Category Archives: Birth Trauma
Steroids Help Reduce Preterm Infant Mortality
A newly published study has demonstrated that giving steroids to pregnant women at risk for preterm birth may boost an infant’s chance of survival and reduce the risk of serious developmental issues The study, published in the Dec. 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that the current guidelines, which suggest prenatal steroids be administered to women who are at risk for delivering between the 24th and 34th week of pregnancy, can be expanded to the 23rd week. The steroids help the infants with lung development, which increases the odds of survival and reduces the risk of brain injury. Dr. Wally Carlo, director of the division of neonatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, authored the newly published study. “When given as early as 23 weeks, prenatal or antenatal steroids reduce an infant’s risk of death and important developmental issues,” said Dr. Carlo. Currently there…
Read More »
Posted in Birth Trauma, Brain Damage, Premature Birth Tagged birth injury attorney, brain injury Comments Off on Steroids Help Reduce Preterm Infant Mortality
Forceps Safer Than Vacuums Or C-Sections?
Despite falling out of favor in recent years, forceps-assisted deliveries may actually be safer for newborns than C-sections and vacuums, according to a recent study. C-sections are being performed in around one-third of all births, according to 2007 statistics. That is compared to 21 percent a decade before. Vacuums are being used far more frequently in difficult births as well. The reason for the increase in the use of methods other than forceps in difficult births is not easy to determine, as statistics do not show that these other methods are safer, according to Dr. Erika F. Werner, at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Werner is the head of a study using data on more than 400,000 births to first-time moms. The study found that those delivered with forceps were 45 percent less likely to suffer a seizure than those born via vacuum pump or C-section. Seizures at birth…
Read More »
Posted in Birth Trauma, Brain Damage Tagged birth injury attorney, birth trauma Comments Off on Forceps Safer Than Vacuums Or C-Sections?
Doctor’s Haste Leaves Girl’s Arm Paralyzed
A Douglas County, Nebraska jury determined that an obstetrician with Mid-City OB-GYN of Omaha was responsible for a birth injury that left a little girl without the use of her left arm. The jury awarded the now 3-year-old Chaylee Bentzinger-Hill $1.8 million for the ripped and ruptured nerves that occurred during her June 2008 delivery. According to Joe Cullan, the attorney for Chaylee’s parents, Dr. Ann Sijulin used a vacuum to help the infant through the birth canal. The baby’s shoulder became stuck behind her mother’s pelvic bone, and the doctor pulled down on the baby’s head to get her through, which led to severe nerve damage. “She panicked and she pulled,” Cullan said. “What you’re never, ever supposed to do is pull downward on the baby’s head. This case shows why. Three nerves were ripped out and two nerves were ruptured in half.” Sijulin’s attorney, Thomas Shomaker, said he…
Read More »
Posted in Birth Trauma Tagged birth defect, birth injury, birth trauma lawyer Comments Off on Doctor’s Haste Leaves Girl’s Arm Paralyzed
