Birth injuries are all too common and often preventable in Maryland. A doctor’s negligence during birth can cause injuries to your newborn, greatly impacting their life. Because of this, parents need to learn when birth injuries are diagnosed and how the diagnosis process often works.
In Maryland, birth injuries can be diagnosed immediately after birth or within the coming days or months. A doctor may diagnose birth injuries during the initial newborn assessment or developmental assessments throughout the first few months of your child’s life. Sometimes, birth injuries are only diagnosed after parents express concern over a child’s development or inabilities. If your child sustained birth injuries and a doctor failed to diagnose them, you can file a lawsuit for compensatory damages.
Our attorneys are dedicated to helping parents and their newborn children get justice for avoidable birth injuries. For a free case evaluation with the Baltimore birth injuries lawyers at the Heyman Law Firm, call today at (410) 305-9287.
How Do Maryland Doctors Diagnose Birth Injuries?
Properly diagnosing birth injuries is crucial so that parents can learn how to care for their children and hold negligent doctors accountable in Maryland. In order to diagnose potential birth injuries, a doctor will assess a baby’s health and development. This can happen during the initial newborn assessment or during regular developmental checkups with your baby’s pediatrician. In some cases, birth injuries are more quickly diagnosed when parents express concern about their child’s development.
Initial Assessments
Doctors and nurses in Maryland should perform an immediate assessment of your newborn baby’s health as soon as they come into the world. For example, doctors will visually assess your newborn and look for any bruising or swelling. Newborn screening is crucial to diagnose birth injuries properly. Unfortunately, if a doctor is negligent and causes birth injuries in the first place, they might continue to act negligently during a screening.
Developmental Assessments
Sometimes, birth injuries are diagnosed during regular checkups with your baby’s pediatrician. When babies fail to meet crucial developmental stages, it can indicate a birth injury. For example, if your three-month-old has difficulty grasping objects or your seven-month-old can’t roll over, a birth injury could be the cause. Common Maryland birth injuries, like cerebral palsy, can take months to show in a newborn baby. This is why taking your child to regular weekly then monthly checkups with their pediatrician is crucial. Doing so is the best chance parents have to catch previously undiagnosed birth injuries.
Parental Concern
In some cases, birth injuries are only diagnosed after parents express concern. This can happen when birth injuries aren’t immediately obvious. For example, brachial plexus, which can affect a child’s arm and hand movement, isn’t always diagnosed right away. Parents may notice such delays in development before doctors do as they see their children every day. If you are concerned that your child sustained an injury during birth, take them to their pediatrician right away.
How Soon After Birth Are Injuries Diagnosed in Maryland?
When infants sustain injuries during birth, their injuries are not always diagnosed immediately in Maryland. If a negligent doctor caused your child’s injuries during birth, they might not recognize them right away. Depending on your particular situation, your baby’s birth injuries may be diagnosed quickly or during their regular checkups in the first few months of their lives.
Some birth injuries are easier to identify than others. For example, if a Maryland doctor used excessive force when delivering your child and harmed them, bruises and swelling might appear within the first few days of your baby’s life. If injuries were caused to a child’s brain during birth, you might notice seizures soon after your baby is born. Difficulty breathing can also be an immediate sign of a birth injury caused by a negligent doctor. In such instances, your child’s birth injuries may be diagnosed almost immediately, whether at the hospital or within the first few days of their life.
Unfortunately, some birth injuries can take longer to appear. It may take months for your child to be diagnosed with a birth injury in these cases. If you suspect that your child sustained a birth injury and was left undiagnosed by the delivering doctor, speak to a Baltimore personal injury lawyer immediately and consider seeking a second opinion with another doctor.
What Can You Do if a Doctor Fails to Diagnose Birth Injuries in Maryland?
If a doctor fails to diagnose birth injuries in Maryland, they can be held accountable for their negligence. In addition, your delivering doctor can also be held responsible for causing your child’s birth injuries in the first place. Should you find yourself in such a situation, it’s crucial to consult a Maryland birth injuries lawyer immediately.
When you have a baby, you trust your delivering doctor to act responsibly and take care of you and your child. After all, Maryland doctors owe their patients a high standard of care. Unfortunately, when doctors act negligently, they risk causing damaging birth injuries to your newborn baby. These injuries can sometimes cause permanent harm to your infant, requiring expensive medical care. If your child sustained birth injuries from a negligent doctor, you could file a lawsuit for compensatory damages with a Maryland birth injuries lawyer.
Our attorneys are dedicated to holding negligent doctors accountable for their actions. We can help families sue doctors for their children’s birth injuries and recover compensatory damages. These damages can offer financial assistance to families who now require expensive medical care for their children. Damages can also ease the pain and suffering parents and children have endured as a result of a doctor’s negligence.
If a Maryland doctor caused your childbirth injuries and failed to diagnose them immediately, you can often sue them. Generally, parents have three years from the date of injury or date of discovery to file a lawsuit against a negligent doctor in Maryland. That being said, injured children can file a lawsuit themselves within the three years following the day before their 18th birthday.
Call Our Attorneys if Your Maryland Doctor Failed to Diagnose Birth Injuries
If a doctor acted below the standard of care and failed to diagnose your child’s birth injuries, our lawyers can help. For a free case evaluation with the Maryland birth injuries lawyers at the Heyman Law Firm, call today at (410) 305-9287.
