Aurora Birth Injury Lawyers

The outcome of pregnancy and delivery can be perilous for the mother, baby, or both.

When a child is born with an injury caused by medical negligence, parents are devastated and often suffer from severe emotional distress that prevents them from moving forward.

At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC, our personal injury attorneys work hard for clients whose children have been injured at birth due to medical malpractice. As a result, we ensure those children will have access to the care and resources they need to thrive long into adulthood.

Contact our experienced Aurora birth injury lawyers today at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form to schedule a free consultation. All confidential or sensitive information you share with our legal team remains private through an attorney-client relationship.

Many families struggle to care for children who have disabilities that require extensive care throughout life. Our law firm handles birth injury cases to ensure our clients receive the maximum compensation they deserve.

Our clients’ experienced birth injury attorneys will access programs and support vital to their children’s long-term success by aggressively pursuing compensation from those responsible for the conditions resulting in cerebral palsy development.

If your child was injured during or following birth, we might be able to help you secure the damages you are rightfully owed.

Preventable Birth Injuries

A child’s death or injuries are often the results of medical negligence during the pregnancy or birthing process. Medical experts sometimes act negligently, leading to severe injuries that produce catastrophic temporary or permanent disabilities.

Birth injuries can be very complex, requiring an attorney with specialized knowledge. The types of medical errors that might have caused your child’s disability include the following examples:

• Failure to determine if the mother has any contagious disease or infections
• Failure to adequately monitor fetal heartbeat during labor
• Failure to diagnose umbilical cord problems
• Failure to initially resuscitate a baby who was not breathing
• Failure to diagnose a mother’s high blood pressure or pregnancy-related anemia
• Induction of labor when it is not needed or when it should have been delayed

Because birth injuries often lead to lifelong disabilities, they can alter your life in many ways. Additional costs related to added equipment and services for disabled children may add financial strain to your family.

We are dedicated to helping you secure the damages you deserve for your child’s injuries, including any future costs related to caring for a severely disabled child.

Legal representation is crucial because it can help ensure that children with disabilities receive all necessary medical treatment or equipment/devices they need during their development phase and through adulthood.

The Cost of Caring for a Child with Cerebral Palsy

Children diagnosed with cerebral palsy will require extensive lifetime medical care and therapy.

Unfortunately, it is easy for the bills associated with this care to mount quickly and become an undue burden on the families of these children, whose circumstances may have resulted from negligent treatment during or following their births.

In addition to needing to shoulder these costs, parents must consider having one of the breadwinners stay at home to tend to the child’s needs, reducing the family’s income and placing even greater stress on their finances.

Cerebral and Erb’s palsies have different causes, but negligent medical care can be linked to many of the birth injury cases we see. The child may be injured during labor or after birth, and the attending medical staff fails to respond appropriately.

It turns an easily treated condition into a disability that impacts the child’s life quality for a lifetime. We feel it is wrong to force the child’s family to need them to carry the financial burden of caring for their injured child.

Types of Injuries Linked to Aurora Birth Injury Cases

Lack of oxygen is one of the leading causes of cerebral palsy and other long-term injuries to the brain during and after birth.

When asphyxiation or hypoxia is undetected and untreated because the child’s vitals are not appropriately monitored during labor, a claim of medical malpractice can be made when a child’s injury results.

Not noticing prevalent and minor injuries may also result in permanent brain damage that can impact the child’s development, motor function, and cognitive health. Some of the injuries linked to cerebral palsy include the following.

• Jaundice: This often occurs after a minor injury where the child experiences bruising or swelling and is minor when discovered and treated quickly. However, any delay in treatment can be catastrophic, as the liver cannot remove the substance responsible for jaundice at such a young age.
• Undetected bacterial infections: Can have tragic consequences as they may cause severe damage to the brain or other vital organs. In addition, infections can occur during pregnancy or following birth, and staff members must respond quickly when symptoms of an infection are present.
• Complications during labor: A fetal monitor is instrumental in alerting doctors to any problems the child may be experiencing during labor so that decisive choices can be made to intervene if the child’s safety is threatened. If signs of distress go undetected or ignored, it may result in permanent injury.
• Test result inaccuracies: Some conditions go unnoticed because the lab returns inaccurate test results or the doctor fails to interpret the results correctly.
• Surgical mistakes: If a doctor makes errors during surgery, blood loss can lead to severe brain damage or death.

