Birth Injury Video Series: Causes and Consequences of Birth Injury (Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller)

From the moments leading up to labor, through delivery, and even in the NICU, babies can suffer injuries that could have been prevented. Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller explains the causes of birth trauma, the potential consequences, and the emotional toll on parents. As a lawyer and a parent, Lisa shares her commitment to helping families find answers, seek justice, and secure the compensation needed to care for their children’s futures.

Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Lisa Esser- Weidenfeller. Birth injuries happen when babies suffer harm. This harm can happen before labor and delivery, during the labor and delivery process, and even in the NICU after delivery. The harms that these babies suffer can be heartbreaking, especially because many of them could have been prevented.

Parents have so many questions when they first come to us after they find out that their baby has been injured. But maybe the first question they always have is, how did this happen?

Various things can lead to birth trauma, including a lack of oxygen issues with the placenta and issues during the labor and delivery process.

Well, many of these problems are no fault of the obstetrician or the medical team. If they do not recognize these problems and treat these problems timely and appropriately, that can constitute medical malpractice or what we call medical negligence.

Unfortunately, those failures can have serious consequences to the baby, for example. If a baby does not receive enough oxygen during the labor and delivery process, that baby can suffer cerebral palsy or developmental delays or cognitive delays or other conditions that are going to require life long care.
That can put a tremendous burden on the families, both financially and emotionally. I find that the. question that parents, or maybe the better put is the concern that parents have when they come to see me is how is their child going to be cared for after they’re gone?

While I’m a lawyer, I’m also a parent and I have a very good understanding of the, of the emotions that we all go through as parents when our children are harmed. When mom and dads of birth injured children come to see me, I can see their pain. I can feel their pain when I’m sitting in the room with them.
While I can’t fix their child or turn back the clock, I can get them answers. I can determine what went wrong, who did something wrong, how did it happen, and we can get them the justice and compensation that that child needs to help plan for their future and the future of the family.