Seizures Caused by Birth Injury – Birth Injury Lawyers in Detroit & Southfield Michigan

Birth injuries can happen during pregnancy, labor, or delivery and may cause physical and mental disabilities. Injuries to the baby’s brain, muscles, or bones injuries might lead to a range of issues, such as learning disorders, developmental delays, loss of mobility and body functions, cerebral palsy, and neurological complications.

Seizures From Brain Injuries

Statistics show that approximately seven out of every 1,000 newborns will suffer brain injuries during labor and delivery, and seizures are one possible consequence of those injuries. Seizures can occur after damage to the brain from diminished oxygen supply, infection, ischemic strokes, or hemorrhage.

Seizure Symptoms

Seizures are sudden, uncontrolled electric disturbances in the brain that can cause changes in behavior and movement. Seizures vary by where and how they occur in the brain. Most seizures last from 30 seconds to two minutes.

In newborns, a seizure can manifest as:

• A jerking or shaking of the body
• Loss of consciousness
• Period of rapid eye blinking
• The body going limp

Sometimes, it is hard to recognize seizures, like when newborns:

• Smack their lips
• Chew involuntarily
• Appear to stare or gaze in different directions
• Stop breathing

Birth Injury and Medical Negligence

Examples of birth-related medical negligence include:

• Failing to recognize warning signs in the mother during pregnancy
• Failing to detect and treat fetal distress
• Failing to schedule and perform an emergency cesarean section
• Failing to monitor and control oxygen intake
• Improperly using birth-assisting tools like forceps and vacuum extractors

Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, midwives, and other healthcare providers who fail to satisfy the appropriate legal standard of medical care may be held liable for professional negligence in a medical malpractice action.

Filing a Medical Malpractice Case

Medical malpractice lawsuits can be time-consuming and complicated, so having not just one, but a team of experienced birth trauma attorneys, is essential.

To win a medical negligence suit involving a birth injury, the person suing, usually the parent, must show that:

• The medical professional had a duty to properly treat and care for the mother and baby;
• The medical professional violated that duty of care;
• The violation proximately caused the child’s injury; and
• The injury resulted in physical, emotional, and economic damages to the child and parents.

Contact an Experienced Michigan Medical Malpractice Attorney

If you or someone you love experienced a traumatic childbirth resulting in the baby’s seizures or other physical or neurological harm, call Sommers Schwartz right away. We can help you investigate the facts, determine whether a doctor or other medical professional may be liable for the injuries, and hold them accountable.

For more than four decades, the attorneys at our law firm have fought for injured individuals of all ages, including children, in Michigan and across the United States. We have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients and their families. Contact Sommers Schwartz to learn how we can help you pursue a medical malpractice claim. Call us today at (800) 783-0989 to schedule a free consultation – the phone call is free, and there is no fee unless we win.