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How One Medical Error Can Turn Joy to Terror
Childbirth should be a milestone filled with happiness. But for some California families, that joy is replaced by fear when preventable medical mistakes cause a newborn to suffer a brain injury. These injuries often have lifelong consequences — and leave parents facing uncertainty, grief, and overwhelming financial and emotional burdens.
Such scenarios are by no means uncommon. The United States is one of the most dangerous places in the developed world for new mothers and babies, according to published research. Hundreds of women die in the U.S. during childbirth annually. Another 30,000 newborns suffer an injury during birth. Many of these injuries cause serious brain damage leading to lifelong complications.
What makes these incidents even worse is that so many -- up to half according to recent studies -- could have been prevented. Simple and preventable medical errors are often to blame.
While modern medicine has advanced to the point where we take safe delivery of babies almost for granted, medical complications arising from childbirth still injure thousands of babies every year. are the primary cause of birth-related injuries and deaths.
Some of the most dangerous injuries are to the newborn brain. Medical errors may lead to:
These injuries are often directly related to a delayed response by medical staff during childbirth complications. Other factors may include a failure to diagnose the distress of a fetus or newborn, misuse of birthing drugs or tools or the failure to order a timely C-section.
All of these situations can result in death or brain damage, leaving babies with reduced quality of life and forcing parents to assume unimaginable emotional and financial burdens. While some victims of brain damage may improve over time, others are consigned to a life of diminished capacity.
Fortunately, the legal system protects babies and their parents who have been victimized by a brain injury suffered at birth.
Finding an experienced attorney is critical to seeking justice.
A brain injury can affect every aspect of a child’s life — motor skills, cognition, speech, movement, independence, and long-term health. Some children improve over time, but many face permanent disabilities requiring:
For families, the emotional and financial burden is enormous.
Not every complication is malpractice. Under California medical malpractice law, parents may have a claim when:
Examples include:
These are avoidable mistakes — and the law allows families to pursue justice when negligence leads to a preventable injury.
Birth injury cases are among the most complex types of medical malpractice. They require:
Working with a law firm experienced in birth-related brain injury cases gives families the strongest chance of securing compensation for medical costs, lifelong care, lost earning capacity, and the pain and suffering caused by negligence.