Did a medical mistake cause your child's cerebral palsy?

As mentioned earlier, medical mistakes are the cause of thousands and thousands of cerebral palsy cases. Doctors and hospitals make mistakes during delivery, and it these mistakes that could be the cause of your child's cerebral palsy. The following are just a few of the mistakes made during delivery that have caused children to be born with cerebral palsy.

* leaving the child in the birth canal too long causing a lack of oxygen to the brain

* failure to recognize and treat seizures following delivery

* failure to detect a prolapsed cord (the umbilical cord can wrap around the child's neck, cutting off oxygen to the brain)

* excessive use of vacuum extraction

* improper use of forceps

* failure to perform a cesarean section in the presence of fetal distress

* not responding to changes in the fetal heart rate

* failure to plan a c-section (a large birth weight infant could compromise a normal spontaneous vaginal delivery)

* failure to respond to the mothers changing conditions, such as high blood pressure or toxemia

* failure to timely diagnose and treat jaundice

* failure to timely diagnose and treat meningitis

The doctors and nurses caring for the expectant mother and unborn child are responsible for providing safe and effective care before, during, and after birth. When procedure is not followed, and the standard of care is broken, permanent brain damage to the unborn child can occur. So how can you tell if a medical mistake occurred during the birth of your child? The following are indicators that a medical mistake may have caused your child's cerebral palsy:

1. emergency delivery with forceps, vacuum extraction, or cesarean section.

2. your child required resuscitation (CPR) after birth.

3. following delivery, your child was transferred to a different hospital, or spent time in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).

4. your child had seizures immediately after birth, or within the first 3-4 days of life.

5. your child required special testing after birth, such as an MRI, or brain scan.

6. your child required oxygen to facilitate breathing after birth.

7. a specialist was called to care for your newborn.