Worldwide, roughly 40 million women develop long-term health issues and concerns as a result of childbirth. While the number of incidents is lower in America, birth injuries can happen to both the mother and child at any point during delivery. Even with top-notch medical facilities, birth injuries can and do happen. Your Pennsylvania birth injury attorney can help you explore your options if you’re injured during childbirth. But it’s helpful to know the common injuries to watch for.
The Most Common Maternal Birth Injuries
Some injuries are more common than others. Here are some of the most common and frequently occurring maternal birth injuries that women experience.
Damage to the Pelvic Floor
Damaging your pelvic floor can result in life-altering changes that can make resuming your normal activities more difficult. While these injuries are not fully preventable, there are things the medical care team can do to monitor risk during pregnancy and treatments or therapies you can use to help aid recovery if the damage is caught early. Unfortunately, many women don’t discover pelvic floor damage until well after their pregnancy.
Vaginal Tears
Vaginal tears are common in first-time pregnancies and result from vaginal deliveries. The tissues can tear if they don’t stretch enough to accommodate the baby during delivery or if the baby’s head is larger than average. Most tears heal on their own, but some may require surgery. If a doctor fails to identify severe tears and surgery is delayed, it can complicate recovery.
Postpartum Hemorrhage
Postpartum hemorrhage happens in roughly 18% of births. This type of hemorrhage results in extremely heavy bleeding after birth. While it can happen immediately after birth, it can also take up to 12 weeks for bleeding to develop. This injury can be prevented by swift action and monitoring by the medical team assisting in delivery. Failure to accurately diagnose the condition may leave you open to filing a lawsuit with the help of an experienced Pennsylvania birth injury attorney.
Common Causes of Birth Injuries to Mothers
Here are some of the common causes of birth injuries to mothers in Pennsylvania:
- Negligence in care: Doctors are responsible for providing the highest quality care they can. If they misdiagnose, fail to identify injuries early on, miss critical risk factors, or fail to monitor your pregnancy accurately, a routine birth could turn into a high-risk birth, increasing the risk of injury.
- Mistakes made by the medical care team: Even experienced physicians can make mistakes. If your medical care team delays your birth, prescribes the wrong medications, or uses medical tools and devices improperly, they could increase your risk of injury.
- Delays in c-sections: Making the decision to deliver via c-section can reduce the risk of injury to both the child and the mother. But delaying the c-section could result in injuries to both the mother and the child. These birth injuries can be severe and may result in life-altering conditions.
If you believe you suffered a birth injury as a result of negligence or mistakes made by the medical care team, you may be able to file a lawsuit.
What to Do if You Think You Have a Case
The best thing you can do if you’ve experienced a birth injury or know that your child suffered a birth injury is to speak with an experienced Pennsylvania birth injury attorney. They’ll be able to review your case and help you decide if you’re eligible to file a lawsuit against the hospital and the medical professionals involved in your delivery.
If successful, your lawsuit could help you get compensation that you can use to pay for treatments, therapies, and ongoing care.
Schedule a Consultation Today
Birth injuries can result in life-long conditions that make it difficult to return to the life you know and love. Contact Latona Law today to schedule a free consultation and let our Pennsylvania birth injury attorneys evaluate your case.