Birth injuries can result in tragedies for the family and close friends of both the baby and the mother. New Mexico residents go to doctors not only to give birth, but also during the pregnancy to make sure that the baby gets the best medical care available to ensure a smooth delivery. However, even with the years of training and studying, sometimes doctors make mistakes during the delivery, which can result in several complications not only for the mother, but also for the baby.
A forceps injury and an injury to the baby’s shoulders can be common. Facial injuries, on the other hand, are not as common, but can lead to major problems for the patient. Many medical experts believe that facial injuries, such as iatrogenic injuries, are absolutely preventable and should never occur in an ideal delivery. Thus, in a case in which the child sustains a facial injury due to the doctor’s negligence, the new parent may want to get more information about potential legal options against the medical practitioners in order to recover damages for the injuries.
Iatrogenic injuries that occur during childbirth often happen when the baby’s face is presenting during the birth. It has been reported that almost one in every 600 births are face presenting. Face presentation happens when the newborn baby is bent forward and the baby becomes extended near the pelvic outlet while the mother is in labor. Since the doctor who is assisting in the birth usually monitors and examines the pelvic area before childbirth, that doctor can easily feel that the face has, in fact, presented itself, thereby making the iatrogenic injury preventable.
Source: NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov, “Unusual birth trauma involving face: a completely preventable iatrogenic injury,” Vijayan Sharmila and Thirunavukkarasu Arun Babu, April-June 2014