Why hire a cerebral palsy attorney for your baby? For many parents, when they are informed that their baby has suffered a birth injury, especially a brain injury, talking to a lawyer is not one of the top thoughts in their mind at the time, and understandably so. It has been my experience when talking to mothers and parents about these types of issues, the triggering issue that makes them reach out to an attorney are the challenges that their baby will face in the future, and how will they, as parents, help meet those challenges.
In this Maryland birth injury article, I will discuss one of the ways we see brain injuries occur during birth, and now attorneys who handle cerebral palsy cases help families meet these future challenges. Hopefully at the end of the article you will have a better understanding of the question above, why hire a cerebral palsy attorney for your baby?
IS THIS HOW YOUR BABY SUFFERED A BRAIN INJURY AT BIRTH?
One of the more common ways that we see brain injuries at birth is due to a medical condition called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE. HIE, in simple terms, means a reduced level of blood and oxygen, which causes a brain injury. It is not hard to understand that if a baby is dealing with a reduced level of blood and oxygen during delivery that a brain injury can occur, since blood and oxygen is needed for all humans to be healthy.
When a baby is dealing with a reduced level of blood and oxygen, there are tools that doctors, and nurses use to help determine the baby’s well-being. One of these tools is the electronic fetal heart monitor. This monitor relays to doctors and nurses the baby’s heart status, among other things. A normal baby will have about 120-160 beats per minute. Not only is the monitor revealing beats per minute, but things like accelerations and decelerations are also monitored.
A baby who is no longer tolerating a vaginal delivery must be diagnosed and treated appropriately. Failure to diagnose and treat a condition like HIE, mentioned above, can lead to a brain injury. When conservative treatments are not working for a baby that is in destress, doctors must move to an emergency C-section or risk the baby suffering a brain injury and developing a subsequent cerebral palsy diagnosis.
WHY HIRE A CEREBRAL PALSY ATTORNEY?
As I mentioned above, one of the main reasons that parents reach out to me regarding a brain injury that their baby has suffered is because of the challenges that the baby will face in the future. The truth of the matter is that medical care can be quite expensive.
Why hire a cerebral palsy attorney for your baby? A cerebral palsy attorney can use tools to help your baby meet future challenges. One way this is done is using life care plans. A life care plan is just that, a plan that lists the things that your baby will need to be successful throughout their life. How this process works is that the attorney can use a certified life care planner to look at all aspects of your baby’s life, including medical treatment(s), possible home renovations, transportation issues, etc.… At the conclusion of the meeting with the life care planner, all these needs will be placed in a report and given to the cerebral palsy attorney.
The attorney will then take the above information and add it to the damages part of the baby’s claim. Damages will be calculated as a monetary value of the case. For many parents, this is an important aspect to the title question, why hire a cerebral palsy attorney for your baby.
DO YOU HAVE MORE QUESTION REGARDING YOUR BABY’S BRAIN INJURY?
Ultimately, whether to hire a cerebral palsy attorney is a decision that can only be made by the family dealing with these issues. With that said, this article can help you understand some of the critical and important issues facing a family if they are in this situation.
If your child’s doctors have spoken to you regarding hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or neonatal encephalopathy (or you have seen these words in your child’s medical records), and you have more questions from a medical/legal perspective, this is what I invite you to do.
Pick up the phone and give me a call. I can be reached at 301-850-4832. I answer Maryland birth injury and medical malpractice questions just like yours all the time and I will be happy to listen to your story.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
Boston Law Group, LLC
2 Wisconsin Circle, Suite 700
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
1-833-4 BABY HELP
