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Recent Blog Posts
Did Getting Poor Healthcare From My Doctor Cause Me to Miscarry?
Women in Illinois who experience a miscarriage often experience overwhelming grief, trauma, and physical pain. While miscarriage is a fairly common experience, that does not make it any easier if it happens to you or someone you love. Beyond the sadness of the loss of a life that a mother may already feel she knows and loves, miscarriages can also be extremely painful and result in additional physical complications. Although most miscarriages happen naturally, sometimes they occur because of the careless actions of a doctor or hospital. When this happens, parents may wonder whether they can take legal action.
What Causes Miscarriages?
Miscarriages happen for many reasons, most of which are spontaneous and occur because something has gone wrong in the developmental process. Common causes of miscarriages include, but are not limited to:
- Abnormal fetal development, including genetic problems
Sepsis After Childbirth May Be a Sign of Medical Malpractice
Pregnancy and childbirth are difficult processes that present significant dangers to Illinois women. Certain behaviors from a woman’s obstetric healthcare providers, such as negligence or malpractice, can seriously compound these dangers to the point that women may suffer from life-threatening injuries and maternal mortality.
One leading cause of maternal mortality is that of maternal sepsis - a dangerous infection that generally begins in a woman’s uterus and triggers a full-body immune response system severe enough to injure organs and other bodily tissues. While sepsis is generally more dangerous to women who already suffer from other health issues, it can injure and kill healthy women as well. If a woman you love has been injured or killed by sepsis after childbirth because of medical malpractice, you may want to meet with an experienced Illinois maternal mortality attorney.
My Wife Suffered an Amniotic Fluid Embolism During Childbirth. Can I Sue Her Doctor?
The birth of a child is a wonderful experience for most parents, but it comes with significant risks and dangers to mothers. Maternal mortality in the United States is significantly higher than other developed nations with comparable health systems, and neglectful or careless acts on the part of healthcare providers can seriously endanger the health and even the life of a mother before, during, and after childbirth.
One rare but potentially lethal risk to Illinois mothers during childbirth is that of an amniotic fluid embolism. An amniotic fluid embolism occurs when the amniotic fluid surrounding a baby in the mother’s uterus gets into the mother’s bloodstream. It can be difficult to know whether an amniotic fluid embolism has occurred and doctors must be on the alert for signs of a potential embolism so treatment can be secured immediately. If a doctor misses obvious signs of an amniotic fluid embolism or fails to order effective treatment, the mother can suffer serious health complications, including death. If your wife or partner was injured or died from this condition, you may want to meet with an experienced Illinois maternal mortality lawyer.
Periventricular Leukomalacia - What Is It, and How Does It Happen During Childbirth?
While the birth of a child is typically a joyous event for parents, it carries serious risks to both an infant and her mother. One rare but potentially debilitating risk is periventricular leukomalacia, or PVL, which can occur when brain tissue is injured or dies. While the cause of PVL can be difficult to determine, a lack of blood flow to the brain during childbirth is clearly linked to PVL and PVL is much more common in preterm infants.
Doctors and nurses in Illinois who are delivering an infant or caring for a pregnant mother must be aware of any risks that could contribute to the development of PVL. If your infant has suffered from periventricular leukomalacia, you may want the help of an experienced Illinois birth injuries attorney.
What is Periventricular Leukomalacia?
PVL is when damage occurs to the white brain tissue near fluid-filled chambers in the brain known as ventricles. White matter in the brain acts as an agent of communication between nerve cells, the spinal cord, and different parts of the brain. Damaged white matter can cause growth and motor function issues in young children, including cerebral palsy and learning disorders.
Could My Infant’s Spine Have Been Damaged at Birth?
Every day, parents in Illinois experience the joy of welcoming their newborn into their arms. For some parents, however, what should be an exciting experience turns into a nightmare when a delivery becomes complicated and an infant suffers severe injuries or death. Spinal cord injuries during childbirth are rare, but they have life-threatening consequences for babies who suffer from them. A lifetime of intensive medical care may be necessary, and your child may never be able to live independently. If your infant suffered from an avoidable spinal cord injury during childbirth because of negligent medical care, consider getting help from an Illinois birth injury lawyer.
Neonatal Spinal Cord Injuries
While spinal cord injuries do not happen often, when they do happen, they nearly always have catastrophic consequences. Right away, doctors and parents may notice an alarming lack of movement, loss of reflexes, breathing issues, and no response to painful stimuli. Many infants who suffer from spinal cord injuries ultimately pass away, and those who live generally have long-term consequences that include:
Was my Child’s Cerebral Palsy Caused by Medical Malpractice at Birth?
