Birth Injury Video Series: Who’s Responsible for a Birth-Related Injury? (Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller)

Parents often come to her seeking answers—why was their baby injured during labor and delivery? Was it something the medical staff did or didn’t do? Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller explains the critical roles that various medical providers play, from OB-GYNs and nurses to anesthesiologists and ultrasound techs, and how mistakes by any of these professionals can have devastating consequences.

Transcript

Hi, I’m Lisa Esser- Weidenfeller. In every birth injury case I’ve handled more than anything else, the parents need answers. They want answers. They need to know why their baby was injured during the labor and delivery process, and sometimes tragically why their baby did not survive. And that can sometimes be very difficult because there’s a lot of.

Medical providers that are involved in the prenatal and labor and delivery process. There’s the OB GYN, who may have had the most involvement with the mother during the prenatal period or during labor and delivery. But there are also nurses, residents, midwives, CRNAs. Anesthesiologists ultrasound techs that all have limited but very, very important roles when it comes to making sure that that baby and mom are receiving the best care possible.

These providers are responsible for not only monitoring the mother’s vital signs, but also monitoring the baby’s vital signs and the baby’s ability to oxygenate or receive oxygen or breathe. They make sure proper medications. Are administered at the right times and they oversee the entire delivery team, making sure that everybody is effectively communicating.

If any of these providers make a mistake in any one of these areas, this can have dire and serious consequences for both mom and baby. That’s why families and parents come to us, they need answers, and we help them determine if a mistake was made and who made it. Our team of lawyers, nurses, paralegals, and outside medical experts will review all of the relevant medical records to determine how the mistakes were made, when the mistakes were made, and who made the mistakes.

And we will take that information and we will obtain justice for you and your injured child to make sure that they have the compensation that they need to take care of them for the rest of their life. This isn’t just a job for me, it’s personal. It’s my mission.