Doctors delivering a baby owe the mother and the child protection from various types of injuries. Unfortunately, problems like brachial plexus may occur and cause complications with a child's development. Thankfully, birth injury lawsuits can help.

Brachial Plexus Can Be a Painful Condition for a Child

During delivery, a newborn baby must be handled very carefully to prevent injuries of many types. Unfortunately, accidents can happen that may cause health issues to a child that can be hard to manage. For example, brachial plexus is an injury that occurs to the arm of the child when the upper extremity is not handled with appropriate care. When this injury occurs, a child is likely to have lifelong symptoms.

For example, the arm may be much weaker than normal and may have muscles that don't work properly or at all as the child ages. Sadly, these issues can cause a child to struggle to adapt to normal life and may even make adult life challenging by making it hard for them to hold down certain types of jobs. Emotional struggles may also occur if the child thinks of themselves as weaker than others.  As a result, a lawsuit against the delivering doctor is a valid option because it can help give that child the compensation that they deserve.

Proving This Case

A birth injury lawsuit of any type typically has the same four elements that make up any negligence claim — duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. Brachial plexus cases are no different. First of all, the parent must prove that the doctor had a duty of care to the parent and the child — which is obvious in this case — and that they breached that duty by not taking care of the child's arm during delivery.

However, the parent must also show that the doctor's negligence actually caused the injury to the child in the first place – the causation and damages necessary for these cases. For example, a negligent action by a doctor — such as not supporting the child's head properly — is not liable in a lawsuit if it did not cause an injury. But a doctor who gripped a child's arm too heavily during delivery is definitely liable by this definition.

The challenge, then, lies in using testimony from the delivering staff, witnesses like the spouse or siblings to the child, or anyone else who can identify how the doctor behaved during delivery. It also requires a doctor who can testify that the injury caused this problem to occur. These complications make a specialized birth injury attorney a great investment for anybody in this situation.

For more information on this subject, reach out to a birth injury attorney in your area.