Birth Injury Lawyer Saskatoon

Servicing Saskatoon and all of Saskatchewan

Have you ever been startled or frightened? Perhaps you jumped a little; maybe you saw goosebumps appear on your skin; and, most likely, your heart started racing.

An abnormally fast heart rate is often a sign that the body’s fight or flight response had been activated. With a release of adrenaline from the brain, the body is alerted that something stressful is about to happen. Your heart accelerates to help move blood, oxygen and glucose around your body to give it the burst of energy it needs to deal with the stress.

When a fetus has an abnormally fast heart rate (fetal tachycardia) it can also be a sign that something’s wrong and it’s in distress. Fetal tachycardia is sometimes symptomatic of maternal conditions, such as hyperthyroidism, fever associated from systemic infections, or intrauterine infection. It can also point to congenital heart issues in the fetus, perinatal asphyxia (oxygen deprivation) or placental insufficiency (an oxygen or nutrient deficiency caused by a compression or detachment of the placenta, or its failure to grow to sustain the fetus).

Conditions that can cause fetal tachycardia may lead to serious damage to the fetus and result in birth injuries and potentially lifelong disability. It’s essential for a medical provider offering obstetrical care to monitor the fetal heartbeat and to respond quickly if any abnormalities are discovered.

If a medical provider’s negligence breaches standards of care and causes serious harm to pregnant woman or her child, it’s called obstetrical malpractice. And it can change the course of a life forever.

Common Types of Birth Injuries

Obstetrical malpractice can cause or contribute to birth injuries at any stage of a pregnancy, during labour and delivery, or immediately following a birth.

During a pregnancy, a medical provider’s negligent actions or inaction can include misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of a maternal or fetal medical condition, poor management of maternal or fetal health, or failure to conduct appropriate tests and/or interpret their results. For example, misdiagnosed or untreated conditions, including perinatal asphyxia, anoxia or hypoxia, placental insufficiency, meconium aspiration (amniotic fluid that mixes with first fecal matter and is ingested into the lungs) and undiagnosed spina can cause brain or nerve damage.

Prolonged labour and traumatic delivery can also result in some of these and other problematic conditions. A medical provider must adhere to standards of care to minimize the chance of complications during birth such as shoulder dystocia (the baby’s head is delivered, but its shoulders are wedged behind the mother’s pelvic bone). Moreover, extreme caution and attention to appropriate force are important considerations for births where extraction tools are used. Sometimes, poorly implemented procedures and poor technique can lead to broken bones, scarring or spinal cord damage.

Following a birth, medical staff providing obstetrical care must continue to closely monitor newborns for conditions such as jaundice. While fairly common in infants, severe jaundice that is untreated can result in a condition called kernicterus.

If You Or Your Loved One Is Hurt, We Can Help

Medical professionals use their skill and training to help us at times when we or our loved ones are at our most vulnerable. But if a medical provider is negligent or incompetent in their care, it can cause serious harm and lead to consequences that dramatically impact our lives.

Howie, Sacks and Henry’s birth injury lawyers are ready to help you in Saskatoon if you’ve been affected by obstetrical malpractice. As one of Canada’s top personal injury firms, our knowledgeable and experienced team has developed expertise in this challenging area of law and is prepared to take on even the most complicated of cases.

HSH birth injury lawyers are pleased to visit you in your own home in the Saskatoon area or meet you at a nearby consultation office, so you’ll never need to worry that distance or ability to travel will be a barrier to accessing high quality legal representation. In addition to listening to your story, offering advice and discussing your legal options, HSH can facilitate the evaluations, testing, and rehabilitation therapies you or your loved one will need to support your case and assist in your recovery.

Our firm has built a strong reputation amongst our clients and peers for the compassion, empathy, and care we bring to every client interaction. We understand this period is one of the most difficult and stressful times in your life and we do our utmost to support you through this process. You can be confident that you are always more than just a file to us – you are a person who deserves respect, dignity and kindness.

Trust an HSH birth injury lawyer to be on your side and by your side in Saskatoon. As your staunch advocate, we will seek access to the financial resources you need and deserve to give you and your loved one compensation for suffering you’ve experienced and damages for your losses. While nothing can change the pain you’ve faced in the past, together we will work to ensure you see better days ahead.