Brain Injury at Birth

Houston Birth Injury Attorney Michael Grossman on Brain Injuries Caused by Medical Malpractice at Birth

If you have reason to believe that a brain injury caused at birth is responsible for your child’s suffering, you may have merit in seeking compensation for your incurred damages through a Texas medical malpractice lawsuit.

However, understanding what causes brain injuries at birth and the legal ramifications of seeking compensation as a result of such birth injuries can be a daunting task. However, Texas medical malpractice lawyer Michael Grossman offers the following informative article to help you understand the various types of brain injuries that can happen at birth. If you have reason to suspect that your child may have been injured in such a fashion, consider contacting Grossman Law Offices in order to begin the legal process to seek compensation that could go a long ways toward assisting you with financial losses like mounting medical bills, your child’s pain and suffering, or other such expenses you’ve incurred as a result of your child’s brain injury caused at birth.

Brain Injuries Caused at Birth

Brain injuries caused at birth can be caused by many factors, including medical malpractice. The effects of such brain injuries can range from minor, where such an injury may clear up of its own accord within a few days or weeks, to severe, where the medical ramifications of such a brain injury can result in the need for a child to have life-long medical care. Consequently, understanding birth injuries, especially for first-time parents, can be a difficult process, especially if a parent has cause to believe that a birth injury as a result of medical malpractice has caused their child harm in any way. Furthermore, properly assessing a birth injury can be difficult since the birthing process is essentially a traumatic event in which certain, moderate injuries are normal during a healthy pregnancy, labor, and birth.

For example, common types of birth injuries can include any or all of the following, and are not cause for great concern. Bruising, either on the face or the cranium, happens because of the way in which a normally born baby, i.e. head first, must be pushed through the birth canal.

Pointy-headedness occurs due to the malleable, still-forming bones in a child’s skull, which allows the child to be pushed through the birth canal. Such a malformation should rectify itself within time. However, a negligent medical professional can cause serious to severe birth injuries because of a child’s soft head. While most of these types of birth injuries can be avoided, since medical professionals are trained to do their jobs with the utmost caution for the safety of the mother and the child, accidents can still occur that may result in life-altering effects on the child. When medical malpractice is to blame for such a brain injury at birth, the parent or parents of the injured child can seek compensation for their incurred financial losses, also known as damages, through a Texas medical malpractice lawsuit. Since a minor mistake during the delivery process may lead to a devastating life change for both the parents and the child, seeking such compensation is one way to ensure future financial stability as well as to hold a liable medical professional responsible for their negligent behavior. Houston birth injury attorney Michael Grossman can assist you in seeking such compensation against a negligent doctor, surgeon, obstetrician, or medical facility.

Types of Brain Injuries Caused at Birth: Skull Compression Injuries

Skull compression injuries are a common form of brain injuries caused at birth due to the soft bones located in a baby’s skull. Certain amounts of compression are normal in the birthing process, but undue amounts can cause lasting, detrimental results in regards to the child’s development, such as retardation, muscular disabilities, neural and sensory developmental disorders, difficulties with vision or speech, and circulatory problems. Types of birth injuries caused by skull compression include the following:

• Epidural Hemorrhage / Hematoma
  An epidural hemorrhage is a traumatic brain injury caused by a hematoma, or blood clot, forming between the skull and brain. The hematoma exudes pressure onto the brain, which can cause permanent damage to the part of the brain under pressure. The types of injury that occurs depends on what part of the brain has been affected. Such hematomas can be caused by blunt force trauma to the head, but can also occur due to intracranial bleeding. Epidural hemorrhages can be somewhat misleading in their diagnosis since newborns will often not exhibit any signs of distress, up to twenty-four hours after birth, as pressure builds within their craniums. However, once the pressure reaches a certain point, the newborn will lose consciousness. Such an injury often points to medical malpractice since the force necessary to create an epidural hematoma is often much greater than what is necessary to be used in a normal birth process.
  
  
• Subgaleal Hemorrhage / Hematoma
  A subgaleal hemorrhage is a brain injury caused by a hematoma located between the scalp and the skull. Such hemorrhages often develop between 24 and 48 hours after birth, but more severe instances can appear sooner. Since this area in a newborn’s head can often contain nearly half of a newborn’s blood supply, medical professionals must keep a vigilant watch over any hematomas that may develop in that particular area. A failure to do so could result in the child going into shock or dying and could be cause for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Subgaleal hematomas can also lead to hyperbilirubinemia, a medical condition that can result in severe brain injury, retardation, or even death. While a subgaleal hematoma by itself is not grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit, any detrimental effects as a result of the hematoma not being treated can be legally actionable grounds for a Texas medical malpractice lawsuit.
  
