Kingston Breech Delivery Lawyer helping with birth injury complications
The birth of a child is a joyful occasion for parents, but it is also a challenging and stressful day. Childbirth can quickly go from being safe and successful to problematic or dangerous to either the mother or child. Without careful and expert attention from physicians and nurses attending the birth, mothers can suffer painful injuries and infants can become the victims of lifelong disabilities. A breech delivery lawyer at Rusk Wadlin Heppner & Martuscello, LLP can assist you with birth complications.
Certain risk factors make breech delivery more likely
Most fetuses that are in the breech position during pregnancy will eventually move to a head-down position prior to the 30-week mark. If fetuses do not make this transition naturally, and efforts to turn the baby via external cephalic version (ECV), the process of childbirth will necessarily involve greater complication. Certain women have a greater risk of their babies being in the breech position than others, including women who have had multiple pregnancies, women with placenta previa, women with a contracted pelvis, or cases where there is an excess of amniotic fluid. However, doctors have been safely delivering breech babies for generations and should be well aware of the risks entailed and how to address them during labor.
Doctors must make careful decisions about when to deliver naturally or via caesarian section
When a fetus is breech, doctors generally have weeks of time to consider how to handle the birth. Competent obstetricians should either have decided in advance to perform a caesarian section or, in cases where they believe that a safe vaginal birth might still be possible, be prepared for the possibility of an emergency caesarian during labor. Deciding whether to continue with vaginal birth or perform a C-section involves the consideration of several critical factors, including:
- The size of the fetus relative to that of the mother
- Whether or not the cervix is completely dilated
- Whether the medical facility has the necessary equipment to conduct continuous fetal monitoring throughout labor
If a doctor fails to follow established best practices for monitoring fetal development, preparing for, or carrying out a breech birth, and the mother or fetus is injured as a result, the doctor may be liable for medical malpractice.
What can go wrong during a breech birth?
Breech births can result in serious injuries, both to mothers and their babies, such as:
- Damage to the soft tissue and muscles of the baby’s back or lower extremities
- Brain damage due to compression or prolapse of the umbilical cord
- Damage caused by the head or neck becoming trapped
- Erb’s palsy or cerebral palsy
- Wrongful death
Our Kingston Birth Injury Lawyers can Help after a Breech Birth Injury
If you or a loved one has suffered injuries during a New York breech birth as the result of a medical professional’s negligence, contact the knowledgeable and compassionate Hudson Valley breech birth injury lawyers at Rusk, Wadlin, Heppner & Martuscello, LLP for a consultation on your case, in Kingston at 845-331-4100, or in Marlboro at 845-236-4411.
