If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you’re likely grappling with some pretty serious questions.
First and foremost, parents generally want to know how their child came down with this condition. There are several different ways that it can happen. Some of them have to do with doctor negligence and some of them have to do with natural causes that could not necessarily have been avoided.
Natural Causes
Cerebral palsy sometimes occurs inside the womb. Established medical research shows that there are many different ways that it can happen. Cerebral palsy is the result of injury or trauma to a developing brain, often caused by too little oxygen (blood flow) reaching the child’s brain. Cerebral palsy is actually a group of disorders, and you can learn more about it here.
There is also research into genetic causes for this disorder, which opens up a whole new field of research into root causes and prevention.
Doctor Negligence
Doctor negligence (medical malpractice) is oftentimes the root cause of cerebral palsy. Most of the time if the doctor was negligent, it means that they failed to intervene when the child was in distress, and when any doctor should have known to intervene. A common way that children suffer brain injuries that cause cerebral palsy involves being caught in a position that cuts off their circulation during delivery or labor.
They may also end up with the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck or having other emergencies that cause them to lose blood supply to the brain, thus resulting in brain damage.
Healthcare Facilities
Sometimes, it’s the healthcare facility that’s responsible for the cerebral palsy, and not necessarily the doctor. An example of such a situation would be a child coming down with an infection that ended up causing brain damage shortly after birth. There have been lawsuits filed against hospitals and other healthcare facilities that successfully argued that the healthcare facility’s negligence was actually the cause of the child’s cerebral palsy, rather than the doctor’s negligence.
Whatever you believe caused your child’s cerebral palsy, a medical investigation is necessary to make an accurate determination. If it is discovered that the doctors or healthcare facility responsible for your child’s delivery was negligent, you may want to consider contacting a cerebral palsy attorney. They work with families whose child suffered a birth injury and will work toward obtaining compensation to cover expenses related to Cerebral Palsy.