One of the things that a resident of the Albuquerque area probably dreads is seeing the baby that they had been longing for over the months or even years be delivered with a significant birth injury. While in some cases these injuries really are unfortunate accidents, in other cases, they are in fact the result of medical malpractice.
In the latter case, New Mexico parents can hold the doctor and other responsible parties accountable via the filing of a lawsuit.
It is still important for parents to understand that there are some risk factors which make a birth injury more likely. For instance, when a baby weighs more than about 9 pounds at birth, it makes a birth injury more likely.
Likewise, even if the baby is of average weight, if a baby is just not fitting through the birth canal because of the mother’s shape relative to that of the baby, it can be hard to deliver the child without causing an injury. It may be somewhat obvious that this same problem presents itself when a baby is not being delivered head first.
On the flip side, babies that are have not reached 37 weeks’ delivery are more prone to be injured simply because they are underdeveloped and naturally more fragile.
In some cases, a long or particularly hard labor can wear down a mom, and the baby, to the point where it is hard to deliver a baby without injuring him or her.
One of the reasons patients hire doctors in the first place, however, is to deal with these sorts of risk factors by using their expertise, judgment and skill. When a doctor does not prevent a birth injury, parents should at least ask themselves whether a medical malpractice case is a valid option.