The widespread awareness of the condition comes with one benefit: a growing number of residents are working hard to ensure that children with cerebral palsy are accommodated whenever possible so that they do not miss out on any aspect of childhood or community living in general. Combined with advances in the design and manufacture of technologies and tools to help account for challenges, those with cerebral palsy have a good a chance as ever before to live full lives with minimal adaptations as a result of physical or cognitive impairments.

None of this is to say that the injury is sometimes not debilitating. But it is important to recognize the progress that has been made in recent decades to bring all community members into the fold, including those who suffer birth injuries like CP.

Similarly, it is critical to recognize those experts in the health and well-being of these patients who have done so much to advance the knowledge around the condition and expand access to quality treatments, rehabilitation tools, and other resources to ensure those with cerebral palsy are able to develop to their full capacity.

Cerebral Palsy Center
One of those unsung heroes is Dr. Jan Brunstrom-Hernandez who was recently profiled in a Fox News article for her career working on CP issues. The doctor founded the Cerebral Palsy Center in St. Louis fifteen years ago and has worked with adults and children with the condition for year.

Dr. Brunstrom-Hernandez has a particularly unique perspective when working with her patients. That is because the doctor herself has cerebral palsy.

As a young girl, the doctor was surrounded by medical professionals who helped in her own development. However years later, as a practicing physician, she was saddened to learn that little had changed for cerebral palsy patients, as children were receiving the same treatments that she did as a little girl decades before. She wanted to change that, and so she helped found the cerebral palsy clinic that is still going strong today.

Discussing her passion for the work, the doctor explains, “"I have gotten as much or more out of taking care of these patients as they have ever gotten from me. It changed my life. They saved my life. They taught me how to believe in myself. They taught me how to look at myself differently."

The world is a different place today for children with cerebral palsy than it was even a few decades ago. However, while more tools are available, they still come with a cost. That is why it is critical for families not to leave any stone unturned when it comes to procuring the resources necessary to pay for all the care needed. In some cases, when the injury was caused by negligence, then legal liability may be had. Please contact our Chicago cerebral palsy lawyers for guidance on your case.

See Other Blog Posts:

Unique Malpractice Case: Tubes Tied Without Consent After C-Section

Doctor Cleared of Liability in Birth Injury Lawsuit

Unique Birthing Malpractice
While excessive force and oxygen deprivation resulting in the development of cerebral palsy are the birth injuries that often make-up newspaper headlines and blog posts--there are others.

For example, Lawyers.com published a post this week on a unique case where a woman is suing her doctor for tying her tubes (to prevent a future pregnancy) after having a C-section. The woman claims that she did not want her tubes tied and had no idea the doctor performed the operation while she was sedated. The case is a complex one, with claims of a signed consent form and raising issue of informed consent in the medical context.

According to reports, the woman was shocked to learn about the procedure when she went to her doctor to receive birth control pills. The doctor explained that she did not need them, because of the tubes-tying procedure a few months earlier.

The plaintiff alleges that the doctor mentioned that she did not need any more kids because she had enough already--a 22 year old with three children. Conversely, the defendant-doctor claims that a consent form was signed which clearly indicated the plaintiff’s understanding of the tubes-tying procedure and the implications.

Malpractice & Informed Consent
As the story has been framed thus far, it seems clear that the matter will center on the apparent consent form, whether it was signed and whether the patient actually knew what she was signing. The idea of informed consent can be a confusing one, because it is far different than malpractice claims alleging outright errors on the part of the medical professional.

On one hand, it is easy to assume that if the patient signed the form, that’s the end of the matter. However, courts have long explained that random formalities are not enough for a medical professional to perform procedures---the patient need to “actually” know what they are agreeing to and understand the implications. That may occur--even with a signed form--particularly if the patient was in the midst of a medical event at the time, rushed to sign many documents, and not made explicitly aware of what a particular document indicated. After all, we all sign so many things when in the hospital that it is very easy to overlook one page. It would be natural to be upset if such a paper allowed the performance of a surgery that one did not necessarily need or want.