  
• Cephalohematoma
  Cephalohematomas occur when blood clots appear between the skull and the scalp of a newborn. These types of hematomas often occur after an extended amount of labor or after the usage of a vacuum during the birthing process to assist in extracting the baby’s head from the birth canal. Cephalohematomas are often not cause for concern, but severe cases can lead to anemia, jaundice, hypotension, or can even be a sign of a possible skull fracture and infection.
  
  
• Caput Succedaneum
  Caput succedaneum is a medical term for, essentially, a bump on the head. They can appear on the scalp as large knots or bruises, which often resolve themselves within a few days. Such bruises have little effect on a newborn, other than a possible headache.

Types of Brain Injuries Caused at Birth: Hydrocephalus Injuries

When spinal fluid accumulates between the skull and the brain, the condition is known as hydrocephalus, formerly known as “watery brain.” Symptoms of hydrocephalus in a newborn can include:

• An abnormally large head
• A quickly growing head
• A scalp with a rounded soft spot
• Downward-looking eyes
• Seizures

Treatment for hydrocephalus involves surgical removal of the fluid and the addition of a shunt in the skull in order to assist with regulating the newborn’s cranial pressure. While hydrocephalus by itself is not a brain injury, brain injuries can occur if hydrocephalus is not treated correctly or quickly. Medical professionals that fail to notice fluid buildup or an infection may be liable for their negligence through a Houston medical malpractice lawsuit. Such negligence can result in serious harm to the child, which can include developmental delays, paralysis, or organ problems or organ failures.

Types of Brain Injuries Caused at Birth: Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) Injuries

Hypoxic means a decrease in oxygen to the blood has occurred. Ischemic means a decrease in blood flow throughout the body has occurred. Put together, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy means that a newborn has not received the necessary amounts of blood or oxygen to their brain during the pregnancy, labor, delivery, or birth process. HIE can result in severe injuries for the child. However, such injuries are often prevented by the proper use of monitoring techniques that must be used in every birth process assisted by a medical professional. These monitoring systems track a baby’s temperature and heart rate. If such monitoring is not conducted within a reasonable amount of time once an expectant mother has arrived at a medical facility, or if warning signs from such monitoring systems are ignored, and HIE develops, the medical professional involved in the monitoring process could be held liable for their negligence behavior through a Texas medical malpractice lawsuit.

The birth injuries that can occur due to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy can include epilepsy, retardation, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, seizures, or other types of life-long neurological conditions. Permanent injuries happen to about 20% of newborns that have experienced HIE. Another 20% suffer death before the birth process due to lack of oxygen. HIE is often diagnosed 12 to 24 hours after birth when a newborn experiences uncontrollable seizures. Other signs can include a newborn that is blue in color, which is a sure sign that something has gone awry during the birthing process. In this instance, a parent or parents may have cause in contacting a law firm in order to conduct an investigation to see if medical malpractice occurred resulting in their child’s injury.

Contact Houston Birth Injury Lawyer Michael Grossman

If you have cause to believe that your child suffered one of the brain injuries caused at birth described within this article, or if you believe a different type of birth injury may have contributed to your child’s suffering, consider contacting the Houston medical malpractice law firm of Grossman Law Offices at 1-855-392-0000 (toll free) for a free and confidential legal consultation. We can help answer your lingering questions and provide you with your possible legal options. Seeking compensation through a Texas medical malpractice lawsuit may be imperative toward you and your child’s well-being, as these types of brain injuries caused at birth can often result in costly, life-long medical care for your child. However, due to recent tort reform and the technical challenges of medical malpractice cases in Texas, seeking such compensation is a challenging task for those without the necessary experience to see a case toward a successful outcome. With 20 years of experience in personal injury cases, Houston birth injury attorney Michael Grossman has been defending his clients’ rights for two decades, working with their best interests in mind in order to see to it that they can stand to receive full and fair compensation from those that were liable for their injuries. We will come alongside you during this process so that you may be able to be compensated for your incurred financial losses like medical bills and your child’s pain and suffering as a result of medical malpractice. In seeking such compensation, you will also be working to hold such a negligent medical professional accountable for their actions so that future brain injuries caused at birth don’t have to cause further harm to other families or children.