The tragic effects of medical errors during pregnancy, labor, and delivery can manifest themselves in any number of ways. While many birth injuries are readily apparent right after a child is born, others may not make themselves known until months or years later. Such can be the case with cognitive learning disabilities.
Many of the acts of medical malpractice that happen during childbirth involve damage to the infant’s brain. A newborn can be deprived of oxygen and experience asphyxia due to a physician’s failure to detect and address a twisted umbilical cord, for example. Similarly, the negligent use of forceps or vacuum extractors can harm an infant’s brain by putting it under undue pressure or depriving it of sufficient blood flow.
Birth injuries that impact an infant’s brain can lead to long-term challenges for both the child and their parents. In addition to physical, emotional, and psychological difficulties, oxygen deprivation and other birth injuries can be the root causes of learning disabilities and cognitive issues as the child grows.
What Learning Disabilities Can Be Related to Birth Injury and Trauma?
Among the learning disabilities associated with birth injuries are:
- ADD
- ADHD
- Asperger Syndrome
- Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Delayed language development
- Difficulty speaking or communicating
- Dyslexia
- Difficulties with fine motor skills
- Memory problems
- Non-verbal learning disorders (NLD/NVLD)
Did A Birth Injury Cause Your Child’s Learning Disability?
When you discover that your child has a learning disability, you will want to know what treatment and resources you and your child will need to address and hopefully overcome the challenges that lay ahead. But you will also want to know WHY this happened. Not all learning disabilities are caused by problems during labor and delivery. Genetics and chromosomal issues or other irregularities not caused by medical malpractice, such as premature birth, can lead to cognitive difficulties. However, if doctors, nurses, or other medical professionals made mistakes during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, there is a distinct possibility that those errors led to the learning disabilities that have changed your family’s life forever.
What Steps Can You Take to Find Out?
If your child is diagnosed with a learning disability, there are steps you can take to help determine whether it is related to or caused by a birth injury:
- Consult with your child’s pediatrician or other health care professional about the possible causes of the disability.
- Reach out to your obstetrician and treating physicians at the hospital to discuss your child’s condition and review any problems that may have occurred during birth.
- Merely discussing the situation with the doctors or staff involved during pregnancy, labor, and delivery isn’t enough. You’ll want to know whether your doctors are being honest with you about what happened. To do that, you need to take additional steps to get the answers you deserve:
- Obtain your child’s medical records and have them reviewed by an independent physician who can offer an unbiased opinion on any correlation between a birth injury and your child’s learning challenges.
- Retain an experienced birth injury attorney to review the child’s history, determine whether an act of medical malpractice occurred (in consultation with a medical expert), and explore whether you have any claims for compensation and damages.
If you are looking for answers after a birth injury impacting your child, I may be able to help you. I understand that the trauma of a birth injury can upend the lives of whole families, leading to a lifetime of challenges, burdens, and expenses that no amount of parental love can make go away. But parents and children alike should not have to go through such struggles alone, especially if they are the result of a preventable medical error. Parents need help, answers, and the compensation that can help them move forward.
If your child suffered a birth injury, or you have concerns that their cognitive difficulties may be the result of a medical error during childbirth, please reach out to me today at 816.931.1400 to arrange for a free consultation. I welcome the opportunity to help you.