Having a baby is supposed to be one of the happiest moments in a parent’s life. Any delivery can be painful, scary, and even traumatic, which is why your doctor is responsible for taking care of your health and your baby’s health during this time.
Unfortunately, not every birth goes according to plan, and complications may arise, leading to serious injuries to you or your child. A lack of oxygen to your baby during birth can cause serious brain damage that carries life-long consequences.
Exactly how long it takes for brain damage to set in due to a lack of oxygen will vary from infant to infant. Generally, brain damage becomes possible after only 3 to 5 minutes without breathing.
After 10 minutes, an infant may suffer serious brain damage. Any longer and there is a significant risk of death due to the lack of oxygen.
While each case is different, brain damage is a possibility after only a few minutes without oxygen.
If your baby was born with brain damage from not breathing, you should immediately call our Baltimore birth injury attorneys.
While some cases result from prenatal or delivery conditions outside anyone’s control, other cases are caused by the negligence of medical professionals. Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free, confidential legal consultation.
Brain Damage in Infants from Not Breathing
Delivering a baby is a complex medical procedure that requires the skills and knowledge of a medical professional. Many complications could occur during pregnancy or birth that a parent would be unable to spot.
Your physician is there to make sure everything goes smoothly and your baby is healthy. When there is a lack of oxygen, known as birth asphyxia, the baby may suffer damage to the brain.
The extent of brain damage depends on a variety of factors. the level of oxygen deprivation will certainly play a role. For example, in some cases, oxygen is completely cut off.
This is referred to as anoxia and can cause brain damage rather quickly, perhaps in only a few minutes. Hypoxia is when the flow of oxygen to the baby is reduced but not totally cut off. This type of oxygen deprivation is also very dangerous but may cause brain damage over a longer period of time.
How long a baby cannot breathe before brain damage sets in will depend on the level of oxygen deprivation and other factors surrounding your baby’s conditions.
If your doctor quickly spots the oxygen deprivation and treatment occurs quickly, brain damage could be avoided or minimized.
However, medical negligence could lead to life-long brain damage and disability for your child. Possible outcomes include cerebral palsy, a birth injury commonly associated with an infant’s inability to breathe during birth.
Cerebral palsy often presents serious, long-term complications that leave an infant with permanent disabilities.
Our Baltimore brain injury attorneys for brain damage in infants can help you get the compensation you and your child deserve after suffering at the hands of a negligent medical professional.
Call our offices to discuss your case with our skilled and experienced legal team.
Medical Negligence and Brain Damage in Infants Caused by Suffocation
Safe birth and a healthy baby are not always guaranteed. Anyone who has had a baby can tell you that a doctor is necessary to take care of the mother and child’s health throughout the pregnancy and during the birth. When medical professionals make mistakes and behave negligently, children can get hurt.
The causes of asphyxiation in infants are not always clear. In some cases, the cause is physical trauma. In others, the cause may be due to something unseen, like a mother’s health condition that makes delivery dangerous. In any case, your physician should be monitoring your health and any trauma hazards.
If a doctor fails to identify a potential trauma factor and your baby suffers from brain damage caused by asphyxiation, you may be able to file a lawsuit and claim damages. Even if your doctor did not directly cause the trauma or brain damage, they might be responsible for failing to prevent it.
Contact our Baltimore childbirth injury lawyers for a legal consultation about your case and the circumstances surrounding your child’s injuries. If your infant was unable to breathe during delivery, they could suffer serious brain damage.
Filing a Lawsuit for Infant Brain Damage from Not Breathing
Filing a lawsuit for brain damage suffered due to asphyxiation or a traumatic birth is a complicated process that requires the assistance of skilled attorneys. Our attorneys for brain damage in infants will stand by your side and guide you through this process during this difficult time.
Your lawsuit is likely to be one of medical malpractice. Medical malpractice lawsuits are meant to hold negligent medical professionals responsible for the harm suffered by their patients due to their behavior.
However, doctors are not usually held liable if their actions were based on what they thought was the best course of action at the time. The fact that your physicians made the wrong decision does not mean their decision resulted from negligence.
However, if you believe your doctor made a mistake that they reasonably should have known to avoid, they may have been negligent and should be held responsible for your infant’s injuries.
Doctors should be able to identify serious birth complications like when an infant is not breathing. If your child was unable to breathe and suffered brain damage as a result, your doctor might have been negligent.
When filing a lawsuit for your newborn’s brain damage, we will need medical evidence to support your claims. This often means visiting several other doctors who will examine your child and determine the cause of their condition.
We will need the supporting testimony of medical experts to identify the cause of your baby’s brain damage and offer expert opinions as to how it was caused. Call our birth injury lawyers for help.
Call Our Attorneys for Birth Injuries from Obstructed Breathing for Help
If your child was born with brain damage, you might be facing life-long disabilities and expensive treatments. Our birth injury attorneys can help you claim the compensation you need to take care of your child. Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free legal consultation.