How Do You Know If Your Child’s CP Was Preventable?

Thousands of babies are diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year in the United States, and the majority of those are due to unknown causes. However, some may be due to an obstetrical error. So the question arises for parents, how do I know if my child’s condition was preventable? How do I know when or if I should contact a cerebral palsy lawyer?

The truth is that it takes experienced medical and legal knowledge to evaluate the circumstances of a child’s birth and determine if negligence was a factor. And until the case is evaluated, the best any parent can do is ask him/herself if there were any red flags present during the child’s birth.

Questions To Consider:

• Was the pregnancy considered high-risk? For instance, did the mother have hypertension, severe preeclampsia, diabetes, infection or other health problem? Was it a multiple birth pregnancy?
• If so, was there regular screening for complications? Were maternal problems recognized/diagnosed in a timely manner
• Did doctors and nurses respond in a timely manner to any pregnancy problems you reported?
• Were there changes in fetal progress prior to or during delivery?
• Was a caesarean section necessary and, if so, was it performed in a timely manner?
• Did the child suffer lack of oxygen during birth?
• Did the child suffer severe jaundice after birth that was not treated promptly?
• Was excessive force used during the delivery? For example, were forceps or vacuum extraction used?
• Was there physician supervision of nurses, midwives and other hospital staff attending to the mother and child?

Depending on your answers to these questions (any red flags you noticed during delivery), you may want to consider further investigation into your child’s cerebral palsy.