Cerebral palsy is a complex group of neural disorders that can cause weakness or damage to the development and function of someone’s brain and how it communicates with his or her muscles. Different people exhibit different symptoms of cerebral palsy, and the effects can range from mild difficulties when walking to permanently debilitating intellectual or physical conditions that require full-time care.
Cerebral palsy can be caused by many factors before, during, and after birth when a child’s brain is rapidly developing. Most cases of cerebral palsy are thought to be congenital, meaning they develop through no fault of the child’s parents or healthcare providers. In some cases, however, poor medical treatment during childbirth can cause birth injuries that cause cerebral palsy. If you are worried that your child has suffered brain damage because of the negligent or careless actions of your provider, read on.
Can I Do Anything if My Chicago OB-GYN Failed to Diagnose My Preeclampsia?
Pregnant women in Illinois are at an increased risk of many injuries and diseases. Every year, around 700 women in the United States die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, and experts estimate well over half of these deaths could be prevented with proper medical care.
Preeclampsia is a particularly dangerous condition that tends to happen later in pregnancy. Left undiagnosed and untreated, preeclampsia can cause serious complications and birth injuries that can be fatal for a mother and her child. It is crucial for maternal medical caregivers to recognize signs of preeclampsia early and monitor patients very carefully. When an Illinois doctor fails to diagnose preeclampsia and the mother or child suffers, it may be possible to successfully claim damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Understanding the Risks of Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia is a medical condition characterized by high blood pressure coupled with abnormally high protein levels in urine and swelling throughout the body. Usually, preeclampsia does not appear until after 20 weeks, although it can come earlier than that and, rarely, even after delivery. Preeclampsia is thought to happen when new blood vessels responsible for nourishing the infant during pregnancy do not develop correctly. They do not allow enough blood to flow through them, causing high blood pressure throughout the rest of the mother’s body.
Should My Doctor Have Repositioned My Breech Baby Before Birth?
The best position for an infant during delivery is in vertex, or headfirst, position. An infant’s skull is naturally flexible, and the passage of a headfirst infant through the birth canal usually allows the rest of the body to follow smoothly. When infants are not positioned headfirst shortly before delivery, they are considered “breech.”
Breech infants may be foot, back, or bottom first - anything position that places the infant’s head towards the mother’s chest instead of the birth canal is considered breech. Although most infants will naturally reposition themselves around week 36 of their mother’s pregnancy, when an infant does not, doctors must take action to ensure the baby is safe during delivery. If a doctor does not correctly recognize and address a breech baby, serious birth injuries can occur.
How Can a Doctor Help a Breech Baby?
Doctors have several options when addressing a breech baby. These include:
What If a Medication My Illinois Doctor Prescribed Caused Birth Defects?
When our doctors prescribe us medicine, we usually trust them to know what is best for our health - after all, they have significant training and experience and any Cook County doctor who prescribes medicine is expected to ensure the expected benefits outweigh any risks. Unfortunately, the companies that make medicine do not always correctly describe adverse effects, and not all doctors exercise appropriate caution when prescribing medicines to pregnant women.
Pregnant women are particularly at risk from dangerous prescription drugs. Certain drugs are known to cause permanent harm to a developing fetus that can result in serious complications. These complications can be life-threatening, and, even when they are not, they can result in years of expensive medical treatment and necessitate 24/7 caregiving. If a baby suffers birth defects or birth injuries because of a medication error during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, there may be a possibility of recovering compensation.
Serious Birth Injuries Can Cause Long-Term Hearing Loss
Childbirth can be a difficult but joyous experience. However, when things do not go according to plan, complications can occur that may result in harm to the child or mother. Doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel must monitor the mother and infant carefully, ensuring the highest standard of medical care is met and taking quick and effective action to address any complications.
Sometimes, the medical staff does not give their patients the care they need. When this happens during childbirth, the birth injuries that may result can have devastating long-term consequences. One of these consequences may be full or partial hearing loss. It is important to understand when improper medical care during childbirth can cause hearing loss.
Common Causes of Infant Hearing Loss
Most cases of hearing loss in infants happen because of genetic factors, such as an inherited syndrome or a random genetic mutation. However, non-genetic hearing loss may be caused by a traumatic event or series of events during childbirth. Some common traumatic situations that can result in full or partial hearing loss include:
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