Ask the Expert: What Are Birth and Neonatal Injuries?

When something goes wrong during birth, families are often left with a lot of fear and a lot of unanswered questions. So Ben Gideon with the Gideon Aisen Law Firm is here to tell us a little bit more about birth and neonatal injuries, and of course, what parents should know. Ben, thanks so much for having us. Let's talk big picture. What exactly does qualify perhaps as a birth or a neonatal injury? We think of birth injury as anything that happens to the child that affects their health. And that thing can happen immediately before birth during pregnancy, usually third trimester or during the birth and delivery process or immediately following birth when they're in the NICU or in the hospital. Are there perhaps some typical signs that something just isn't right? I mean, usually immediately following birth, you're going to know if the child has some issues or has deficits. For instance, the child might be floppy or have difficulty breathing. There's Apgar scores, which measure the health of the child, which most moms are probably familiar with. So there's a combination of things, but usually it's pretty obvious to our clients that something just isn't right. When should parents start asking questions if they're feeling like that? I mean, the best time to start asking questions is during pregnancy. If a mom notices anything unusual, need to get in and get checked out because there's a whole host of things that we see that are preventable if addressed early. Second, you would want to look into it if your child has some severe developmental disabilities or delays after birth and Just try to get some answers as to why that happened. -Well, how do parents know when it's worth reaching out beyond the healthcare professional if something just isn't right? -If people just are looking for peace of mind and want answers, they can reach out anytime. I mean, in order to move forward with a case, there would generally need to be a very catastrophic injury to the child. And we don't wish that upon people. But you don't always know that right away. Sometimes it takes weeks, months, or even years to know fully what the effects are. We encourage people to reach out early. Well, let's talk about that. If somebody has some questions or maybe they are concerned about this, what's the best way to find you? Just get in touch with us online or give us a call. Excellent. Ben, thank you so much. And of course, we'll have more information as well on WGME dot com.