When the failure of a doctor or nurse to act reasonably is linked to patient injury, a lawsuit may be brought against the staff member and hospital for medical malpractice.

In the case of people living with palsy, this can allow the family to recover the compensation needed for the very expensive medical care and out-of-pocket expenses they will need to provide over a lifetime to their child.

Effects of Cerebral and Erb’s Palsy on the Child’s Quality of Life

The child’s quality of life will depend on the severity of their palsy and how much it impacts their daily activities.

Some disabilities are mild enough to be managed with medication and therapy, but others are so severe that the child may need around-the-clock care to survive.

Cerebral and Erb’s palsies often have permanent disabilities, even when diagnosed early in life. It also limits the ability of the child to perform daily tasks and causes weakness or even paralysis of their limbs.

As the child grows, they may need wheelchairs and equipment to aid them in moving about their environment and self-care.

In addition, physiotherapy and speech therapy is often needed as modifications to allow the child access to education.

As this condition impacts a child’s ability to interact with their environment, it also affects their ability to establish relationships with others. In addition, the child may have vision deficits that need to be corrected and hearing impairment, which can be helped with hearing aids.

While palsy cannot be cured, the quality of life for the child who has it can be improved by early diagnosis and treatment so that they can experience all that life has to offer.

Cerebral palsy (CP or Palsy) is a permanent movement disorder that damages the developing brain before, during, or shortly after birth. Cerebral refers to the brain, and palsy describes a group of disorders that cause movement and muscle tone problems.

Abnormal Development of Motor Areas

The condition is typically caused by damage to or abnormal development of motor areas in the brain that result in problems controlling movement, muscle tone (the degree of stiffness in a muscle), and balance.

It is believed that CP affects roughly two to three out of every 1,000 births. Generally speaking, this condition occurs during pregnancy or immediately following birth, resulting in weakened or paralyzed muscles.

Loss of muscle tone is often the result of damage to parts of the brain that send messages to control the body’s movement, balance, and posture. It also impacts a child’s ability to use their arms or legs, making simple tasks like putting on clothes difficult.

Cerebral palsy affects people in different ways, depending on the location of the brain damage. Some children are born with palsy, while others develop it within months or years after birth.

The most common types include:

• Spastic Diplegia: Tight and stiff muscles characterize this type of CP because signals from the brain to move them don’t work correctly. The tightly contracted muscles pull the legs into a bowed position and cause difficulties walking, running, and standing.
• Spastic Quadriplegia: Also known as spastic tetraplegia, this form leads to stiffness throughout the body, arms, and legs that can’t be moved freely. It is caused by damage in parts of the brain that are responsible for muscle movements.
• Spastic Hemiplegia: Similar to spastic quadriplegia, this type of CP is characterized by paralysis or stiffness in one side of the body. It occurs when damage occurs on one side of the brain’s motor control areas.
• Mixed Cerebral Palsy: A person with mixed CP has movement difficulties involving both arms and legs.
• Athetosis: Individuals with athetoid CP have uncontrolled, slow, writhing movements that they can’t suppress or control. People with this type typically have stiffness in their trunk and limbs combined with slow, twisting, and repetitive movements of the hands and feet.

As with all types of CP, the effects of the athetoid type can range in degree and severity. Children can have more than one type of palsy.

Palsy usually doesn’t cause internal problems such as urinary or bowel issues; however, it may be associated with conditions like epilepsy, vision problems, and intellectual disability.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) states that palsy is childhood’s most common motor disability.

According to their website, “Cerebral palsy usually results from a problem during pregnancy, labor or delivery that slows down or blocks oxygen from flowing to the brain, depriving a child’s brain cells of the nutrients and oxygen they need to grow and develop. The damage can cause muscle spasticity or stiffness, poor coordination, weak muscles, and tremors.”

