A woman’s labor at the end of her pregnancy should culminate in the birth of her healthy, happy baby. The tragic truth is that for a small percentage of families in the United States, what could be the happiest day in recent memory becomes the anniversary of a tragedy.
Birth injuries are infrequent but still common enough to be a cause for concern among expected parents. There are two statistics in particular that may worry those who are expecting a child or preparing for pregnancy.
Some children get hurt during the birthing process
Although severe injury rates among newborn babies during labor and delivery are lower now than decades ago, they are still higher than experts would like and higher than in many other developed countries.
According to an analysis of reported birth injuries caused by mistakes and improper medical interventions, roughly one in 1,000 live births in the United States will result in some kind of preventable injury to the child. Fractures to the clavicle and brain injuries are some of the most common and devastating birth injuries that occur.
Infants may experience a poor outcome either when doctors intervene unnecessarily in the labor and delivery process or when they don’t intervene in a timely manner.
Women still die during labor
When compared with other countries that have modern medical infrastructure, the United States does an abysmal job providing safe maternity support to expectant mothers. Women are more likely to die during birth in the United States than in many other countries, quite a few of which do not have the medical system that the United States does.
Not only are these maternal fatalities tragic, but they are also unnecessary. Reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that more than 80% of maternal fatalities are preventable with appropriate medical care.
Both parents adjusting to their child’s diagnosis with a birth injury and grieving husbands who have lost their wives during complicated births may have the right to pursue medical malpractice claims related to birth injuries. Filing a birth injury claim can lead to financial compensation for your family and can also cause career consequences for the professionals who did not provide appropriate labor and delivery support.