If your child encountered shoulder dystocia during delivery, not only will you remember, it’s likely you have experienced birth trauma as a result. When an infant’s shoulders are lodged in the birth canal, every second is counted aloud. Labor and Delivery nurses are on standby ready to perform what is called Suprapubic Pressure to assist in forcing the baby out. The doctor may even perform a painful cut called an episiotomy and use frightening looking instruments like a vacuum extractor or forceps to force the baby out. When this kind of emergency happens, there is little concern for the emotions or pain of the mother giving birth. All attention is on saving the life of the baby.
Contact Teal Law Firm online or call 707-525-1212 to speak with an attorney who is experienced in birth injuries and shoulder dystocia in particular.
Irreparable Harm to the Baby
If your baby suffers from the effects of shoulder dystocia following a difficult birth in a Santa Rosa hospital or anywhere in the Bay Area, you owe it to your child to learn all that you can about why and whether corrective measures may help.
Typically, shoulder dystocia occurs when a baby becomes trapped behind the pelvic bone during delivery, and the OBGYN feels compelled to extract the baby in a way that causes irreparable harm to the baby’s shoulder. The result may be that the child is unable to use that arm.
Can Anything Be Done About Shoulder Dystocia? Who Will Pay for Surgery, if Indicated?
Sometimes, prompt surgical intervention by specialists can help to mitigate or reverse the damage caused by shoulder dystocia. If this is a possibility in your baby’s situation, you want to do anything that you can to maximize the chances of salvaging the baby’s use of the affected arm.
If surgery will not help your baby who suffers from shoulder dystocia, he or she will likely encounter numerous challenges in the coming years. Physical and occupational therapy, psychological counseling and perhaps special education may be needed to help the child cope and deal with dysfunction caused by the shoulder dystocia.
How and Why Did the Shoulder Dystocia Occur? Get Answers.
Was your OBGYN negligent during delivery of your baby, resulting in the birth injury? Did the doctor fail to diagnose high-risk conditions while you were pregnant, and a C-section could have been scheduled? Questions like these, and the answers that accompany them are best left to experienced birth injury attorneys. At the law offices of Teal & Montgomery (with offices in both Sacramento and Santa Rosa), our lawyers know how to pursue and find answers to such questions.
Clear answers that point to medical negligence may open the door to a birth injury claim or lawsuit that will provide your child with the financial resources that he or she will need to cope with the life-altering physical repercussions from shoulder dystocia at the time of birth.
Contact A California Fetal Distress Attorney
Our team of dedicated, skilled medical malpractice attorneys includes a doctor who is also a lawyer. The entire law firm of Teal & Montgomery is prepared to work tirelessly on your child’s birth injury case if we decide to take it on, and you choose to retain our legal services on a contingency basis.
We welcome you to contact us or call 707-525-1212 to schedule a free initial consultation at your convenience. A Santa Rosa shoulder dystocia lawyer can visit you in your home or hospital if necessary.