Infant Brain Injury

Corpus Christi Birth Injury Attorneys

When a child sustains a brain injury at birth, it is devastating to the entire family. Parents worry not just about the short-term consequences of the injury, but about what will happen as their child grows. The medical bills can be astronomical, and of course, there is also a significant emotional impact to consider.

When children are seriously injured due to malpractice before, during, or after labor and delivery, the Corpus Christi birth injury lawyers at the Bandas Law Firm are there to seek justice on their behalf. Our firm represents clients across Nueces County and all of Texas, helping injured children and their families recover fair compensation for brain injuries sustained due to substandard obstetrical care.

What Causes Infant Brain Damage?

The most common causes of brain damage in newborns are hemorrhaging due to brain trauma and oxygen deprivation (asphyxia or hypoxia).

Bleeding in the brain, also called intracranial hemorrhage, is an injury to the brain that is caused by blood vessels rupturing in the skull. When bleeding occurs inside the skull, it is often due to the skull being deformed as a result of a rough delivery. This is sometimes due to an action or failure to act on the part of the delivery room staff or due to equipment that wasn’t working properly.

Often, bleeding in the brain isn’t obvious – it could manifest as seizures or lethargy. It is the job of the obstetrician and other medical personnel to identify the symptoms and act on them accordingly.

Types of Hemorrhage

The following are the most common types of hemorrhage in infants:

• Intraventricular Hemorrhages: This is bleeding into the fluid-filled spaces (ventricles) of the brain.
• Subarachnoid Hemorrhages: This type of bleeding occurs underneath the membranes that cover the brain and is the most common intracranial hemorrhage in infants. It usually happens with full-term newborns and may manifest as seizures.
• Subdural Hemorrhages: These occur between the inner and outer brain coverings. With this type of hemorrhage, there is pressure on the surface of the brain. They used to be common but now occur with far less frequency due to modern childbirth techniques. When they do occur, they may be due to negligence. Infant brain injury attorneys are most likely to find a cause of action with this type of hemorrhage.

Negligence Is Malpractice

Most malpractice lawsuits are based on negligence. This doesn’t just mean that something went wrong – it means that something went wrong because of a medical professional’s failure to provide a standard level of care. An attorney can help you to determine if you have a basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Establishing Negligence in an Infant Brain Injury Claim

For a medical malpractice lawsuit to succeed, you must prove that the defendant’s conduct did not meet the same standard that a reasonably skilled professional would have exhibited in the same or similar situation. You also must prove that the negligence caused measurable harm.

In cases of infant brain injury, your attorney can help you to obtain expert testimony – opinions from practitioners in the same field as your defendant. In many states, you’ll have to provide sworn statements. Again, this is something that your attorney can handle on your behalf.

See an Attorney at Our Corpus Christi Law Firm

The doctor or hospital will bring all the power of their legal team to bear against you if you bring a malpractice suit for infant brain injury. That’s why it is very important to have a competent attorney on your side – you’ll never be able to handle a medical malpractice suit, with all its complexities, on your own. Your attorney can look after your legal rights, as well as those of your child, and work to get you the compensation you deserve.