all of these muscles may be damaged or paralyzed. Although injury can occur at any time, most brachial plexus injuries happen during birth.

Erb's palsy is damage to the upper plexus causing lack of movement or impaired mobility in the shoulder and upper arm. Klumpke's palsy describes damage to the lower plexus causing diminished movement in the wrist and hand.

More information at the Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM)

- Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders characterized by brain damage that causes problems with movement control. There is not one specific cause of cerebral palsy, but this condition can be the result of injury to the brain before, during or after birth. A child may acquire cerebral palsy after birth as a result of damage to the brain in the first months or years of life. For more info and further links go to United Cerebral Palsy and Dupont Hospital for Children .

There are four types of cerebral palsy:
- spastic, resulting in difficult and stiff movements,
- ataxic, resulting in the loss of depth perception and affecting the sense of balance,
- athetoid, which causes uncontrolled and involuntary movements.
- mixed, a combination of some or all of above conditions.

The effects of cerebral palsy , depending upon which areas of the brain have been damaged, include mental retardation, seizures, impairment of speech, hearing or sight, abnormal perception and sensation, problems in gait and mobility, involuntary movement and muscle spasm or tightness.

There are many causes of cerebral palsy and one of the most important causes is an insufficient amount of oxygen reaching the newborn or fetal brain. Severe brain injuries, causing cerebral palsy, may also be caused by umbilical cord entanglement about the child's neck at birth.

While not all birth injuries result in lifelong or serious damage, many tragically lead to significant physical, developmental, cognitive, and/or psychosocial damage to the young child. If you or a loved one has suffered the devastation of serious injury before, during, or after childbirth, please contact our qualified birth injury lawyers at Miller and Associates to learn more about your legal rights and options. We offer a free consultation so that you may discover the best way to protect your interests and seek the compensation you deserve for your losses.

The Miller Firm, LLC
The Sherman Building
108 Railroad Avenue
Orange, Virginia 22960
Toll free: 866-529-3323
Phone: 540-672-4224
Fax: 540-672-3055


Alexandria, VA Office
105 North Alfred Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Toll Free: (800) 882-2525
Phone: (703) 519-8080
Fax: (703) 519-8084


Philadelphia Office
555 East City Avenue
Suite 910
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Toll Free: (800) 689-6959
Phone: (610) 660-0622
Fax: (610) 660-0628