Today’s diagnostic equipment and techniques are far beyond what medical practitioners have ever had access to before. Unfortunately, some conditions that lead to brain damage occur before birth, and under certain circumstances, such brain damage may result in the development of cerebral palsy.
What Causes It?
There are many situations that can lead to brain damage occurring in an infant before they’re even born. For instance, the infant may have too little amniotic fluid in the womb and that can lead to brain damage. The child may also end up suffering an infection contracted by the mother and that infection may cause brain damage. A fetus is vulnerable to many different risks, some of them having to do with the mother’s health and others having to do with circumstances that may not be immediately visible by examining the mother.
Remedies
There are cases when a child will have to be delivered early due to conditions in the womb that may be dangerous. There are also cases when doctors know that the delivery is going to be dangerous enough that it’s best to deliver the child via C-section, so that the infant isn’t put through the trauma of a potentially very difficult birth.
When these services and treatments are offered in time and competently, the prognosis for the child can be very good. There are cases, however, when the child may still suffer injuries or illnesses that have their origins in the womb. There are also instances when a child should have been delivered via cesarean section or when they should’ve been given other care in the womb but were not, and that can sometimes lead to serious injuries that affect the child throughout their life.
Some families with children who have cerebral palsy were simply the victims of medical malpractice. Failing to deliver a child early if needed, not diagnosing issues in the womb, and other occasions when a doctor does not live up to their obligations to their patient are common reasons that these families end up filing lawsuits. The lawsuits sometimes pay out enough money to help the family with medical care that their child needs.