Cerebral Palsy

Parents are hit hard the moment they learn that their child has cerebral palsy. After nine months of expecting the baby's birth, parents are often devastated when that baby is inflicted by an impairment caused by damage to the brain.

Cerebral palsy is a condition of the brain that affects the control of muscles and movement. It is non-progressive ailment yet often incapacitates the patient. A child with cerebral palsy is often shackled to a wheelchair and required a lifetime of professional medical care. The child's parents will suffer emotionally and will be forced to carry the heavy burden, both physical and financial.

The financial consequence to a lifelong treatment of cerebral palsy is the most difficult thing to handle by most parents. A rough estimate on the totaled expenses of a lifetime of cerebral palsy treatment costs is equivalent to over $500,000. This figure is quite overwhelming, especially when there's no one to ask help from.

Parents can turn to a cerebral palsy lawyer for legal help. This is especially true when the circumstances that lead to occurrence of cerebral palsy to a child are caused by bad medical practice.

Can You Really Blame Medical Malpractice for Cerebral Palsy?

In the US alone, thousands of babies and young children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year. The causes of cerebral palsy are still uncertain, but many evidences from numerous studies have shown that the damage to the brain incurred during and/or after childbirth may result to this.

The incurable cerebral palsy is believed to be caused by brain damage; but the factors that could lead to brain damage are certainly preventable. The hospital administration, the hospital staff, and the medical personnel are all responsible for the safety of both the baby and the mother during the birthing process. A number of measures should be taken by the hospital medical staff to provide protection to all patients.

Some basic precautionary measures are as follows:

1. Provide adequate oxygen supply to both the mother and the baby during delivery;
2. Examine the mother and child for any maternal or fetal infections so that diagnosis and treatment can be done immediately;
3. Prepare to perform a C-section operation to deliver child in case of emergency;
4. Knowledgeable use of equipment for child delivery; namely, vacuum extraction device and forceps; and,
5. Detect indications of fetal distress and respond at once.

Everyone in the medical profession knows that failure to abide to these basic safety rules may cause irrevocable damage to the brain of the newborn, which may result to cerebral palsy.

Contact a Cerebral Palsy Lawyer If:

1. The mother suffered difficulty while in labor and during child delivery.
2. The mother had an operation by C-section.
3. The baby was born by normal delivery but with use of forceps and/or vacuum extraction.
4. The baby needed resuscitation or had a seizure right after birth.
5. The baby had an infection (viral or bacterial), like meningitis.
6. The baby had jaundice.
7. Both the mother and the baby suffered any kind of complications during childbirth.

20-11-2008