See Other Posts:

Doctor Cleared of Liability in Birth Injury Lawsuit
Tubal Reversals, Ectopic Pregnancies, and Birth Injuries in Illinois

In fact, the opposite may be true. When a case goes to trial, the burden is still on the plaintiff (injured child and family) to produce sufficient evidence to prove negligence. Sometimes that burden is hard to meet, and judges and juries routinely find for doctors. This basic concept is important to reiterate whenever faced with arguments from those seeking to change legal rules as a result of “runaway verdicts” or excessive lawsuits.”

For example, just this month the Press Herald reported on a case in which a birth injury lawsuit verdict went against the plaintiff. According to the report, the case was filed by a mother who essential claimed that excessive force was used during delivery. That force apparently led the child to suffer a brachial plexus injury--the nerve bundle near the shoulder that control’s ones’ arm, hand, and finger.

The case eventually went to a trial that lasted for six days. Shortly thereafter the jury returned a unanimous verdict for the defendant. They did not believe that the doctor acted negligently causing injury to the child. In fact, per the rules of the state where the trial took place, a medical malpractice “screening panel” had previously heard evidence in the case and issued a ruling. Their ruling was similar to jury’s --unanimous in favor of the doctor.

Experienced Birth Injury Lawyers
For one thing, the above case is a reminder of the reality that plaintiffs often lose these medical malpractice cases. In addition, it is also a way to reiterate one often overlooked fact: the skill of the advocate matters. That is not to say that the legal professionals in this case could have done anything more to change the outcome. Instead, it is just a reminder that not all legal advocates are the same.

Attorneys can take the same set of facts and pursue different strategies to best show that negligence occurred and liability should be found. Similarly, seasoned professionals are best able to understand the likelihood of success of any case given the circumstances of the injury and evidence available to prove malpractice. This plays into possible settlement negotiations before the trial.

For local residents this is a reminder that experience matters. There is a world of difference between having the aid of a legal team that has only worked on a few cases like yours or having an advocate on your side that has worked on birth injury cases for decades. The experienced attorney is simply better adept at understanding the possibility of recovery and using that to shape fair settlement negotiations or trial strategy.

For experienced help on your birth injury case in Chicago or elsewhere in Illinois please contact our attorneys today.

See Other Posts:

Researchers Fails to Explain Risks to Premature Babies

Tubal Reversals & Birth Injuries in Illinois

Ectopic Pregnancies Are Often Misdiagnosed
Ectopic pregnancies sometimes require surgical intervention, but in other instances can be treated with methotrexate, a chemotherapy technique that removes the fetus from the fallopian tube in an attempt to avoid life-threatening complications to the ectopically pregnant woman. However, according to a recent article published by ABC News, roughly 40% of pregnancies diagnosed as ectopic are later revealed to be normal pregnancies. For example, according to the article, one woman who was administered methotrexate after being diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy gave birth to a daughter who had no rectum, vagina or uterus and also had a malformed spinal cord. Per the article, the mother has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit and a jury trial is scheduled for early 2013.

Several Published Illinois Cases Contain Fact Patterns Involving Failed Tubal Ligations
In one of those cases an Illinois resident was informed that performance of a tubal ligation procedure would prevent further pregnancies by irreversibly obstructing her fallopian tubes. At trial, she testified that her doctor never advised her at any time that he had lacerated her fallopian tube during her tubal ligation surgery, a mistake which her doctor admitted could have caused the procedure to be ineffective. She subsequently experienced an unwanted pregnancy, and after that she experienced an ectopic pregnancy.

In another case parents brought a medical malpractice action alleging that failed tubal ligation resulted in the birth of a child with congenital hyperactivity disorder. The Supreme Court of Illinois did not allow the parents to recover their damages, because it determined that the birth defects were not a foreseeable consequence of a negligently performed sterilization procedure.

Reversal of Tubal Ligations Does Not Eliminate the Risk of Ectopic Pregnancies
Even if a tubal ligation is reversed, a costly procedure, coverage for which is not mandated by the Affordable Care Act, there is an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy following the tubal reversal surgery. Thus, the women who qualify for free tubal ligations under the Affordable Care Act should carefully consider the risks of their decisions prior to choosing tubal ligation as a sterilization option.

