Blog: Birth Injury

What Pregnant Women Should Know About Preeclampsia

Feb 13, 2025

Preeclampsia is a condition that affects pregnant women and it can be life threatening for women and their unborn children. A woman is diagnosed with preeclampsia if she has high blood pressure (meaning greater than 140 systolic or 90 diastolic) and, after 20 weeks of pregnancy, has a finding of protein in her urine, a low blood platelet count, elevated liver enzymes, fluid in her lungs, headaches or visual disturbances. Tests to Confirm Preeclampsia If a woman is...

Birth Injury Insight: What is Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)?

Feb 7, 2025

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) is a devastating brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow to a baby’s brain during or shortly after childbirth. The effects of HIE can be catastrophic, often leading to long-term developmental disabilities, cognitive impairments, motor dysfunction, and even death. For families affected by this condition, navigating the legal complexities of HIE-related lawsuits can feel like an uphill battle. What Causes HIE? HIE is caused by a significant reduction or interruption...

Identifying Common Birth Injuries

Feb 7, 2025

Though we expect medical providers to ensure the safety of mothers and their babies during pregnancy and birth, mistakes can happen at any point in the process leading to birth trauma. Birth injuries can cause long-lasting physical, psychological, and cognitive effects to your child. If a negligence-related accident during pregnancy or birth caused your child to suffer injuries, you may be able to seek compensation for your family. Attorneys at Anapol Weiss have decades of...

Investigating a Birth Injury Case: What You Need to Know as the Parent

Feb 6, 2025

Birth injury cases involve claims against medical professionals – obstetricians, nurses, midwives, and other staff, for a failure to properly diagnose and treat women who are pregnant or in labor, thereby causing harm to their unborn baby. These cases can take many different forms—from failing to diagnose preeclampsia to improperly interpreting fetal monitoring strips during labor. Thus, it is important when selecting a personal injury firm to investigate your potential birth injury case, you hire...

What Pregnant Women Should Now About Severe Jaundice in Newborns

Feb 5, 2025

Understanding the Risks of Severe Jaundice in Newborns Welcoming a new baby is a joyous moment, but it also comes with concerns – especially regarding your newborn’s health. While jaundice is one of the most common conditions in newborns, with mild cases typically resolving on their own, failure to diagnose or treat severe jaundice properly can lead to devastating consequences. In the most extreme cases, mismanaged jaundice can result in kernicterus, a form of brain damage...

Discrimination In Maternal Healthcare Is Real

Mar 27, 2024

It was reported this morning that former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader Krystal Anderson passed away unexpectedly after giving birth to a stillborn infant. Anderson’s cause of death was stated to be sepsis, and little is being reported at this point about the cause of the infection, the specific prenatal care she was receiving, or the cause of her child’s death. Anderson was a health advocate who placed great importance on all persons having access to...

Cephalopelvic Disproportion and Birth Injury Negligence

Apr 10, 2019

Cephalopelvic disproportion is the term for an infant’s head that is too large to fit through the mother’s pelvis. Appropriate diagnosis of cephalopelvic disproportion typically results in the physician scheduling delivery by cesarean section. When a physician makes a mistake or negligent oversight during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, cephalopelvic disproportion can go undiagnosed. This could put both mother and child at risk, and lead to birth injury negligence. If you believe your doctor committed medical malpractice...

What is C-Section Negligence?

Jan 17, 2019

A caesarian section, what doctors usually refer to as a C-section, is a major surgery; it comes all the complications of other types of surgeries. Unlike most other surgeries, however, this one usually involves the additional challenge of caring for a baby during recovery. In some cases, medical negligence and improper aftercare instructions can lead to C-section infections, which can require additional treatment and hospitalization for new mothers. A medical malpractice attorney can help you determine...

Can I Sue for My Child’s Birth Injury?

Feb 3, 2016

Mothers do their best during pregnancy to give their unborn babies the best start possible. They have less control over what happens once labor begins, and they put their baby’s well-being in the hands of physicians, nurses and medical staff. In most cases, babies are not hurt during birth. On some occasions, however, a medical mistake leads to the death or injury of a newborn. What happens next? Can a family file a lawsuit for their...

What is Perinatal Hypoxia and is It a Preventable Birth Injury?

Jan 13, 2016

Perinatal hypoxia, meaning the lack of oxygen to an unborn child during labor and delivery, can occur if signs of certain complications during labor and/or delivery are not caught in time by medical staff. This dangerous oxygen deficiency in an infant can have life-threatening effects. The condition can cause long-term neurological complications that range from behavioral deficits to severe seizures and cerebral palsy, according to an article published in the Journal of Biomedicine and Biomedical Technology. For...