When a newborn sustains a serious injury during birth, you may be left wondering if the incident was due to natural or unavoidable causes, or if a doctor's mistake caused your newborn baby to suffer. Known as one of the most complex areas of the law, medical malpractice is a term used to define a doctor's wrongful or negligent actions in regards to a patient. Medical malpractice comes in many different forms, ranging from cancer misdiagnosis to medication error to wrong-site surgery to wrongful death; any person can be the victim of medical malpractice. Very few incidents, however, can be as powerfully devastating as malpractice in the form of a birth injury. Knowing that a doctor's actions caused a child to become injured at birth – that this child and family will suffer from this pain for a lifetime – can be one of the most difficult scenarios to understand.

Contrary to common belief, birth injuries are not always those injuries that surface immediately after birth. In cases involving the lack of oxygen to the newborn's brain, the child may not develop any symptoms until age three or four. Developmental delays, which are seen in many birth injury cases, may not surface until the child has passed this toddler-age. For example, many children who suffer from the actions of a negligent doctor during birth are not diagnosed with cerebral palsy until after they reach the age of two; the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children should not be diagnosed until this age, except in rare cases. In most cases, where a child does not immediately and drastically show signs of cerebral palsy, they are unable to receive the benefits available to children and families of cerebral palsy.

What other types of birth injuries can be caused due to medical malpractice? Two of the most common types of birth injuries are caused due to a lack of oxygen to the brain, or asphyxiation, and injuries caused by trauma at birth. Besides for cerebral palsy, which is defined as a motor coordination dysfunction due to an injury to the brain, birth injuries can be caused by the outcome of compression of the umbilical cord during labor or delivery, separation of the placenta before the baby is delivered, rupture of the uterus, prolapse of the umbilical cord during delivery, negligent use of forceps during delivery, premature delivery, post-term pregnancy, and more. The direct outcome of these actions can include Erb's palsy (often caused by brachial plexus), broken or fractured bones, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, kernicterus (often caused by high levels of bilirubin), meningitis, injuries caused by Pitocin during labor, and microcephaly, to name a few. Unfortunately, there are many things that can go wrong during the pregnancy and / or delivery process; yet it is still the doctor's responsibility to handle the situation to their best ability.

Are all birth injuries caused by medical malpractice? The honest answer to this question is no; not all injuries at birth or during the pregnancy are due to a doctor's mistakes, but a doctor's quick response can save or prevent permanent trauma from occurring in some cases. Injuries due to trauma before the mother reached the hospital or in a situation that was unavoidable in the hospital may not necessarily constitute medical malpractice. Additionally, cases where a child was diagnosed with a developmental disability or another type of life-long disability may not always constitute medical malpractice if the condition is unpreventable. Involving an attorney as soon as possible is the best option for a person who is unsure as to whether their child has been the victim of medical malpractice, as this area of the law is difficult to navigate. With help from a medical malpractice lawyer, you can understand your rights as a parent and the options you have to pursue the financial compensation you need to provide a better life for your child.