See Related Blog Posts:

Five Birth Injury Lawsuits Filed Against a Single Hospital

Mother files wrongful death lawsuit over preventable pregnancy complication

Elements of Informed Consent

As with informed consent to a medical procedure, three elements must be present in obtaining consent for participation in a medical study: capacity, voluntariness, and disclosure. Capacity refers to an individual’s ability to understand the circumstances and make decisions for him or herself. Voluntariness refers to an individual’s right to make a decision freely without being manipulated or coerced. The third element is often the trickiest: researchers must make a full disclosure of the foreseeable risks and benefits of participating in the study, so that volunteers can make an independent and educated decision about whether to participate. When researchers do not adequately make such disclosures, study subjects are unable to make fully informed decisions about their participation.

Lack of Informed Consent in Studies on Premature Babies

Failing to disclose risks to study participants is particularly troublesome when it comes to children, as they do not even have the capacity to consent. A recent article in the New York Times indicates that the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) has found that a study on the effect on oxygen levels for extremely premature babies failed to inform the parents of the serious risks, including blindness and death.

This study, spanning across 23 academic institutions – including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Stanford, Duke, and Yale – involved approximately 1,300 babies who were born at somewhere between 24 to 27 weeks of gestation. Despite the fact that the researchers had enough prior information to warn parents that differing levels of oxygen might have different impacts on their babies’ chances of developing eye diseases or even of dying, the OHRP found that the consent forms made no mention of such risks. Ultimately, 130 babies in the low oxygen group died, while 91 babies in the high oxygen group developed eye diseases that could lead to blindness.

Since the OHRP’s findings are so new, it will be interesting to see if the parents decide to pursue litigation against the researchers for failing to warn them about the serious risks of eye disease and death that their babies could face in the study. Although the article indicates that the babies’ extremely early births made them more susceptible to blindness and death anyway, that does not change the fact that the parents had the right to be fully informed of the likely risks their babies would face in the oxygen study.

Many of the issues surrounding informed consent in research are very similar to the issues regarding informed consent for medical procedures. If you or someone you know think that you have been subject to any procedure without being fully informed of the risks, consider obtaining guidance from an attorney who deals with these issues.

See Other Blog Posts:

Birth Injury Lawsuit Part of Important Supreme Court Ruling

Understanding Brain Cooling & Birth Asphyxia

Types of Damages in Birth Injury Cases
People often associate all large verdicts with “punitive” damages. Punitive damages are not meant to compensate a victim for their specific harm but instead seek to punish the wrongdoer. It is helpful to understand that large verdicts in birth injury cases almost never involve punitive damages. Instead, they refer to compensatory damages--to “compensate” the victim.

Many of those who decry large verdicts in these cases may be confused about the purpose of the award. Even though paying large verdicts may seem like a punishment, that is not the purpose in these cases. Attorneys working on the matter provide juries (or the opposing party in settlement discussions) with very specific reasons for all damage requests. It is not some large number plucked out of thin air and intended to penalized medical providers for their errors.

Punitive Damages
However, that is not to say that punitive damages are never possible in birth injury matters. But it takes a truly unique situation for such damages to be appropriate--shocking or egregious conduct. This week Justia published a handy primer on the history of punitive damages. It is a great introductory essay that explains how these awards came about and their current limits under state and federal law.

The story notes how some refer to punitive damages as “quasi-criminal,” because the “punishment” aspect of the award is more akin to a criminal sanction than to the usual civil law purposes of providing compensation to make an injured party whole. In fact, those hit with large punitive damage awards--usually large businesses, insurance companies, and other chronic defendants--have made legal arguments over the last few decades suggesting that punitive damages violated the federal constitution.

At first defendant’s argued that the award violated the “cruel and unusual punishments” clause in the document which prohibits excessive fines. Yet, judges struck down that argument early on, because it doesn’t apply to suits filed by private parties. Later, claims were made that the large awards violated the due process clause in the 14th Amendment. Defendants have had a little more success in this regard, as some cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that certain punitive damage awards (the very largest) may violate the 14th Amendment. In reaching those decisions, the Court noted that a reasonableness factor must come into play, as the punitive damages likely should not be untethered to the size of compensatory damages. They noted that punitive damages over 10x the compensatory damages may be excessive.

As it stands now, there is still murkiness in the law regarding when the damages are appropriate and how much is too much. For birth injury purposes, however, this is rarely an issue that matters. An attorney who works on these cases can explain how damages might work in your matter.

