Cerebral palsy is associated with injuries during childbirth, with roughly 10,000 babies being diagnosed with the condition each year. Cerebral palsy can result in lifelong challenges, affecting a child’s ability to move and motor functions. When cerebral palsy is the result of a birth injury, it is most often completely preventable.
Our legal team understands the grief that comes with a cerebral palsy diagnosis. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you deserve answers. With over 30 years of experience representing the families of medical malpractice, our Harrisburg cerebral palsy attorneys are ready to fight for you.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is the most prevalent movement disorder in children. In simple terms, cerebral palsy means brain weakness. It is caused by damage to the brain, which can take place during childbirth. Symptoms range between individuals. While some children may experience mild impairment, other children will require lifelong care.
Symptoms of cerebral palsy may include any of the following:
- Ataxia: Lack of muscle coordination and balance issues
- Spasticity: Stiff muscles
- Delays in speech and development
- Dyskinesia: Uncontrollable movements
- Variations in muscle tones, either too stiff or floppy
- Trouble with fine motor skills
- Trouble walking: Can range from scissor-like gait, crouching down while walking, or a wide gait
- Favoring one side of the body
Cerebral Palsy and Forceps-Assisted Deliveries
Any excessive pressure placed on a baby’s head during the birthing process has the potential to cause brain damage. When cerebral palsy is the result of a birth injury, it is usually the result of a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Excessive pressure most often occurs during a forceps-assisted delivery. There are two main reasons that a medical professional may elect to perform a forceps-assisted delivery:
- Labor is not progressing (the infant is not descending down the birth canal)
- The infant is not positioned correctly to come out of the birth canal: A baby should ideally be in an occipito-anterior position (facing down, headfirst). A forceps-assisted delivery is most commonly used when a baby is in a cephalic occiput posterior position, colloquially referred to as “sunny side up.”
Forceps do increase the risk of having too much force placed on a baby’s head, making it a dangerous procedure. Sadly, even if the physician is trained in such a procedure, complications can still arise.
Benefits of Hiring a Cerebral Palsy Attorney
As an expectant parent, you place your trust into the hands of medical professionals. Physicians are not impervious to mistakes, and they must be held accountable for their actions.
You deserve to be compensated for your medical expenses and emotional stress. Finding the cause of your child’s motor function deficits will allow you to recover just compensation. When you hire a cerebral palsy attorney, you are hiring someone to advocate on your child’s behalf. Our legal team will investigate the circumstances behind your child’s birth and reveal any medical mistakes made by the delivering physician.
Speak with Our Harrisburg Birth Injury Attorneys Today
A cerebral palsy diagnosis can impede your child’s ability to live a full life. If you have fallen victim to a medical professional’s mistake, you deserve to be compensated for the agony you have gone through. To schedule your consultation, contact us online or call (717) 234-7828.