Every parent wants their baby to be born healthy. Pregnant mothers eat right and see their physician regularly to ensure their baby is safe throughout the pregnancy. The exciting day a child is born can quickly become a frightening one when the birth does not go as planned. Discovering your child has cerebral palsy can be frightening and frustrating.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects the brain and nervous system. The condition can be contracted while in the womb and up to two years from birth, but has lifelong complications. Cerebral palsy is caused by abnormalities or injuries of the brain in a fetus, infant, or toddler.
Cerebral palsy symptoms can range from mild to severe, but if treated early, the effect of many symptoms can be reduced, leading to a normal life for some patients. T here is no cure for cerebral palsy.
Common incidents that result in cerebral palsy are bleeding of the brain, infections, jaundice, and head injury. Although some cases are the unfortunate result of abnormalities in a fetus's development, some infants develop cerebral palsy from the force applied by the forceps during the birth process.
Forceps are commonly used during delivery to grab the baby's head and assist its passage through the birth canal. They are most typically used when the baby is not positioned properly in the birth canal.
If forceps are not used properly during the delivery, they can cause injury to the head and spinal cord of the baby, leading to a cerebral palsy diagnosis. Poking and prodding at the fetus with forceps can cause irreparable damage. Families in Columbia concerned about whether their child's cerebral palsy was the result of negligence may want to consult with a St. Louis medical malpractice attorney.
Precautions Can Help Prevent Injury
Fortunately, there are several precautions medical professionals can take to make sure this devastating birth injury occurs less frequently. One precaution is using external fetal monitoring to track the fetus's heart rate during contractions. Electrodes are attached to the mother and she is then asked sit in a manner that allows doctors to see the fetus's heart rate.
Another external test is a non-stress test, during which a mother eats and drinks while hooked up to an external fetal monitor to see if digestion stimulates the fetus. A contraction stress test measures if the fetus is getting enough oxygen from the placenta during contractions.
Another, more invasive way to keep track of the health of a fetus is to place electrodes on the fetus's scalp. Though the results of this type of test can be more conclusive than an external monitoring system and can be used to confirm suspicious external monitoring results, it is an uncomfortable procedure for the mother.
Mothers should be sure to ask about the different types of fetal monitoring during pregnancy and make provisions for their use in their birth plan. With these tools available, mothers will reduce the risk of birth injury-including cerebral palsy-to their newborns.
If you believe your child may have developed cerebral palsy because of physician or hospital staff negligence, it is important you speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney to review your case and discuss your options.