In addition, “The disabilities associated with cerebral palsy result from permanent injury to certain parts of the brain that control movement, balance, and posture. Palsy is also associated with other disabilities such as intellectual impairment, seizures, or a stroke resulting from a blockage or rupture of a blood vessel in the brain.”

The cause of this condition remains unknown. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that “the exact causes of cerebral palsy are unknown, and there is no way to prevent the condition. But some factors may put a child at risk of cerebral palsy, including problems during pregnancy such as poorly controlled high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia (toxemia).”

When palsy is present at birth or during infancy, the CDC also states that these conditions are often associated with problems during pregnancy, such as poorly controlled high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia (toxemia).

Other factors that may be linked to palsy include:

• Gestational age less than 37 weeks
• Breech positioning of the fetus
• Being born to a mother who had rubella (German measles) during pregnancy
• Lack of oxygen from umbilical cord compression or severe bleeding during labor

However, the cause is often unknown when a child is diagnosed. It can sometimes be due to a stroke during a difficult delivery or a lack of oxygen after birth.

Available Resources for Families Needing to Care for Disabled Children

The Chicago Cerebral Palsy Seguin of Greater Chicago helps families across Aurora and the Chicago suburbs by helping their children acquire the skills they need to survive as adults through Community Integrated Living and accessibility services.

These resources are valuable for parents who fear what may happen to their children once they are alone. To learn more, visit http://ucpseguin.org/ or call (708) 863-3803.

Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim Citing Wrongful Death

Every surviving family member who lost a loved one through negligence by a doctor or medical staff can file a wrongful death lawsuit to hold the legal professional accountable. Typically, these legal issues involved a medical error that led to the child’s injury.

Birth injury lawyers working on behalf of the family can secure medical records, take depositions, and file a medical malpractice claim against the hospital staff or any other medical professional that caused the wrongful death.

Financial compensation obtained from a medical malpractice case or wrongful death lawsuit can include:

• Hospitalization bills and medical expenses
• Lost wages and future lost earnings
• Funeral & burial costs
• Loss of consortium and companionship
• Pain, suffering, and grief experienced by the family members
• Pain and suffering experienced by the decedent before their death

During the stressful time of resolving a wrongful death lawsuit, the decedent’s loved ones can rely on their legal personal injury team to secure the compensation they need while fighting for the justice they deserve.

We’re On Your Side as You Face Hardships Caused by a Poorly Caring: Your Child’s Future Needs

Did your child suffer a birth injury caused by someone else’s negligence?

Are you seeking financial compensation paid by the insurance company representing the medical professional who caused your child’s harm?

Our birth injury lawyers can ensure you receive sufficient compensation for your child’s future needs.

Our outstanding lawyers will work on your behalf to ensure you are compensated for:

• All rehabilitation expenses
• Payment for medical devices
• Funds to alter your home, including the installation of wheelchair ramps, grab bars, and handrails
• Therapy with occupational, physical, and speech therapists
• Funds for a wheelchair van
• Other expenses include transportation costs to medical appointments, equipment purchases, and modifications to your home or vehicle

Put Our Dedicated Aurora Birth Injury Lawyers to Work on Your Behalf

If your child was injured at birth, you might be entitled to compensation if it is determined that medical malpractice played a role in their injuries.

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC has helped clients recover millions of dollars in damages to care for their disabled children and ensure they can lead happy and productive lives into adulthood.

Contact an experienced birth injury lawyer at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form for immediate legal advice.

Arrange a free consultation with one of our award-winning Aurora birth injury attorneys to collect the information we need to investigate your medical malpractice claim and inform you more about your legal options.

Our birth injury lawyers work solely on a contingency fee basis, which means our success is always tied to the success of our clients in recovering the compensation they deserve.

If we fail to do so, you are guaranteed that our services will cost you absolutely nothing.

Aurora Birth Injury Lawyers Resources:

• NIH – Birth Injury
• NIH – Neurological Neonatal Birth Injuries