Your child has been born with a birth injury and you now learn that you had gestational diabetes during your pregnancy, but was never screened for it. Are you now wondering what is gestational diabetes and what roll if any it could have played in your child’s birth related injury? Want to hear the answers? Stay tuned.
Hello, I am Maryland medical malpractice attorney Marcus Boston and I would like to talk with you today about how failing to screen for gestational diabetes can put your child at risk. Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy. So a woman who has never had diabetes before her pregnancy can develop gestational diabetes during her pregnancy. Usually gestational diabetes presents itself midway through the woman’s pregnancy. If the woman has increased risk factors for developing this condition, screening should take place during their first prenatal visit and if no risk factors are present then screening should take place at least around 24 to 29 weeks.
Doctors use a glucose loading test or GLT to screen for gestational diabetes. The reason gestational diabetes is a serious medical condition is because it can lead to development problems in your child, such as big baby syndrome. These developmental problems can then lead to birth complications such as shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia can then lead to birth injuries like brachial plexus palsy, PPHN, and others. Be sure to watch our other videos on child birth related injuries for more information on these conditions.
As a result of all of this, highly qualified doctors should especially be present in the delivery room if it is determined that no GLT was performed on the mother just in case shoulder dystocia occurs. So why have I taken the time to explain all of this to you today? Because you may not have been given a GLT during your pregnancy. Because you displayed high risk factors for developing gestational diabetes during your pregnancy and these signs were ignored. Because now you know it is time to speak to a professional.
Here’s what you can do. Pick up the phone and give me a call. I can be reached at 301-850-4832. Or, if you think that email is best, email me at medicalinjury “at” bostonlawllc.com (Remember to replace the “at” with @). We answer questions like yours all the time and we would be glad to hear your story.