See Other Blog Posts:

Birth Injury Lawsuit Part of Important U.S. Supreme Court Decision

Current National Zinc Shortage May Endanger Babies

Birth Injury Damages
Of course, because of the size of some verdicts, these cases are often pointed to by “tort reform” advocates as a sign of “jackpot justice.” Those wishing to take away the legal rights of injured patients find value in plucking out random birth injury decisions and using them as some sort of “proof” that legal rules have to be changed.

This represents a gross misunderstanding about how legal damages work. These damage awards are not guessed out of thin air, but based on calculations about the real consequences of an injury on one’s life which was caused by negligence.

Even then, many families must fight to ensure they receive a full award after a judgement. There are frequently many competing claims on part of the funds. For one thing, if any public money was spent on the plaintiff’s care (usually via Medicare or Medicaid programs), then the state may seek to recoup those funds out of the judgement. Often that reimbursement drags out for months (or even years), extending the time a family has to wait before seeing any recovery. And in some cases, the reimbursement demand is excessive. In fact, a case recently reached the U.S. Supreme Court challenging one state law demanding large reimbursements following judgments in these cases.

Birth Injury Case At U.S. Supreme Court
As reported by the Hickory Record, the original case involved claims by a family that their child suffered severe disability, including cerebral palsy, as a result of negligence during her birth by emergency C-Section. The family filed a lawsuit against the medical provider and eventually settled the matter for $2.8 million. However, a law where they lived (North Carolina) demanded that one-third of that settlement automatically be handed over to reimburse the state for Medicaid payments. This automatic reimbursement did not account for specific bills paid. Instead, it was simply a shortcut that made it easy for the state to receive large sums from families affected in this way.

Eventually, the state law was questioned and challenged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Fortunately, in a recent opinion, the high court struck down the state law as inconsistent with federal requirements that prohibited this exact conduct. The opinion noted that the federal anti-lien provisions do not allow a state to pluck an arbitrary number out of thin air as reimbursement. Instead, the reimbursement must be tied to actual payments made. This is a logical decision that will hopefully ensure that no family in a birth injury case (or any civil action) lose an excessive portion of their judgment or settlement

See Other Blog Posts:

Current National Zinc Shortage May Endanger Babies & Others

Understanding Brain Cooling & Birth Asphyxia

Oxygen Deprivation at Birth
Most birth injuries affecting the brain stem from asphyxia--when the brain is deprived of oxygen for an extended period of time. Many birth injury lawsuits have been filed in just these cases, because the prolonged oxygen deprivation is often caused by failure on the part of medical teams to act in a timely manner or to properly pick up on signs of fetal distress. Medical malpractice is not implicated every time that a child suffers a birth injury affecting the brain, but in far too many cases it is actually preventable.

Fortunately, medical experts have been working on different ways to minimize the harm caused by oxygen deprivation. One of the most promising (and now somewhat standard) procedures involves “brain cooling.” A recent article in Medical Express touched on how the cooling works to minimize long-term harm to infants following birth asphyxia.

Pointing to a New England Journal of Medicine study, the article explains how in high-income countries (like the United States), brain cooling is standard procedure. It involves lowering the infants overall body temperature (using water, ice, or cooling blankets) for an extended period of time. This can last for a few days. The goal is that the “cascading” effect of the brain damage can be stalled by cooling the organ. Different examinations of the effect of this cooling have found that there is a clear decrease in mortality rates for infants who are treated by this cooling method after the birth injury.

The most recent research into the effects on infants in lower income countries is less clear. It is not yet possible to determine if brain cooling improves long-term outcomes. This might seem odd. What would the difference be between infant outcomes depending on where they live? Shouldn’t the brain react the same way to a treatment regardless of the average income of the country where the child is born?

The answer is that it is a mistake to conclude that the mixed results with regard to low income countries somehow means that brain cooling doesn’t work. Instead, it is a product of the fact that the cooling is just one part of a complex series of treatments that infants need to survive after these complex births. They may be far less likely to receive that other care in lower income countries.

In other words, for those in Chicago and throughout Illinois, brain cooling remains an important medical tool if your infant suffers oxygen deprivation during birth. Though it is important to remember that the cooling is often not a permanent cure that wards off any ill effects. Many children will still suffer some long-term harm and need specialized care to account for possible detrimental effects. In those cases, when the deprivation may have been aggravated by inadequate medical care, then a birth injury lawsuit may be appropriate.

