Birth Injury Lawyer Leamington

Servicing Leamington and all of Ontario

How far apart are contractions? How long has a patient been in labour? Has the pregnancy reached full term, or will the baby be arriving much earlier (or later) than anticipated. In a delivery room, time is usually on everyone’s mind. But in instances when literally every second counts, timing can be critical.

Any delay in a newborn’s ability to breath independently is cause for concern; delays lasting three minutes or longer puts a child at significant risk of sustaining brain damage that can cause seizures, coma or even death. Moreover, if placental insufficiency (damage to or compression of the placenta), infection, or umbilical cord strangulation causes periods of oxygen deprivation in utero or during delivery, a baby can can also experience serious complications. Conditions such as cerebral palsy, vision and hearing loss, and learning disabilities may occur if the oxygen deprivation is not discovered and treated in a timely manner.

When time is of the essence, medical providers must use their training and judgment to cycle through standard practices and procedures to identify and address the issue. Sadly, sometimes a serious birth injury is unavoidable, in spite of a medical practitioner’s best efforts. However, if the medical provider has caused or contributed to a preventable birth injury by breaching standards of practice due to negligence or incompetence, it’s called obstetrical malpractice.

Obstetrical Malpractice and Common Birth Injuries

Negligent actions, inaction or incompetence on the part of a medical provider that causes harm can occur at any point during pregnancy, labour and delivery, or in the immediate postpartum period. Some examples of obstetrical malpractice include:

Failure to administer standard tests and screenings or using faulty tests
Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of serious medical conditions
Improper management and monitoring of maternal or fetal health
Poor technique during delivery resulting in preventable birth trauma
Inadequate postpartum monitoring and treatment

A variety of preventable birth injuries may occur when standards of practice are breached. These include:

Nerve damage and spinal cord injuries – undiagnosed or misdiagnosed spina bifida, traumatic birth injuries from shoulder dystocia or forced extraction, untreated infection
Brain damage – from oxygen deprivation (asphyxia, anoxia or hypoxia), placental insufficiency, birth trauma or untreated infection
Meconium aspiration – when fetal distress or other factors cause fetal fecal matter to be expelled in utero, mixed with amniotic fluid, and ingested
Kernicterus – a severe form of jaundice that can cause neurotoxicity if not treated in a timely matter in the postpartum period.

Help For Those Who Have Been Harmed

Preventable birth injuries can change the course of a lifetime in a matter of moments. At a time when loved ones should be joyous and celebrating a new birth, they may instead feel sadness, anger and grief. In addition to experiencing pain, suffering, and loss, the cost of ongoing care and rehabilitative treatment for disabling birth injuries can be significant. You should not have to bear these costs on your own.

With Howie, Sacks and Henry’s birth injury lawyers ready to support you in Leamington, you can be certain that you are not alone on this journey. Recognized by our clients and peers as one of the country’s top personal injury firms, HSH has the experience, skill and expertise to help you navigate this complex and challenging area of law.

Our birth injury lawyers will gladly arrange to meet you wherever you feel most comfortable – including in your own home in the Leamington area or at a nearby consultation office. HSH believes that ability to travel or distance should never be obstacles when you’re seeking high quality legal representation.

We take our reputation for compassionate client-centred service very seriously. We want to ensure you always feel as though you’re much more than a file to us. During this unimaginably difficult period in your life, HSH will bring respect, kindness, and care to every interaction. After listening to your birth story with great empathy, we will outline your options, provide advice, and facilitate the tests, assessments or rehabilitation therapies you or your loved one needs to support both your case and your recovery.

Trust an HSH birth injury lawyer on your side and by your side in Leamington. As your strong and trusted advocate, together we will work to access the financial resources you need and deserve, and give you hope that better days are ahead.