Fact Sheet About Birth Injury
Although no one likes to consider statistics regarding birth injuries, the 2000 National Healthcare Quality Report estimated that a birth injury occurred in approximately six cases out of every 1,000 babies born. This sobering number means:
- Seventy-six children per day – approximately three every hour – are born with a birth injury;
- One out of every 9,714 people in the United States now living was born with a birth injury; and
- Birth injuries occur at a slightly higher rate in boys than girls: Approximately 6.68 out of every 1,000 male children were born with a birth injury compared to 5.08 out of every 1,000 female children.
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Common Types of Birth Injuries
Erb’s palsy
Erb’s palsy, which can occur after an injury to the brachial plexus and which affects the nerves in the newborn’s upper arms. Erb’s palsy can affect the shoulder, arm, or even the child’s entire torso.
Perinatal asphyxia
Perinatal asphyxia, which is simply a term to describe any loss or reduction in oxygen to the baby during the delivery process. The effects of perinatal asphyxia will depend on the amount of time it takes to restore sufficient oxygen to the newborn.
Bone fractures
Bone fractures, most of which will heal after a sufficient amount of time and which generally do not leave the newborn with any lasting effects.
Contact Our Law Firm to Handle Your Birth Injury Case Today
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The Philadelphia birth injury lawyers of Cohen, Placitella & Roth, PC are qualified to represent individuals who have sustained a variety of injuries during childbirth. We have been representing the rights of people injured in preventable accidents for more than 40 years and work hard to ensure that each client we represent gets the maximum amount of compensation possible.
Investigating Birth Injuries Requires Resources
The mere fact that your newborn infant suffered a birth injury does not automatically entitle you and your family to compensation. Instead, a successful birth injury case requires you to show that the level of medical care you and your newborn received from the hospital and/or medical professionals was substandard and below the level of care you could reasonably expect and this substandard care was the cause of your newborn’s birth injury. “Connecting the dots” between substandard care and birth injury is not always straightforward and can require a significant investment of time and resources.
Your testimony may play a significant role in your birth injury case as only you can explain the emotional impact your child’s birth injury has exacted upon your family. To establish the other elements necessary to succeed in your case, your attorney will call upon one or more medical expert witnesses. These experts will have had an opportunity to review the medical notes and records in your case and are will be called upon to render opinions as to the quality of care you and your newborn received as well as the causal connection that exists between this care and your newborn’s injuries.
The testimony of witnesses must be corroborated with physical evidence, and so your attorney will work to assemble medical records related to the birth, the results of any post-delivery care or examinations conducted on you and/or your newborn, any photographs, x-rays, or other images of the birth injuries, as well as financial documents that show the expenses your family has had to endure as a result of the birth injury. Finally photographs and exhibits relied on by your expert witnesses may also be necessary in order to help explain complicated concepts or to provide additional evidence of the impact your newborn’s birth injury has had on your family
This intensive investigation requires time and money that are oftentimes beyond those available to the family of a newborn child, much less one who has suffered a birth injury. That is why it is important to retain the services of an attorney who has the resources to complete such an investigation in a timely and efficient manner. Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C. will devote its resources and knowledge of birth injury cases to ensure your case is thoroughly investigated, necessary witnesses are identified and consulted, and the evidence you need to support your case is discovered and preserved.
Take Advantage of Our Free Birth Injury Consultation Today.
Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C. offers a FREE CONSULTATION.
Contact us today to discuss how we can helpPhiladelphia Office
2001 Market St Suite 2900
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 567-3500
Fax: (215) 567-6019
