If, due to an emergency, you had to deliver your baby in the chaotic and unpredictable emergency room setting, you know the unsettling feeling such a situation can cause. If your baby was born with birth injuries after you gave birth in an emergency room, the injuries may result from the negligence of the emergency room medical professionals who helped deliver your child.
Emergency Room Childbirth Mistakes
Emergency room medical professionals are required to be properly trained and equipped to deal with a wide variety of medical situations, including childbirth. If your child was delivered in an emergency room setting and suffers from birth injury, there are a number of mistakes that may have contributed to your child’s condition, including:
- Failure of medical professionals to follow established childbirth procedures
- Failure of medical professionals to evaluate the mother’s condition and treat her for any risks or complications relating to her pregnancy
- Delayed diagnoses or misdiagnoses of pregnancy complications
- Improper blood transfusion techniques and/or incorrectly identified blood types
- Failure to prescribe proper medication
- Failure to prescribe or administer proper medication dosages
- Failure to order diagnostic tests
- Faulty medical equipment
Determining Fault
Emergency room birth injuries can result from a wide variety of factors, including those listed above. In fact, various factors may combine and result in a birth injury, such as when a physician erroneously misdiagnoses a potential complication, and then uses faulty medical equipment in an attempt to mitigate the risk. In such a case, both the physician and the manufacturer of the medical equipment may share liability for the resulting injury to the child.
It is best to consult with an experienced birth injury attorney, in order to discuss all the details of your pregnancy and birth, and properly identify the parties responsible for your child’s birth injuries.
Considerations When Filing a Claim
When deciding to file a birth injury claim after an emergency room birth, there are several considerations you and your lawyer will need to take into account, including:
- In many states, physicians are not employees of the hospitals in which they work, but rather are considered independent contractors. Depending on the situation and what caused the injury, the hospital may or may not be liable for the physician’s errors.
- Many states consider the emergency room to be the responsibility of the hospital. In such states, any medical errors which occur as a result of an emergency room staff’s negligence are likely to be held against the hospital.
- Medical professionals, such as nurses, medical technicians and laboratory workers, are usually employees of the hospitals in which they work. Errors committed by employees may result in the hospital’s liability.
- In cases in which a hospital refuses to treat a patient, many states allow for the refused patient to file suit against the hospital. If the facility receives federal funding it is subject to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which prevents emergency rooms from refusing patients who are in labor.
If you believe your child was harmed by emergency room personnel during your labor and delivery, please search our directory for an experienced birth injury lawyer near you.
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