Parents who learn their child has suffered a birth injury are often left with dozens of questions concerning next steps including what treatment options are available? What will my child’s future look like? How did the injury occur? Was it preventable? Did the doctors and other healthcare providers act as they should have? Was my child harmed as the result of medical malpractice?
While questions concerning your child’s treatment option and medical course of action are best left to healthcare professionals, experienced California birth injury attorneys can help explore the actions surrounding the birth injury and help you determine whether negligence conduct played a role in causing your child’s harm.
An attorney can work with you to collect the relevant medical records and begin an investigation into the mother and infant’s care to make an initial assessment whether the standard of care was followed, and whether a breach of the standard caused your child’s injury.
For example, it is important to review whether your physician or other health care professional provided adequate prenatal care. A review of the medical records could help determine whether the necessary tests were performed, and if necessary preventative measures were taken to address any risks, complications, or concerns. Proper prenatal care can identify potential issues, and reduce the likelihood of a lifelong injury occurring. The failure to identify and act on certain risk factors such as gestational diabetes, fetal distress, and preeclampsia, may be outside the standard of care. Further, during the delivery itself, if doctors, nurses and other hospital staff fail to act appropriately when complications arise – such as the failure to order an emergency C-section or the use of excessive force in delivering an infant with shoulder dystocia – this may also be considered negligent medical care and grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Birth injury cases are often complex and require extensive review by attorneys and medical experts. If you believe your child may have been harmed by medical malpractice, it is important to contact an experienced Los Angeles birth injury attorney immediately to conduct a thorough investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding your case. For more information, please contact our compassionate birth injury lawyers at Bostwick & Peterson, LLP for an immediate consultation.
