Columbia, MD Birth Injury Lawyer

Learning your child has suffered a preventable birth injury creates immeasurable heartache and financial strain for Columbia families. The initial shock gives way to hefty medical bills, specialized care costs, and uncertainty about your child’s future. A Columbia, MD birth injury lawyer from Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. offers the legal support and advocacy your family needs to secure rightful compensation.

Our attorneys combine extensive knowledge of Maryland medical malpractice law with proven experience representing families affected by birth injuries. We help parents obtain the financial resources needed for their child’s current and future care while holding negligent medical providers accountable.

Common Causes of Catastrophic Birth Injuries in Columbia, MD

Birth injuries typically result from specific failures by medical professionals to meet the accepted standard of care. Understanding these failures helps Columbia families recognize when they may have valid legal claims.

Failure to Monitor Fetal Distress or Maternal Health

Proper monitoring during labor and delivery is fundamental to preventing birth injuries. Medical teams must continuously track fetal heart rate patterns indicating potential distress, maternal vital signs, including blood pressure and oxygen levels, and signs of infection or other complications.

When Columbia healthcare providers fail to monitor these indicators or respond to warning signs, oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) can occur. According to research published in the Journal of Perinatal Medicine, even brief periods of oxygen deprivation can cause permanent brain damage, leading to conditions like cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, or seizure disorders.

Delayed C-Section or Intervention

When complications arise during labor, timely cesarean delivery can prevent significant birth injuries. Columbia medical facilities must follow precise protocols for emergency C-sections when signs of distress appear.

A landmark study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that delay in performing emergency C-sections increases the risk of neurological damage.

Delays commonly result from:

• Failure to recognize signs requiring immediate surgical intervention
• Poor communication between nursing staff and physicians
• Inadequate staffing or operating room availability
• Hesitation to perform necessary interventions

These can lead to permanent brain damage, cerebral palsy, and other lifelong disabilities that could have been prevented with timely action.

Improper Use of Delivery Tools or Techniques

When labor progresses slowly, or complications arise, Columbia obstetricians sometimes employ forceps or vacuum extractors to assist delivery. While these instruments can be necessary in certain situations, their misuse causes numerous preventable birth injuries.

Forceps applied with excessive force or improper angle can fracture an infant’s skull, damage facial nerves, or cause intracranial bleeding. Vacuum extractors, when used too long or with extreme suction, can cause scalp injuries, subgaleal hematomas, or brain hemorrhages.

Some studies have shown that instrument-assisted deliveries can carry a higher risk of birth trauma compared to either spontaneous vaginal births or cesarean sections. These injuries can result in permanent conditions like brachial plexus injuries (Erb’s palsy), skull fractures and brain hemorrhages, facial nerve damage, and spinal cord injuries.

Untreated Maternal Conditions or Infections

Proper prenatal care requires monitoring and treating maternal conditions that can affect the baby’s health. When physicians fail to address these conditions, severe injury to the newborn can result.

Common examples include untreated Group B streptococcus leading to newborn meningitis or sepsis, unmanaged preeclampsia causing fetal growth restriction or placental abruption, poorly controlled gestational diabetes resulting in delivery complications, and undiagnosed maternal infections transmitting to the baby during birth.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that prompt intervention for maternal conditions significantly reduces the risk of birth complications and injuries. When Columbia healthcare providers fail to screen for, diagnose, or treat these conditions properly, they may be held liable for resulting injuries.

Medication and Anesthesia Errors

Columbia families entrust healthcare providers to administer appropriate medications during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Mistakes in this area can cause serious harm to both mother and baby.

For example, incorrect dosing of Pitocin (oxytocin) causes uterine hyperstimulation that restricts fetal oxygen, and improper epidural administration leads to maternal hypotension, affecting fetal blood flow.

Moreover, inappropriate use of medications contraindicated during pregnancy and anesthesia errors during cesarean sections all represent potentially dangerous medication mistakes.

Patient safety data from the Maryland Patient Safety Center documents that medication errors affect a portion of obstetrical patients, with potentially severe consequences for newborns. These errors are almost always preventable through proper medication protocols and safety systems.