Chattanooga Birth Injury Law Firm

Birth Injury Defined

A birth injury is any form of physical damage that is suffered during the birthing process. More specifically, a birth injury is any physical injury that is sustained when the infant is passing through the birth canal. During many births, infants incur minor injuries like swelling or bruising on their heads or on other areas of their bodies. Usually, these injuries will heal within a matter of weeks, if not days. However, there are unfortunate cases where infants sustain birth injuries that are permanent, debilitating and in some cases, fatal. 

In the latter cases, the infants will most likely need an abundance of medical treatment and may have to continue getting medical care for the rest of their lives. When this happens, not only will children have to suffer from the adverse physical and mental side effects associated with their birth injuries, but their parents will have to contend with immense grief, confusion and heartache, especially in cases where the birth injury was caused by a medical professional’s negligence.

Common Birth Injuries

The most common birth injuries that are sustained during the birthing process are head injuries, nerve injuries and bone injuries. These types of injuries are explained below:

Head Injuries: 
During the birth process, the infant usually exits the birth canal head first, which means that the physician or obstetrician who is helping deliver the baby will have to grab the head. In some cases, the medical professional may use too much force on the infant’s head or may use medical devices, like forceps, that can cause injury to the infant’s skull. This is why some babies sustain brain injuries, traumatic brain injuries and skull fractures.

Nerve Injuries: 
Nerve injuries tend to be rarer than head injuries. These types of injuries occur when medical professionals apply too much pressure to the infant’s fragile head and body parts, like the spinal cord. When the nerves are damages, the infant may develop paralysis or incur spinal cord damage.

Bone Injuries: 
Infants’ bones are extremely weak and dense, which is why medical professionals must be extremely careful during the delivery process. If a physician applies too much pressure or force on an infant, the infant’s bones could break or fracture. The most common fractures sustained during births are collar bone fractures.

Tennessee Birth injury Lawyer
Helping Victims of Birth injury and Negligence in Chattanooga
When your infant has sustained a serious injury at the hands of a medical professional, you should always speak with a birth injury attorney who is experienced in personal injury law and who is prepared to deal with medical related cases like Attorney Alexander W. Gothard.