Birth injuries are a devastating type of personal injury. The types of birth injuries can range from minor bruises and marks from the use of forceps to broken bones (a broken clavicle is not uncommon) through to brain injuries. A number of things referred to as birth injuries actually happen during the delivery of the baby, but the term is also sometimes applied to things brought about by incidents during pregnancy, such as exposure to harmful substances.
According to a March 28, 2011 Wall Street Journal article, a group of hospitals have reduced the incidence of birth injuries through better communication and teamwork practices, along with better safety practices. How is this being accomplished? “Packages” of procedures have been developed that produce the best results. These practices are also called “care bundles”. As a part of the teamwork component of the initiatives, everyone, including nurses and technicians are supposed to speak up if they believe something is wrong. On top of the health care provider procedures, there is also a new format of delivery-room training that makes use of a robot named Noelle. Noelle can be used to simulate various delivery problems. Video cameras are used in the Noelle training so that each step taken can be recorded and reviewed so that practitioners can learn from mistakes made in training and be better prepared for unexpected labor and delivery situations.
According to the WSJ article, there are five recurring issues which account for the majority of delivery room related problems. These issues are:
- The failure of health care providers to do a Cesarean section in a timely fashion.
- The failure of health care providers to recognize when an infant is in distress.
- The failure of health care providers to properly resuscitate a baby.
- The inappropriate use of labor-inducing drugs.
- The misuse of forceps and vacuums.
It is encouraging to know that the medical field is taking steps to ascertain where things go wrong so that they can be corrected and future birth injuries can be avoided. Personal injury lawyers know the heartbreak that happens when a child is born with an injury or birth defect. It is our hope that the protocols being developed to reduce the risk of birth injuries will benefit Colorado babies, and infants throughout the world, as well as their parents avoid the pain of a birth injury.
No related posts.
