Over the last decades, C-Sections have become increasingly popular in the United States. In fact, before the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the news cycle, USNews published a story detailing how the likelihood of undergoing a C-Section in the USA “skyrocketed” by 500%! According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost one-third of all deliveries are performed by C-Section. A delayed or improperly performed C-Section can cause significant birth injuries, often with devastating consequences for the child and mother.  

What Kind of Birth Injuries Could You or Your Child Suffer Because of a C-Section?

• Delayed C-Section Injuries: While some C-Sections are scheduled and performed for the convenience of the mother, many of them occur due to issues that arise during pregnancy. These issues can include preeclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure developed by the mother during pregnancy), diabetes, placental abruption (the pulling away of the placenta from the uterine wall), fetal distress, umbilical cord prolapse and similar issues. In these situations, a C-Section often must be performed quickly to avoid the underlying issue from causing damage to the child, the mother, or both.   

• Sometimes, physicians improperly delay the performance of a C-section, or even fail to perform one entirely. Such delays and failures, which are often the result of  medical malpractice, can pose significant risks, including:
  
  • Lack of oxygen, resulting in autism, cerebral palsy and other infant brain damage;
    
  • An increased risk of physical injury to the child during delivery;
    
  • Physical and mental developmental delays;
    
  • Still birth;
    
  • Hemorrhaging in the mother;
    
  • Damage to the hearts of both the child and the mother.

• Anesthesia injuries: There are many medications which are commonly administered to the mother to relieve the pain of surgery during a C-Section.   Errors in the administration of these medications can cause several complications, including:
  
  • Low blood pressure;
    
  • Placenta previa;
    
  • Blood clots; and
  • Placental abruption

• Surgical injuries: C-sections are widely believed to be a simple, safe and effective means of delivering a child. However, C-sections are major surgery that carry all the typical risks associated with any surgery. There is a risk of fetal laceration if the C-section is improperly performed. Depending on the depth and location of the laceration, these injuries can cause serious permanent injury or death. There is also a risk the mother or child will develop an infection (which could lead to sepsis) or that the mother will suffer blood clots or hemorrhaging.

What Should I Do if I or a Loved One Has Suffered a Birth Injury as a Result of a C-Section?

You need to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately. Because many birth injuries, including those resulting from C-Sections, involve medical malpractice, they require an extraordinary amount of investigation. Your attorney may need to obtain and review thousands of pages of medical records which will then need to be reviewed by an expert. This is an expensive and time-consuming process that must begin as soon as possible to determine whether you have a claim. You also need an attorney with a thorough knowledge of the practice of medicine and the resources necessary to take the case to trial.

At the Law Office of Alvin F. de Levie, Esq., we have decades of experience handling medical malpractice claims, including birth injuries.

We handle cases throughout Pennsylvania, from Philadelphia and the surrounding counties to Allegheny County and Centre County, and from the New York border to the borders of West Virginia and Maryland. If you have suffered an injury as a result of medical malpractice, please call our firm – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – at 844-777-2529 (Toll Free) for a consultation. One of our team members will be in immediate contact with you. We maintain offices throughout Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, State College and Bellefonte. We are willing to meet any clients throughout the Commonwealth.