See Other Blog Posts:

The Value of Childbirth Education Classes

Call for Support for Medical Errors Documentary

Sadly, these birth errors are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to medical mistakes that strike across the country. As our attorneys have often pointed out, reports indicate that upwards of 100,000 deaths every year in the U.S. may be attributed to medical mistakes of one kind or another. These are staggering numbers that have not declined even though the problem has been documented for decades.

Clearly more awareness is needed to push for change. It is with the goal of awareness that a new documentary film focused on medical errors is attracting Kickstarter donors. Kickstarter is the web’s most popular crowdfunding site where anyone can easily money to help support various projects.

The Wall of Silence
The latest med mal documentary project (View Here) is entitled “Breaking the Wall of Silence.” According to the description of the project, the goals include raising awareness of the scope of the problem as well as sharing information on those who are working to turn things around. For those of us working on situations where medical mistakes cause severe harm, those goals are obviously welcomed and supported.

The filmmakers explain how estimates suggest that nearly 100,000 patients are killed each and every year as a result of preventable medical errors. But, unlike other industries, the medical community has not made much of a dent in the injury rate over the last few decades. Comparisons are often made with the aviation industry, where intense standardizations and safeguards have drastically cut the number of aviation deaths over the years. Many have called for a similar focus on minimizing harm in the medical world. Yet, much work is needed before that goal is reached.

Fixing The Problem
Besides offering various real-world examples and first-person stories to highlight the problem, the filmmakers hope to share information on medical professionals who are working to address the problem. For example, the Kickstarter page mentions Dr. David Mayer, a patient safety leader who is working to change the way mistakes are responded to and ultimately prevented. His general focus is on documenting best practices in a range of capacities so that we have a clear of what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to safety protocols that limit unnecessary patient injury.

In fact, a focus of the film is following Dr. Mayer as he develops and implements a new strategy at various hospitals all with the goal of minimizing medical errors. The film crew plans to film the entire “journey,” providing fascinating perspective on how mistakes can be addressed in the future.

See Other Blog Posts:

The Value of Childbirth Education Classes

Human Evolution & Childbirth Risks

More and more information is coming out, however, of steps that mothers can take to minimize the risk of a preventable accident striking. One of those steps is education classes. Recently the Seattle PI published a story geared toward mothers that provided various why childbirth classes are “worth your time.”

The Value of the Classes
The blog post tried to explain why mothers should not forget the value of traditional, in-person education classes. The author argues that online options--articles, video clips, and other educational alternatives--might not completely offer the same value as the classic education class. While the shortcuts may be tempting, particularly for those with already packed schedules, it may be worth the effort of squeezing in a regular class.

For example, the story notes that one overlooked benefit is how the classes provide both parents a chance to block away time to discuss the process together. More than just a time for mothers to learn about what to expect, it is a guaranteed time for couples to bond.

Importantly, taking a traditional class also guarantees the the information that one receives is accurate and up to date. While the internet is obviously a bastion of endless resources, it often can be overwhelming. New things are learned and best practices change from year to year (or even month to month). Searching for information online may be a road to following outdated information. By attending a class with a trained teacher who is able to answer all questions immediately, mothers can be confident that they aren’t getting second-hand, skewed, or obsolete knowledge.

Traditional classes also provide a layer of accountability. Just as many gym-goers find that a personal trainer ensures that they have a good workout (even though they can exercise on their own), signing up for a traditional childbirth class is a way to ensure one does not push off need for education by delayed at-home research.

Hoping for a Healthy Birth
Education classes are obviously only one piece of a large chain of events from conception to a birth. The injury attorneys at our firm urge all local mothers to do their best to ensure that their little one has the best chance to enter the world without harm. Yet, there is only so much that any family can do. Sometimes developmental problems exist anyway. And at other times a traumatic birth is not handled properly by medical care providers, leading to injury. In the latter case, a birth injury lawsuit may be appropriate to ensure accountability and access to resources to provide resource to account for the injury. Consider contacting our office for more advice on these matters.

