Even with all of the modern medical facilities available in the state of California, childbirth still carries a risk of injury. Almost every physician, birth caregiver and expectant mother knows of these risks, especially if the professional has appropriately informed their patient of the risks of suggested procedure.
The general abundance of knowledge makes it difficult to say, in certain cases, when an injury is the result of medical malpractice. According to the FindLaw article about medical malpractice in Los Angeles, negligence is a primary factor in these types of cases. If a prosecuting attorney were able to show a defendant lapsed in fulfilling basic expectations of care, the prosecution would have a good chance of winning the case. There is little excuse for ignorance among medical professionals.
Stanford children’s health lists a fairly exhaustive array of birth injuries and the factors leading to them. Since this information is freely available online to the general public, it stands to reason that physicians should be well aware of risks and have the perspicacity to relay relevant issues to patients suffering from:
- Lengthy labor
- Small pelvic proportions
- Large or premature babies
- Fetal presentation issues, such as breech birth
Stanford children’s health also mentions that most of the most common birth injuries have relatively short-term effects, healing over the course of a few weeks. However, whether a given injury might present short-term or long-term symptoms is not always clear. Furthermore, some of the procedures required to remedy birth injuries are severe: some injuries might even call for surgery. Newborn infants are remarkably resilient, but that is no excuse for lax discipline on the part of medical professionals.
