Abdominal Birth Injuries

Although medical technologies have progressed at a tremendous rate over the last decades, there are still times when babies sustain birth injuries.  Unfortunately, all the technological advances cannot keep healthcare workers from making mistakes.  While there are still some unavoidable birth injuries — usually in high-risk cases — many are caused by irresponsible actions on the part of doctors, nurses, or other health professionals assisting in labor and delivery.

It can be very difficult for parents to find out that their newborn child is in distress, and the grief, anger, and confusion that accompany that information is often compounded if it is discovered that the person responsible for assisting in the birth caused the injury.  Abdominal injuries are not the most common of injuries, but they do occur.  The two main types of abdominal injuries are:

• Abdominal bleeding:  This usually happens because of an unusual amount of pressure on the baby’s abdomen during labor.  It can be very dangerous, as it can cause the newborn to go into shock.  Any time that a newborn presents with a swollen abdomen, shock, pallor, or unexplained anemia, doctors should assess for a bleed.  This is also known as an abdominal hemorrhage or intraperitoneal bleeding.
• Hepatic rupture: In this situation, a small bleed begins to form a hematoma in the liver, which builds up pressure and bursts.

Both of these situations are life-threatening.  If your baby had an abdominal injury or other serious medical condition after birth, you may be dealing with ongoing medical treatments or stress over finances.  You should not have to take on these fights alone.  Call the Philadelphia birth injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., at 215-238-1130 to discuss your case with a dedicated and compassionate attorney.