See Other Blog Posts:

Human Evolution & Childbirth Risks

Helping Those with Cerebral Palsy Learn to Speak

However, many families who have youngsters with cerebral palsy continue to hold out hope that at some point down the road medical advances will change all of that and open the door to possible cures or significant improvement. There have already been some hints at how they might develop, and one promising area involves new surgeries that can significantly improve the mobility of many children with cerebral palsy.

Another area receiving significant attention relates to “cord blood.” For example, a KVOA story shared information on a local family whose two year old was born with cerebral palsy which causes significant feeding and breathing issues. As all families in similar situations understand, these issues present severe challenges--it is never easy to raise a child and ensure they reach their full potential, especially with these added medical challenges.

Cord blood may offer hope for a better future. While still in the early trial phases, the idea is that treatment with the stem cells found in that cord blood may prove the answer to providing long-term solutions for the condition. The toddler in this case was recently enrolled in one unique trial involving 1,000 other children with cerebral palsy. He is currently undergoing treatments. His mother explained that she is “hoping he'll be able to lead a life where he can do things on his own and he's not going to need my constant care."

Newborn Possibilities Program
This particular trial is supported by the Newborn Possibilities Program. According to the program website, the goal of the nonprofit group is to explore various ways that a newborn’s own cord blood can be used to help restore function by regenerating damaged tissues via stem cells. This mission is accomplished by the entity providing grants to medical institutions that are conducting trials in this area. Beyond cerebral palsy, there is hope that stem cells found in cord blood can help in a range of areas, including diabetes, traumatic brain injury, and hearing loss.

Cerebral Palsy & The Law
It goes without saying that all of us hope that these treatment options advance and more choices are provided for families with children facing cerebral palsy and other birth injuries. As it stands right now, beyond specialized equipment to help adapt to challenges, the only tool for families is physical therapy to build strength and maximize mobility.

Where possible legal accountability comes into play in these situations is when the injury itself is connected to medical negligence. In those situations where a medical team does not act appropriately during a birth--often making mistakes in the middle of the process--then they may be accountable for the subsequent harm. That accountability may mean providing support so that equipment and therapy are available. If cord blood therapies prove successful, that might also mean that down the road those therapies might be fit into damage awards in birth injury lawsuits.

See Related Blog Posts:

Helping Those with Cerebral Palsy Learn to Speak

Cerebral Palsy Treatment & Umbilical Cord Blood Cells

Evolution: Good, but not Perfect
Our species reigns supreme on the planet thanks to many of our most unique evolutionary adaptations. Most notable of those is our relatively large, complex brains which we can thank for our sophisticated analytical ability and perhaps our consciousness. Combined with bipedalism, our species has spread to virtually every corner of the globe and continues to thrive.

However, those with an understanding of evolution also understand that the process is inherently incomplete. We continue to evolve year over year--but the process is so slow that it is virtually impossible to distinguish even when looking over the entire course of human history. The incomplete nature of evolution also means that we continue to possess certain traits or attributes that are not necessarily perfectly adapted--or even necessary at all. Many of those “extra” or ill-designed parts of our body come with vulnerabilites

Everything is also a “trade-off” with one change coming with benefits and downsides. For example, our ancestors walked on all fours. When our species adapted to walk on two feet, it freed the hands to use on other things while moving--a very useful change. However, this also caused more strain on the spine, likely leading to the back pain that is common for humans.

What about childbirth?

Evolutionary biologists explain that the same principles also apply to childbirth. In particular, our evolutionary design via natural selection is one reasons why births are always risks--for both mother and child. One anthropologist interviewed for the story explained: "If you want to look for examples of how we're not the result of intelligent design, you don't have to go far — just look at the complicated, uncomfortable way we have babies.”

One of main problems is actually the size of the human brain. Our brain growth is obviously critical to our success. However, this also requires the human head to be larger during development and upon birth. A larger head is far harder for the mother to birth, making childbirth much riskier. It is no wonder that in times gone by, death while giving birth was incredibly common.

Of course, we are fortunate in modern times to have the benefit of a range of medical professionals, midwives, sophisticated prenatal care, complex medical technology, emergency response protocols and more. All of this is necessary to counteract some of the inherent risks of birth caused by the give and take of evolution. However, as far too many families discover in tragedy, when that care does not exist or is below accepted modern standards of care, then a serious birth injury or even death can result.

If you or someone you know may have been harmed as a result of inadequate medical care during childbirth, please reach out to our office to see how we can help.

See Other Blog Posts:

Manner v. Cause on a Death Certificate

ICU Deaths and Misdiagnosis

Knowing the difference between the injuries that could and could not have been prevented is a crucial skill that attorneys must master. Proving that standards of care were breached leading to a birth injury therefore requires understanding of many other facets of the birthing process in which malpractice was not an issue. Those alternatives are essentially a foil, helpfully illustrating the difference between preventable and non-preventable injuries.

Down Syndrome
For example, one of the most well-known genetic condition affecting children is Down Syndrome. As explained by the National Down Syndrome Society, the condition is actually the most common chromosomal abnormality in humans. It is cause by the presence of all or part of an extra copy of “chromosome 21.” Those with Down Syndrome often face unique intellectual challenges and may suffer from physical growth problems.

Because the condition is genetic, its existence can be detected well before birth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about 1 in 700 children born each year have Down Syndrome.

A Rise in Recent Years
In fact, there has been an increase in children born with Down Syndrome and other conditions related to an extra chromosome. According to new research, the recent rise may be due to more mothers becoming pregnant later in life. As explained by an University of Ulster story, in Europe the percentage of mothers giving birth over age 35 has increased by 13% over the last two decades. Older mothers come with drastically increased risk of potential genetic abnormalities in children. For example, mothers over 40 have 17x the risk of giving birth to a baby with Down Syndrome compared to mother in her 20s.

New research discussing these issues was recently published in European Journal of Human Genetics. The study found that about half of children with Down Syndrome have mothers who gave birth over the age of 34. These rates were also found with two other (rarer) conditions related to genetic abnormalities: Edward Syndrome and Patau Syndrome.

In summarizing the situation the authors explained, “While the total rates for these three syndromes have increased steadily since 1990, the number of cases resulting in a live birth has remained stable over time in Europe. This is largely due to the increased rate of prenatal diagnosis and subsequent termination of the pregnancy.”

Many birth injuries and developmental abnormalities are connected to problems other than potential medical malpractice. For tailored guidance on how the facts of your situation may or may not indicate possible medical errors, please contact the birth injury attorneys at our firm to learn more.

See Other Blog Posts:

New Study on Benefit of Outside Support During Pregnancy

Helping Those with Cerebral Palsy Have a Voice

The Benefits Comprehensive Prenatal Care
The latest research effort was summarized in a KSTP News story this week. Researchers examined the effect that increased physical, emotional, and educational support had on childbirth. In this way, the research took a look at the possible benefits of more wide-ranging support--not just bodily treatments (i.e. watching one’s diet). In total, the study suggests that this comprehensive support for mothers may go a long way to ensuring healthier babies are born and less medical care (and cost) is needed down the road.

Specifically, the university researchers measured the benefit of using “doulas” during pregnancy for low-income families. A doula is essentially a trained individual who acts as a support and educational companion for the mother during the pregnancy. A doula is not one who takes the place of a medical doctor, but instead compliments medical services by offering a range of help for mothers during their pregnancies. According to this new research, the support that these individuals provide may go a long way to improving the lives of both mother and child.

One of the lead researchers on the project from the university’s school of public health explained, “Birth advocates are fond of saying, 'Every woman deserves a doula,' and our research shows that that's probably true."

From a financial perspective, the researchers found that state support for pregnancies--for mothers using public healthcare services--can be cut by use of doulas as a result of the positive outcomes. Most notably, the study found that low-income mothers who were provided the support of a doula had a 40% lower chance of needed a Cesarean section. C-section births are notoriously more expensive (and come with higher risk of complications). Therefore, the impact of lowering C-section rates alone may be enough to justify the costs of provide extra support before a birth to expectant mothers.

Our Chicago injury attorneys appreciate that If these findings are verified elsewhere or implemented in policy changes, Medicaid program rules might be changed to expand coverage for support services like a doula. Right now billions of dollars are spent nationwide on paying for the extra costs of C-section deliveries and the resulting increase in birth injuries. If that number can be cut significantly, then it would be financially prudent to direct Medicaid resources to cover aides like doulas.

See Other Blog Posts:

Helping Those with Cerebral Palsy Learn to Speak

Legal Liability & Maternal Injuries